The Tiny Choices Meal List
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | October 11, 2007
Lately, I’ve been letting other people cook for me. The guys at the deli on the corner toast a mean breakfast bialey, and the lunch and dinner options in this city are endless. And it’s nice to have those same other people wash the necessary pots and pans and clean the countertops when they’re finished. They probably sweep the floors every night, too. Really, they are much better suited to this cooking + cleaning thing than I am.
But deep down inside I just feel that it’s time to take matters back into my own hands. I’ve been spending way too much money on food these past few months– what I’ve paid for a lunch sandwich, folks in small towns might pay for dinner and a second-run film. I truly appreciate the convenience of buying pre-made food, but it’s just not feeling sustainable or appealing any longer. In addition to cutting down on food costs, I’d like to return to eating more healthfully, locally, and with an appreciation of the wonder that is home-made, hand-made, me-made, food. And talk about an excess of single-use packaging! My soul hurts when I finish a salad or take-out from the local vegan/raw place and am then left with a sturdy plastic container to deal with. I am dedicated to creating less waste, and this starts with bringing my own lunch to work in reusable containers.
To this end, I think we can all use help in deciding what to cook. And when I say “we” I mean “me”. Ya’ll are so smart I just know you have meals you whip together in no time at all. So let’s help each other out and start the Tiny Choices list of quick ‘n easy meals which:
1. can be made from start to finish in 45 minutes or less
2. don’t require an endless ingredients list
3. are just as good, if not better, as leftovers the next day
I’ll start:
- Earlier this summer, The New York Times had an amazing list of 101 Simple Meals Ready In 10 Minutes or Less, which is an incredible resource! Following this up with over 375 reader comments, and I think we might have meal ideas forever. They also posted a follow-up article listing 10 more meal ideas. Many of these meals are vegetarian, and many others can be slightly tweaked to be meat-free, if desired.
- Pasta Puttanesca: While you boil up some whole-wheat pasta, make this easy, killer sauce: saute garlic in oil, then add a large can of crushed tomatoes, red pepper flakes, capers, and chopped black and green olives (and anchovies if you eat ‘em. Ingredient proportions are totally negotiable.). Serve with freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese.
- Stir Fry: Set brown rice or quinoa cooking. Saute some sliced onions and/or garlic in a large pan or wok. Then add any combo of cut veggies and tofu (or meat if you eat it), along with peeled and sliced/grated fresh ginger root. Add soy sauce, or teriyaki sauce, or any kind of sauce really, and cook for a minute longer. Serve over grains. Yum.
Your turn: Dear Tiny Choosers, please post your quick ‘n easy meal ideas in the comments below!
[Image by febpanda via Flickr]
Topics: Food | 23 Comments »
This is a standby in our house.
Beans and Rice
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 can red beans
1 can black beans
rice … enough for at least 4 servings
cheese (cheddar: real or fake, both work well)
salsa
sour cream (real or fake, both work well)
oregano, parsley, cayenne, chili powder
tortillas (burrito size)
chop and sauté onions
cook rice separately
crush garlic and add when onions are nicely cooked
drain beans (rinsing is optional) and add to onions
mix and add about a tablespoon each of oregano and parsley
add about ½ tablespoon of chili powder (for now)
dash of cayenne pepper
chili powder and cayenne pepper amount varies depending on your tolerance … remember that after a day of being in the refrig, the spices tend to intensify
mix and cook over low heat
warm up the large tortillas
place some rice, bean mixture, cheese, salsa and sour cream in tortilla and wrap
for leftovers: mix rice in with beans (keeps the rice from getting dry) or make fresh rice when ready to eat again
recipe is easily doubled
I do simple roasted veggies a LOT:
2 small zucchini (or one large)
2 red peppers
1 large onion
some potatoes (number depends on size)
Wash and slice everything fairly thinly and uniformly–proportions of veggies (or types of veggies) can change to your preference. Dump it all in a 9×13 pan, glug some EVOO over it, and sprinkle with a little garlic powder (or toss in fresh chopped garlic), s & p, and oregano. Toss to coat, and cook for 45 minutes (more if you want), tossing every 15, in a 400 oven.
The first part takes about 10 minutes, and though it has to cook for a while, you can do other stuff while it’s in the oven–the checking and stirring adds up to maybe 3 more minutes, total. The onions carmelize, everything gets roasty-toasty, you can make enough for several meals at once, and its a one-pan deal–very little mess. And it keeps well for about 3 days.
Eat it as-is, with a little cheese, as omelet or quesadilla filling (my favorite), with a green salad, etc. As soon as it’s cool enough to use the oven, we do this all the time.
we do this with cauliflower and sweet potatoes … yum!! so good, it’s almost like candy – but good for you!! we also add a dash of cayenne to spice it up.
quiche is a good standby (if you eat eggs). it takes about 2 seconds to prep and maybe 30 to cook– i like to bake things cause i can shove them in the oven and do something else. it’s also a good way to use up what ever is left in the fridge (veggies, cheese, lunch meat, etc) & have easy lunches.
basic quiche:
-premade crust (i like the pillsbury roll up ones cause they store easily and create less waste)
-5 or so eggs
-1 cup o’ cheese
-veggies + meat if eating (a handful or two?)– asparagus, spinach, tomato, etc.
-a dash of milk or sour cream.
lay the crust in the pan. mix all other ingredients in a bowl and pour ‘em in. bake in the oven at 325 or 350 till it’s solid in the center (about 25 or 30 mins).
you also might like a magazine like everyday food. the recipies get repetitive, but are basic and remind me “Oh, i can cook that!” once a month.
i’ve been using my rice cooker to fix quick-and-easy one-pot meals.
a handful of brown rice
a handful of (uncooked) lentils
water and a veg bullion cube (low or NO sodium)
several large leaves kale or chard, stems removed, leaves chopped and well-cleaned
spices!
rinse the rice and lentils. put them in the rice cooker with the water.
add some spices. i tend to use IBZAR, aka “Gulf Spice”.
turn the cooker ON.
after 10 minutes, add the greens.
cook another 10-15 minutes, or just until everything is fully cooked.
ENJOY!
Wow, shawnee, I never thought to use my rice cooker that way–I love lentils. Our cookers are different (mines a veggie steamer with a rice cooker bowl/function; brown rice takes an hour), but it might work, anyway, if I set an extra timer to add the greens half-way though. Great idea, thanks
Ok I’m trying this tonight, as I finally got a rice cooker! :) Any further tips learned since you posted this last year?
pasta with chickpeas, lemon, greens, and olives:
1. throw into a bowl: juice of 1 or 2 lemons, can of chickpeas, handful of cut-up olives, a big dash of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
2. put water on for pasta of your choice. (lately, I’ve been really into Barilla Plus, not so intense as the whole wheat stuff, but supposedly packed with healthful omega-3s, etc: http://www.barillaus.com/home/Pages/Barilla_Plus.aspx)
3. saute garlic with chili flakes in lots of olive oil, then add chopped up kale or mustard greens or whatever hearty greens you like best. cook until bright green and wilted.
4. add chickpea concotion and heat until pasta is ready. mix everything together and serve with parmasen or feta (both are delicious options).
You can leave out the olives or add anchovies or do whatever you like. It’s a very flexible dish.
Oh my god. I just made this. It is, I think, the most amazing pasta dish I have ever eaten.
THANK YOU! :)
Also, I LOVE this Kale & Brown Rice dish, so easy and so full of wonderfulness!
Kale & Brown Rice with Kick!
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=11081
1 bunch kale, stems removed, chopped
1 cup brown rice
2 1/4 cups water
1 tbsp garlic/ginger/chili or 2 crushed garlic cloves, some dried chilies and a tsp crushed ginger
1 – 2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp hot oil or olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
Start the rice. Combine the brown rice, water, and garlic/ginger/chili (found in the produce section in little jars like the minced garlic.) If you can’t find that, just add a bit of crushed garlic, a few dried chili pepper flakes, and some crushed ginger. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook for 35-40 minutes. Meanwhile, steam the kale first in a tiny bit of water, when the water evaporates, add the oil, soy sauce, and chopped garlic. Stir fry until the kale and garlic are tender. Serve either with kale on top of a rice bed, or mix it together.
Hello! I’ve been kicking around an idea of a group that cooks quick and easy meals that are (almost completely) locally sourced. We pick a basic dinner–say pork chops, kale and squash–and everyone posts the recipe for how they made this meal. Is this something you’d be interested in? If yes, email me! I’ve got a few other local food bloggers interested.
Also, I sometimes jazz up Annie’s mac & cheese with sauteed veggies, very very quick and somewhat healthful and comforting after a tough day.
Me too – sort of. I jazz up organic vegan instant ramen with random greens and/or seaveggies.
My favorite quick, delicious, healthy meal with minimal processing and mostly local ingredients is veggies (and/or beans and/or grains) with miso-tahini.
This meal can be super easy or more time consuming, depending on your needs and desires. I keep a large jar of miso tahini (near equal volumes of miso paste & tahini mashed with just a little water) in the fridge at all times.
Easiest: raw bell pepper, tomato, etc and eat w/miso tahini spread
Still pretty easy: steam greens and/or bake winter squash and eat with miso tahini
Crazy yummy casserole that is just as good later in the week: cook all and any veggies, layer as you’d like in a casserole dish, maybe even with tempeh or beans. Top with a thinned out miso tahini and bake at an arbitrary temperature for however long – the top should be hot and maybe just a bit crispyish. I recently made this with roasted potatoes, sauteed leeks, steamed mixed greens (kale, turnip, beet), roasted eggplant, roasted mixed roots (beets, turnips, carrots), greens, miso tahini.
This isn’t necessarily fast, but can be made with any veggies you have on hand and is delicious the next day and the day after.
I’m adding this Red Quinoa Salad to the list– it is mindblowingly good (and easy too)!
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