Tag

rice

Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Main Dishes Quick and Easy Vegetarian

Asparagus Tofu Green Curry

written by Ali

We’ve been moved into our new place for almost three weeks now and I’m almost at a point where I can sort of find enough of my cooking utensils to make my lunch – this asparagus tofu green curry. I’m really happy about having a full week of lunch. The last two weeks, I’ve done a combination of leftovers and the occasional Amy’s frozen entrée – fine, but not optimal. We’ve been spending a lot of time just trying to figure out the basics, like where to shop for groceries and who has the best produce. The farmer’s market where we live is held on Wednesdays, and, theoretically, I could make it to the market and back on my lunch break. And once I’ve been on the job for more than a few weeks, this might go from theoretical to reality. For now, however, I’m making the most of our natural foods co-op’s produce section.

I’ve made variations on this asparagus tofu green curry in the past. It’s a versatile recipe – you could throw just about any veggie in here, as well as could add chicken instead of tofu. You could also make your own green curry, but given that I can’t find anything, including my immersion blender, I went with store bought.

I used a half-block of extra firm tofu for this asparagus tofu green curry. I went through the process of actually pressing and draining it to get it a bit firmer and then browned the cubes in olive oil in our cast iron pan. I froze the other half of the block of tofu – no idea what I’m going to do with it. I probably could have used the whole thing for this recipe, but I didn’t want a disproportionate amount of tofu to asparagus. I’m weird about things like that.

Here’s to a well-fed week.

Daisy thought the asparagus tofu green curry smelled great!

Yum

Asparagus Tofu Green Curry

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ block of extra firm tofu, pressed and drained, and cut into 2 inch cubes
½ pound of asparagus, cut into 1 or 2 inch pieces
3 teaspoons of green curry paste
1 can of low-fat or lite coconut milk
2 cups cooked rice

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet or non-stick skillet. Brown the tofu on at least two sides. Move the tofu aside and add the asparagus. Saute for two-three minutes.
In a saucepan, combine the green curry paste and coconut milk. Heat to a low simmer and add the tofu and asparagus. Simmer for 3 minutes.
Serve over rice.
Serves 4. Enjoy!

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May 15, 2017 0 comment

Lunch Recipes Quick and Easy Vegetarian

White Bean Avocado Wrap

written by Ali

Sometimes it’s good to have a quick lunch recipe on hand, like this white bean avocado wrap. Looking at my calendar, I already know it’s going to be a very busy week, with just two days when I’ll have time for lunch at my desk. As I was thinking about food prep this week, I also thought it might be a good time to do a little cupboard clean out. We have plenty of rice, several cans of Great Northern White Beans, and a couple of avocados that are just ripe. Toss in some cilantro and lime and throw it all in a tortilla and lunch comes together in a short period of time.

I love jasmine rice. It’s the perfect filler for my white bean avocado wrap. It’s so light and fluffy and pretty. You could definitely make these with brown rice as well, though I have to confess brown rice is not my favorite grain. It’s so…grainy.

White beans get gently mashed and get spread on the tortilla first. Avocado goes next and then rice covers it all. then it gets wrapped up and either wrapped in parchment paper or foil and goes into the fridge for the next day’s lunch.

The Great Northern White Beans add a great non-meaty, meaty texture to the white bean avocado wrap. Serve with a spinach salad and a few mandarin oranges and you’ll be set for the day.

Yum

White Bean Avocado Wrap

Ingredients

4 white or whole wheat tortillas
2 cans Great Northern White Beans or cannellini beans
2 avocados
2 cups cooked white rice
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
juice from one lime
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Drain and rinse the beans. Gently mash with a fork, leaving some beans whole.
Spread 1/4 of the beans on each tortilla in the middle. Split open the avocados and scoop out the avocado, 1/2 of each avocado spread on each tortilla.
Add the chopped cilantro, the juice from the lime, and the salt to the rice and stir to incorporate. Heap 1/2 cup of the rice over the avocado and beans on each tortilla. Fold the top and bottom of the tortilla toward the middle, over the rice/avocado/bean mix. Fold each side in and roll so that you have a tight wrap.
Enjoy! Serves 4 and can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for a couple of days.

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This post is linked up to Tinned Tomatoes Meat Free Monday. Check it out!

It’s also linked up to Meatless Monday, co-hosted by Confessions of a Mother Runner and A Whisk and Two Wands.

February 20, 2017 3 comments

Farmer's Market Freezer Meals Lunch Recipes Vegetarian

Spring Saag Paneer

written by Ali

One of my favorite freezer lunch meals is saag paneer. Saag is typically made with some kind of green – in most Indian restaurants, you’ll find it with spinach. However, a few years ago, I came across a recipe for saag paneer that was made out of chard, and since then, I’ve been experimenting with various kinds of greens, particularly this time of year when spinach, chard, and other greens are in abundance at the farmer’s market.

As I mentioned in a previous post, there is another vegetable that is abundant this time of year – the hakurei turnip. I first encountered these in a CSA basket and fell in love with their radish size white globes and sharp turnip taste. My favorite preparation of these is a refrigerator pickle, but then I’m always left with the dilemma of what to do with the greens. Most root vegetable greens are edible, and I’ve experimented widely with radish greens, carrot greens, and beet greens. I have one go-to recipe for the hakureis that uses the entire vegetable, but didn’t want to go to that effort this week. Instead, I decided to use the hakurei greens, in combination with some chard, to make saag paneer. Given that I was missing some of the spices I might usually use making saag paneer, I was pleasantly surprised by how spicy the turnip greens make this dish. This is a lunch that freezes exceptionally well.

Spring Saag Paneer
Serves 3 or 4

1 package paneer
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch Hakurei turnip greens or other similar greens (radish greens would also work well)
½ bunch chard or kale
1 teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cardamom
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup heavy cream
3 or 4 cups cooked rice

Cube the paneer. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a cast iron or non-stick skillet. When the oil is hot, put in the paneer and brown on both sides (about five minutes per side on medium heat). Meanwhile, chop the garlic finely and sauté in a medium saucepan in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Chop the chard/kale and turnip greens coarsely.

When paneer is browned, turn off the skillet and set aside. Add the greens to the garlic in the saucepan and cook until they are wilted. Add the spices and salt and combine. Add the paneer and cook for a few minutes to combine flavors. Add the heavy cream and cook for another minute over low heat.

Serve over cooked rice.

This post is linked to the No Waste Food Challenge at Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary.

May 17, 2016 1 comment