400-calorie dinners (iii)

As I continue to clean up my diet, watch my portion sizes, and focus on getting more exercise, I find the most indispensable tool in my kitchen, hands-down, is my scale.  (I have this model.  And no, Escali, doesn't know a thing about me, and if you click on that link, I won't earn any money.  I just really like this scale!)  It's easy to use, the batteries last a relatively long time, it's easy to store, (I keep it in its original box on end in one of my cupboards,) and it comes in a wide variety of colors if you enjoy having your kitchen be all matchy-matchy.  :)  (Or you just like orange, or whatever.)  The scale weighs in both grams and ounces, which has been invaluable for this whole calorie-counting thing, as sometimes it's easier to pull out the scale and weigh out 110 grams of cottage cheese, instead of digging the 1/2-cup measuring cup out of the dishwasher and hand-washing it . . . again.  Know what I mean?

I also use my scale often when preparing recipes, (specifically, I almost always weigh grated cheese . . . the cup measurements I find given with most recipes are often WAY off,) and to weigh oils and lye when making soap.  Moral of the story?  My scale gets more than daily use lately, and when I'm not counting calories, I still pull it out several times a week.

Do you have a kitchen scale?  What brand do you have?  Love it?  Wish you had another type?  Use it?  Gathers dust?  I'm curious.

Without further ado, here are a few more 400-calorie dinners we've enjoyed this week:

Spaghetti and beanballs:

First things first . . . there are more than 400 calories pictured above.  (I had a weird day, with little time for snacking, so I had a big dinner.)  I did learn an important and valuable fact this week, however: an ounce of dry pasta weighs about 2 1/2 ounces cooked.  (You can find anything on the internet . . . !!)  My pasta serving in the above meal was about twice what I'd normally eat, topped with a portion of homemade mushroom marinara, and a few Vegan Beanballs.  Delicious!  The beanballs were a cinch to prepare, and have kept beautifully as leftovers for lunches this week.

Burgers and fries:

I made a full batch of Melody's All-American Burgers, divided the base into 16 2-ounce burgers, and froze half.  These burgers are simple to prepare, inexpensive (I didn't have to purchase a single ingredient to make these!), and have classic veggie burger flavor.  I enjoyed my burger with a homemade half whole-wheat brioche bun, (divide the given recipe into 12 equal-sized pieces,) lettuce, tomato, and 2 tsp mayo.  Side of sweet potato waffle fries, some ketchup for dipping, and a pickle!  Yum.

Reubens:

(I must have been craving classic comfort foods this week, because I've made a lot of traditionally "meaty" dishes' vegetarian cousins . . . but I digress!)  You, too, can enjoy a reuben while attempting to clean up your diet.  How?  Homemade rye, (I use the recipe for "Deli-Style Rye" from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,) 2 tsp thousand island dressing, half an ounce of swiss cheese, 1/4-cup of home-grown-home-cultured-home-canned sauerkraut, and two strips of seasoned tempeh.  I cooked my sandwich using a spritz of olive-oil cooking spray, which probably saved the most calories when comparing to a traditional veggie reuben.  Verdict?  Delicious, and I'm not entirely sure John even noticed I didn't cook them in butter.  Only comment I received was, "Good night for a reuben."  :)

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I hope you are enjoying my 400-calorie dinner posts!  Let me know if there's a specific meal you'd like to see as part of this series -- I'm always looking for more meal ideas.

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.  :)

the dough also rises

Ha, ha.  Pardon my ridiculous title -- let's just say I've been baking up awesome yeast breads lately!

Yesterday, I made Whole-Wheat English Muffins!  My second time with this recipe was a definite success -- like anything, the more you practice, the better/faster/more efficient you get.  While English muffins are slightly fussy, they are totally worth the extra time and effort in the kitchen.  Far more delicious than store-bought muffins and full of nutritious ingredients you select, at a fraction of the cost!

Step 1: Prepare dough

If you are familiar with how to make pizza crust or any other type of yeast bread, you can easily make English muffin dough.  It is a basic whole-wheat dough, using a blend of whole-wheat and all-purpose flours, enriched with milk, a little honey, and a little melted butter.  P.S. I don't have a big stand mixer, so I do my kneading by hand, which has always worked fine for me.

Step 2: Shape and allow to rise again

The biggest change I've made from the recipe as written has been shaping my English muffins using slightly smaller portions -- I have good success with 3 oz dough per muffin, (yes, I use my scale,) which makes 15 or 16 muffins from the linked recipe, instead of 12.

Step 3: Skillet-browning
















The recipe mentions that the two characteristics of an English muffin that make them unique are the dusting of cornmeal, and the turn in the skillet.  Possibly the most time-consuming part of the process, (cooking 5 minutes per side,) this takes a bit if you don't have a large griddle to cook a whole baking sheet-full at once.  I will likely return to using my griddle next time, although I always love using my cast-iron frying pan.

Step 4: Bake!

This recipe suggests a final trip into a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes; my muffins seemed more done after 10 minutes.  They were a little crowded on the baking sheets, and I think my oven runs cool, so that definitely explains it.

Have you ever made English muffins?  What did you think?  I have a feeling these will become a standard piece of my baking repertoire, especially since they freeze beautifully, too.

Here are a few other things I've baked and cooked this weekend:

Buttermilk Scones

An incredibly simple, delicious recipe, using just enough butter for richness without becoming heavy, these scones seem infinitely adaptable, and will be a frequent repeat at our house.  I added some dried cranberries this time; chocolate chips and almonds for sure next time!

Irish Oatmeal Bread

My go-to sandwich bread, I decided to bake up a couple of loaves this weekend, while I had the flour and yeast out for the English muffins, and stock up my freezer with healthy, homemade, whole-grain carbs.

One of our favorite dinners - Quiche!

I rolled out a homemade pie crust and filled it with the above recipe, adding about 2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach.  John and I both love quiche, and it makes such a great, light meal -- perfect leftovers for work lunches, too!

And last but not least, tempeh reubens:

Storebought rye bread, thousand island dressing, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and "Seasoned Tempeh," from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.  A mighty fine sandwich for a cool, rainy Sunday!

And, I better run . . . Monday morning always creeps up on ya, doesn't it?  Hope you had a good weekend, too!

Reuben? Rachel?

Dinner last night:

I'm back on my tempeh reuben kick -- Wedge pumpernickel bread, Annie's thousand island dressing, Bubbies sauerkraut, organic sliced swiss, and "Seasoned Tempeh" from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. Kale Slaw with Peanut Dressing and sliced apple on the side. Damn, I love that slaw recipe!

Here was a question asked of me during dinner last night that I don't have the answer to: what's the difference between a Reuben and a Rachel? Anyone out there know? Do comment, please!

eating machine

Lately, I have been an eating machine. Has anyone else had this "problem" recently? More specifically, I can't seem to get enough spicy food, bread, butter, or cheese. (Vegetables? What are those??) :)

Seriously, though, I have still been eating my veggies . . . just not LOVING them, you know? Here are a couple of recent meals:

First, the second round of pad Thai:

I generally follow the recipe for "Brooklyn Pad Thai" from Vegan with a Vengeance, but typically add extra vegetable matter. The first round I added broccoli; this time, I added plenty of shredded green cabbage. Mmm!

Next, a reuben, and some leftover potatoes:

I confess, I have practically been living on grilled cheese sandwiches for the past week and a half. Why? I have no idea. :) I added tomato soup to my grilled cheese craving, and then progressed to reubens. I am really puzzled by this reuben craving, since I didn't think I really LIKED thousand island dressing, or sauerkraut, for that matter! But, gotta tell ya . . . I was eating the kraut straight out of the jar with a fork! Where did THAT come from? Luckily, I had some tempeh leftover from a simple meal this past weekend, so I only had to pick up a few other key ingredients to satisfy my craving!

For "dessert," I will eat an artichoke. :) (Giant artichokes have been on sale at the co-op this week! Why? Who cares! When inexpensive, eat artichokes!)

reubens

Truth be told, I've never had a reuben, at least that I can remember. Something about the combination of sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on a GRILLED CHEESE seemed sort of . . . sacreligious, somehow?

However, the only thing I could think to do with the rest of the rye bread I made last weekend was cap reubens, so, there you go:

Homemade rye, Annie's Thousand Island Dressing, "Tempeh Bacon" from Vegan with a Vengeance, swiss, and co-op bought sauerkraut.

Verdict? Hmm . . . not bad, actually. All of the flavors in the sandwich did meld together nicely, and I think Dan was a happy camper with the rich, heavy flavors. I think I'd still prefer a plain grilled cheese, but this was a nice change of pace!

Here's the million-dollar question: what to do with all of the leftover sauerkraut?