The Tiny Choices Meal List, Revisited
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | July 19, 2011
We last had a Tiny Choices Meal List post back in 2007, and it was so incredibly helpful I thought it was time to revisit the idea.
The backstory is that sometimes I get into ruts where I just don’t know what to cook. Does this ever happen to you? Day after day, I know I need to be making good healthy meals, and not eating out as much as I tend to- yet, day after day, I get stuck on what exactly it is I should be making. For example, tonight I ended up eating a pot of pasta with sauteed mushrooms. Filling? Yes. Nutritious? Not at all.
The rules, such as they are: meals should be tasty, inexpensive, quick (45 minutes or less to prepare), and easily expanded to make leftovers for the week ahead or for the freezer. It can be vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, or somewhere in between, though even better if adaptable for all.
My most recent additions to this topic:
- Chickpea Salad Sandwich, which is so unbelievably good even die-hard omnivores ask me to make it
- Rice Cooker Meals, which I wrote about when I had a rice cooker, which I currently don’t. But the general method still stands, even when just using a regular ol’ cooking pot: cook brown rice; when that’s almost done, add a pre-cooked protein of choice (beans for me, perhaps something else for you); when that’s warm, add greens to steam up top- kale, collards, spinach, all work great.
- That’s about all I’ve got at the moment. Thus, this post.
Your turn: Dear Tiny Choosers, please post your quick ‘n easy meal ideas in the comments below!
[Image by Kelly Cree via Creative Commons]
Topics: Food | 2 Comments »
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I fall in and out of love with a lot of quick and easy meals. My new favorite is veggies and barley: boil some chopped vegetables until they’re cooked (I used a summer squash kind of like zucchini, carrots, and a green bell pepper last time I made it), and then throw in a liberal portion of a somewhat quick cooking whole grain (I used steel cut barley), turn off the heat, and let the boiling water cook the grain as the grain soaks up the excess water. Then I stick it in a bowl and add soy sauce to taste. It’s delicious, healthy, and takes virtually no prep time!
I hate to cook but love to eat, so one of my favorite go-to recipes is this simple soup:
Sauté 3 chopped garlic cloves and 4 sweet Italian sausages (casings removed) in olive oil; add 3 cups chicken broth, 1 head chopped escarole, and a parmesan rind; simmer 15 minutes. Add 1 can white beans, parmesan, and salt to taste. DONE!!!!! I typically double this and eat off it for a few nights.