400-calorie dinners (ii)

Two more all-star recipes to add to the 400-calorie dinner collection this week:

Falafel-Stuffed Eggplant:

I bookmarked this recipe ages ago . . . what took me so long to try this?  Light yet filling, with a welcome burst of summery flavors to brighten up the bitterest of cold winter days.  (I can imagine how much tastier this would be when everything was actually in season!)  I did modify the recipe slightly, adding the eggplant pulp to the filling, instead of "reserving for another use."  (Huh?  What on earth would anyone do with just around a cup of eggplant goo?  Hm.)  352 calories, loaded with fiber, protein, A, C, calcium, and impressively high in iron.  John claimed he wasn't all that hungry prior to dinner this evening, but managed to gobble up his portion just fine.  Must have been good!

Sauerkraut & Sausage Casserole:

This dish is as warm and cozy as the previous was bright and summery.  (Hey . . . I crave variety!)  After making my own vegetarian kielbasa, this dish was a snap to prepare, and I love the combination of tangy, salty kraut, (homegrown, home-cultured, and home-canned at our house!), savory faux sausage, sweet onions and apples, and tender-crispy potatoes.  A bargain dinner at 297 calories, packed with protein and loaded with vitamin C, there's definitely room for a chunk of dark rye with butter alongside this entree, or alternately . . .

Dessert!

German Honey Cookies:

If you enjoy simple yet surprising sweets, this is a cookie you MUST try.  There is enough honey in the dough to be clearly present in the baked cookie, yet the copious amount of vanilla and ground ginger sneak in and hang out in the background.  The cookies are sweet but not cloyingly so, buttery without being overly rich, and friendly to the healthy eating plan at 97 calories each.  I made a few modifications to the original recipe, following a more traditional method of creaming the butter and sugar together by hand, then stirring in the honey, egg, and vanilla, before finally adding the dry ingredients, and I also subbed in half whole-wheat pastry flour for some of the all-purpose.  This is only the second time I've made these, but I much prefer this batch -- my first attempt (years ago) was soft, pillowy, and almost cake-like using the technique in the recipe; this batch is soft, toothsomely chewy, and dense -- a perfect cookie texture, in my opinion.  (P.S. watch 'em like hawks, and pull them out of the oven JUST as they begin to brown and are completely set -- over-baking these beauties turns them tooth-breakingly crispy in a heartbeat.  Or, if you like crispy cookies, by all means, over-bake away!  I bet they would make great dunkers, in that case.)  Someday, I'll try these with fresh ginger in lieu of the ground, and likely achieve cookie nirvana.  :)

back in the kitchen again!

After a long hiatus from cooking much of anything, (thank you, 90+ degree heat and high humidity,) I decided I had had enough salads, and got back in my kitchen this weekend.  :)  It's still hot, but I managed to sweat my way through several meal's worth of stovetop cooking and/or baking/roasting in the oven, and boy, was it worth it!

Dinner Friday night:

A simple meal of whole-wheat pasta tossed with homemade marinara and parmesan, with roasted pattypan squash on the side.

Bunch Saturday:

Breakfast burritos!  A whole-wheat tortilla stuffed with homemade refried beans, cheese, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.  This is one of those meals that if eaten after 10 am, will keep you full until dinner.  :)  Mmm.

Dinner Saturday:

Sloppy lentils piled on a whole-wheat bun, dilly beans, cherries, and Spud Puppies.

Dinner Sunday:

 

Tofu Steak with Miso and Ginger, Steamed Baby Carrots with Orange-Dill Butter, cucumbers with sour cream and dill, and Zucchini Fritters.  This meal was a LOT of work, (and generated a lot of dishes -- shout out to John, who washed nearly all of them!), but it was so worth it!  I had a blast finding new ways to make some seasonal produce shine.

My life is incomplete without dessert:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake!  Between the cake and the fritters, I have managed to take down about 2/3 of the ginormous zucchini John brought home from volunteering last week.  I still have about a pound left . . . muffins?  Bread?  Cookies?  What's your vote?

chop-chop!

Work has been hectic lately, and on more than one occasion in the past few weeks, I've found myself with little to no time to eat, collect, and/or heat up my lunch.  (The toddlers keep me busy!)  I'm aiming for something quick and simple this week, that doesn't require heating -- enter the Greek Chopped Salad!

Cucumber, yellow bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, olives, artichokes, and feta, dressed in a creamy vinaigrette made from red wine vinegar, olive oil, a little mayo, salt, pepper, and dried oregano.  I had a bowlful for dinner tonight as a "preview," and let's just say, I'm excited for lunch tomorrow!  I'll smear a wholegrain pita with some hummus in the morning, and be good to go.

Any other brilliant make-ahead, easy cold lunch ideas?  My other alternate for this week is egg salad on Dr. Kracker flatbreads.  (I can't STAND packed sandwiches, as they get soggy.  Is that weird?)  I should spend some time next weekend looking through Lunches, Picnics, and Appetizers for more ideas, too.  That's one of those cookbooks I forget I own, and then have an "oh, YEAH!" moment, and get excited for it all over again.  ;)

mainlining produce

Let's just say it has NOT been a healthy day for me, at least intake-wise. I ate both breakfast and lunch at school with the kids, and I realized, on my way home from work, that I was: 1. profoundly thirsty (thank you, processed foods,) and 2. hadn't had a single fruit or vegetable ALL DAY. The horror.

I decided that as soon as I walked in the door, it was time to start mainlining the produce:

A giant tomato and cucumber salad (with feta and olives,) two slices of toasted multigrain bread topped with baba ganoush and sliced avocado, and some fresh figs.

I feel better now.

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year's Eve last night! I had a pretty great day, actually -- we only had four kids at work during the day, our mini dinner party was a huge success, and Dan and I had a blast at the theatre production we went to see later on! (We saw the Christmas show at a local comedy and improv theatre.) Food from yesterday:

BREAKFAST:

Apple-cinnamon oatmeal, made with almond milk. Not pictured: black coffee, multivitamin.

LUNCH:
Sorry there's no photo, but I ordered Jimmy John's with a few of my coworkers. I had their veggie sub (provolone, avocado, light mayo, lettuce, sprouts, tomato, and cucumber) on wholegrain bread. I also snuck two chocolate-covered caramel leaves out of our "teacher treats" drawer. :)

SNACK:
Again, no photo. (Dinner will make up for it, I promise!) Another pumpkin chocolate chip muffin, and a Cara Cara orange. I shared a few slices with the kids -- they loved it! (And, bizzarely, the orange distracted them from the Oreo cookies being served for snack! Strange, but cool.)

DINNER:
I had a small platefull, and a few scoops of seconds, from the following dishes:

Salatat Taheena (Tahini Mix), Labana ma' Za'tar (Drained Yogurt with Za'tar,) and Bathinjan Makboos (Eggplant Pickles,)

Mutabbal Koosa (Garlic Zucchini Appetizer,)

Maazat Hummus wa Zaytoon (Chickpea and Olive Appetizer,) Zaytoon bi Za'tar (Olives with Za'tar,) and Maazat Khurshoof (Artichoke Hearts in Vinegar,)
AND,

Pita and Za'tar flatbread.

All of the vegetable/entree dishes are from this cookbook:

(This book is absolutely at the top of my "to buy" list now. Everything was FANTASTIC!!!!!!! A very fun, tasty, casual meal.)

The breads were both from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. (Buy this book, if you haven't already!)

We also had leftover Christmas cookies, (I had a few,) and herbal tea for dessert.

ANOTHER SNACK:
Dan and I split a medium popcorn at the theatre.

EXERCISE:
Nothing noteworthy yesterday, other than chasing after preschoolers for eight hours. I'll try and make up for that today!

~~~~~~~~~~

Off to the grocery store in a little bit -- even though there are a few leftovers from last night, my kitchen desperately needs a restock! Later, skaters.

back in business

After spending the holidays away from my own kitchen, I was excited to get back to town last night and do a little cooking!! Dan and I spent a LONG time discussing what to have for dinner during our drive back -- and we settled on sushi:

Veggie rolls with red pepper, cucumber, and avocado for me, and a little ahi sushi grade tuna for Dan. Not pictured: miso soup.

There are even a couple of rolls left calling my name . . . sushi for breakfast is GREAT.

Oliver was happy to see us return as well:

Well, either that, or he was just happy to make mischief in my suitcase while I was unpacking.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!