Lunch ~ Wheat Berry & Calypso Bean Salad

I enjoy preparing a few different grains on the weekend that can be incorporated into meals during the week. At the same time, I cook up small batches of two bean varieties. In addition, I love bread so will also bake a loaf using varying grain flours.

In this way, the prep time has been reduced during a busy week when I want to eat healthy, but don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Throughout the work week, I will then combine the grain and bean ingredients in new and pleasing combinations with fresh herbs and vegetables.

Here I've paired wheat berries with a bean salad and homemade bread. For the bread, I just added a tablespoon each of poppy, fennel, and sesame seeds. It turned out aromatic and tasty.

Lunch: Wheat berry salad with fresh parsley and red onion on bed of arugula and sorrel, Calypso bean salad with kale sprouts and ginger sauce, moist homemade 3 seed (poppy, fennel, and sesame) wheat bread, Castelvetrano olives, and clementine. 

Wheat Berry Salad

2 c cooked wheat berries

1/4 c chopped curly-leaf parsley

1/4 c red onion
1/8 c white vinegar
2 tbsp apple juice
pinch sea salt
1 c arugula
1/4 c sorrel
3 Castelvetrano olives, pitted

Combine cooked wheat berries with parsley, onion, vinegar, and sea salt. Lightly toss. Best if marinated overnight. Serve on bed of arugula and sorrel. Add olives

Calypso Bean Salad
1 c cooked Calypso beans
1/4 c kale sprouts
1/8 c silken tofu
1/8 tsp fresh ginger juice
sea salt

Combine all ingredients. Best if marinated overnight. Serve.

Breakfast ~ Corn Grits & Steamed Kale

It's harvest season and corn is plentiful. In the morning, it takes a few minutes to boil water and cook up some corn grits. Add whole kernel corn if you have it in your house.

As I may have mentioned once or twice before, for nutritional benefits adding leafy greens to each meal should be a goal when planning your daily menu. Flavor with umeboshi plum paste instead of sea salt. You can typically find umeboshi plums, paste, and vinegar in the Japanese section of your market. They tend to be salty, vinegar tasting and a little goes a long way for flavoring. 

Corn Grits with Curly Kale

2 c water

3/4 c corn grits

1 c curly kale, center stem removed and thinly chopped

1/8 c pumpkin seeds

2 tsp umeboshi plum paste

Boil water. Add grits and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 10-12 minutes until water absorbed. Steam chopped kale for 1 minute. Dry roast pumpkin seeds in fry pan. Add greens to bowl, top with grits, toasted pumpkin seeds, and umeboshi plum paste. Serve.

Breakfast: Corn grits on bed of steamed kale with toasted pumpkin seeds and umoboshi plum paste.

Frozen Vegan Strawberry Grape Smoothie

When you want a frozen treat, you can easily make it dairy-free. If you don't have fresh fruit you can add frozen fruit from your freezer, a non-dairy milk (i.e. almond, rice, or coconut milk), and/or juice. Whenever I buy fruit, if it isn't being eaten in the first few days, I will put it into the freezer for a future smoothie.  This is delicious.  No additives, corn syrup, or thickeners were added. You will not miss the ice-cream or frozen yogurt. It's also better for your waistline.

Vegan Strawberry Grape Smoothie

1 c frozen strawberries (if using all fresh fruit, add 1 c ice cubes)

1 c frozen red grapes

1/2 c unsweetened cranberry juice

1 c coconut milk

Add all ingredients in blender. Pulse on high until smooth. Serve.

Frozen strawberry and red grape, cranberry smoothie.

Dinner ~ Grilled Veggies & Red Amaranth

Many people lament on how to cook a healthy meal at the end of a busy work day.  Sometimes it just seems easiest to stop and buy a prepared meal on the way home. However, it may not be always the healthiest option available. Consider preparing a meal of grilled vegetables.  I'm usually famished, so the shortest time from walking in the door to eating is paramount for me.  A prep and cook time of less than 30 minutes is the typical time it takes me to get a meal on the table.

 It takes only minutes to chop some fresh veggies and toss with olive oil and salt before putting into a grilling basket. If you have yet to try red amaranth, I highly suggest giving it a try. Its just so pretty to look at and, of course, eat.

After working inside all day, enjoy spending at least a few minutes outdoors before the sun sets.  Given that the Fall season is upon us, the sun goes down earlier and earlier with each passing day. Continue to cook on the barbecue until you can no longer see in the dark by the grill!

Grilled Veggies

1 small summer squash

1 small limelight hybrid zucchini squash 

1 carrot

small bunch red amaranth

1 sweet vidalia onion

2 tbsp olive oil

sea salt

Chop all vegetables. Toss in bowl with olive oil and salt. Cook on grill, tossing after 10 minutes, for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Dinner: Yellow and zucchini squash, sliced carrots, white onions, and red amaranth greens seasoned with olive oil and sea salt prepped for the grill.

Lunch ~ Chinese Broccoli with Guacamole & Hummus

I love going to the farmer's market and finding atypical vegetables not found in conventional markets. Here I found Chinese broccoli in all it's beautiful white bloom. When lightly steamed, it is delicately sweet, tender, and melts in your mouth.  I paired this with freshly made guacamole and hummus and warmed spinach tortilla triangles. A light and flavorful lunch.

Lunch: Chinese broccoli with guacamole, hummus, warmed tortilla triangles, and red grapes. 

Breakfast ~ Brown Rice Miso with Mushrooms & Snow Peas

The mornings are just starting to be a little bit on the chilly side. Why not start the day with a nice warm bowl of brown rice miso soup?  Miso is a fermented soy product that is a good source of nutrients, including copper, manganese, and vitamin K. I like the salty taste.

Brown Rice Miso Soup

2 c water

1/4 c cooked brown rice 

1/8 c cooked mung beans

1/8 c chopped kale

1/8 c fresh corn

1 mushroom, sliced

3 snow peas, sliced

1 tbsp brown rice miso paste

Boil water in saucepan. Add brown rice, mung beans, corn, and snow peas. Lower temperature to simmer. Cook 1 minute longer. Stir in miso paste and serve. 

Breakfast: Brown rice miso with brown rice, mung beans, kale, corn, mushrooms, and snow peas. 

Dinner ~ Zucchini Spiral & Brown Rice Rounds

At the end of the day, sometimes it's nice to have lighter fare especially if I've had a more filling lunch. I tend to like to pair a variety of foods that are visually pleasing  along with being savory, salty, sour, and sweet. This meal provides all of those requirements and gives me a sense of peace. It's not about quantity, it's about quality.

Dinner: Zucchini spirals and brown rice rounds with gomashio seasoning, corn on the cob, red and green cabbage sauerkraut, sea salt foccacia, and cantaloupe.

Lunch ~ Vegan BLT

Sometimes life gets busy and you want a quick, easy meal to feed your hunger. Here's a vegan BLT made with Morningstar "bacon" and rice "cheese" served on a thinly sliced seeded bagel.  Add a few pickled vegetables and sweet, seasonal apples to complete the meal. I call this "assembling" a lunch.

Lunch: Vegan bacon and cheese, tomato, romaine lettuce, and vegan mayonnaise on thin toasted "everything" bagel, pickled cucumber, red pepper, and garlic with Macintosh apple slices.

Breakfast ~ Stir Fried Brown Rice with Peppers, Onions & Celery

You read quite a bit about incorporating whole grains into your diet. With that in mind, many people start their day by having high fiber "whole grain" cereal, toast, or muffins for breakfast. However, have you ever considered having the actual grain for breakfast? Cook plenty of grain at a previous evening's meal, such that you have enough left over to warm for a breakfast porridge or meal the following morning. Add steamed or sautéed vegetables for flavor.  In this way, you truly receive all the benefits of the whole grain without the additional sugars and additives found in many packaged cereals.

Brown Rice & Vegetable Stir Fry Breakfast
2 c steamed short grain brown rice
1/4 c diced orange peppers
1/4 c sautéed chopped red onions
1/4 c celery
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
lightly salted

In wok, lightly sauté peppers, onions, and celery in 1 tsp heated sesame oil for 1 minute. Add rice and dill. Lightly salt. Cover and steam for 1 minute longer. Serve.

Breakfast: Brown rice stir fry with orange peppers, red onions, celery, and dill.

Dinner ~ Curried Seitan Cutlets & Calypso Beans

Seitan is a meat substitute that is made of wheat gluten, has no cholesterol, and is high in both calcium and iron.  It is a food staple in countries from Japan to the Middle East.  It can be shaped and flavored to mimic many meat products.  While you can buy prepared seitan at the store, it doesn't compare to the flavor that can achieved by preparing it at home.

Homemade Gluten

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups white flour

1 3/4 c water

In large bowl, combine flours. Add water and mix by hand, kneading for several minutes until flour is combined and somewhat elastic. Cover and let sit for 1 hour. Knead dough for 2 more minutes then place bowl in sink. Slowly add steady stream of warm water to wash away the starch away from the gluten. Pour off milky water. Slowly add steady stream of cool water to wash away the starch. Pour off milky water. Continue to alternate between warm and cool rinsing until you are left with only the elastic gluten. At this point, seitan can be frozen, refrigerated, or flavored for meal.

Curried Seitan

3 cups water

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 inch piece of kombu

6 slices of fresh ginger

1 tbsp curry

1 tbsp sesame oil

Boil water, soy sauce, kombu, ginger, and curry in large saucepan. Shape seitan into cutlets and drop into boiled broth. Simmer for 2 hours. Once simmering is complete, remove from broth. Cook cutlets for 1 minute each side in wok with sesame oil.

Dinner: Curried seitan cutlets on a bed of steamed kale, calypso beans with ginger dressing and sprouts, carrots, buckwheat with red carrots, leeks, and parsley, steamed green beans, carrots, and clementines. 

Lunch ~ Tabouli, Bean, Arugula & Couscous Salads

Some weekends, I'll spend time preparing fresh bread and salads that will last for the upcoming week.  In that way, it only takes a few minutes to make a meal mid-week. Here I have a little tabouli salad, a bean and corn salad, a couscous salad, and some arugula leaves with a mustard tahini dressing. You'll notice that on my plates, in addition to including leafy greens, I usually add some fresh fruit.  You know what they say...a little sweetness goes a long way.

Tri-color Pearl Couscous Salad

1 1/2 c pearl couscous

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 c chopped cranberries

1/4 c chopped green onions

1/4 c roasted chopped pecans

sea salt

Boil 2 cups of water. In bowl, coat couscous with oil.  Add boiled water to couscous in bowl. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes, until water is absorbed. Drain off excess water. Lightly salt. Add cranberries, onions, and roasted pecans. 

Tabouli Salad

1 c bulgur wheat

1/2 c fresh chopped tomato

1/4 c chopped red onion

1/4 c chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

sea salt

Boil 1 3/4 c water. Add boiling water to bulgur wheat in bowl.  Cover and let sit for 30 minutes, until water is absorbed. Drain off excess water. Lightly salt. Add chopped tomato, onion, parsley, and lemon juice. 

Lunch: Tabouli, arugula with mustard tahini sauce, bean, olive and corn marinade, trip-color pearl couscous salad, fresh rosemary bread, mandarin oranges and cherries.