Category: Main Dishes (Page 6 of 12)

White Bean Wraps

May 27, 2016 / Jenny / 12 Comments

Make dinner easy on yourself with these tasty and nutritious white bean wraps. Fresh thyme leaves and a tangy yogurt-lemon dressing add flavor to the comforting combination of long-grain brown rice, great northern beans, and melted mozzarella cheese. Add a handful of leafy greens, and you have a tortilla full of delicious vitamins, minerals, and protein. Serve these wraps with tortilla chips and your favorite salsa, and add avocado and other vegetables too. They are versatile and easy on the budget.

I am constantly striving for a balance between eating well and staying within a reasonable food budget. If left to my own devices, I am like a kid in a candy store when I go into places like Whole Foods or the little gourmet food shop I recently discovered. However, with many other things going on, staying within a reasonable food budget is a necessity and a challenge I enjoy, so when I find an inexpensive, healthy, and delicious meal, I keep it in our regular meal rotation. This white bean wrap recipe is one of those, and though it varies a little bit from week to week depending on which vegetables are in season, when it comes to taste and economy, the rice and bean combination always delivers.

Now that the weather has finally warmed up around here, I look forward to more and more fresh vegetables at the farm stands that dot the countryside around my home. Our black raspberries are looking promising so far, and my aunt recently gave me a bunch of rhubarb. I can’t wait to make a pie! Our screened-in porch is all cleaned up and ready, we will be eating out there as often as possible. Last night my husband and I sat out there and listened to the night noises–the insects and frogs, and looked at the stars.

I hope you all have a great weekend, and if you are in the U.S., enjoy a long Memorial Day weekend. A friend recently said to me, “I feel like the cold is finally out of my bones.” With the warm weather we’ve been having, I feel the same way, and it feels really welcome and really good. I hope you find time to relax, spend time with family or friends, get outdoors, and eat some really good food! I will be sharing this recipe over at Angie’s Fiesta Friday, along with some inspiring bloggers I admire.

White Bean Wraps

Servings: 4-6
Time: about 45-50 minutes
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Ingredients:

1 cup of long-grain brown rice, cooked
1 14-ounce jar or can of white beans (I used great northern beans)
1 cup of plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
a large handful of fresh greens (lettuce, kale, or any type of greens you prefer)
6 to 8 fajita-style tortillas (I used whole wheat ones)

Directions:

Cook the rice according to the package directions. While the rice is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients. In a small bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt and lemon juice. Wash the thyme and remove the thyme leaves from the stems. Place the shredded cheese in a small bowl. Wash and dry the greens and set them aside. I like to warm the tortillas (wrapped in foil) in a 160-degree oven while the rice is cooking, so they are warm and soft. In a small saucepan, gently warm the beans over very low heat.

Once the rice is done and everything else is ready, spoon some rice onto a tortilla. Top with some beans, thyme leaves, and shredded cheese. Then top with the Greek yogurt and greens, and wrap up the tortilla. Repeat until everyone is well fed. Serve with chips and salsa, and avocado and other vegetables if desired. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and warmed up easily. Enjoy!

Colorful Vegetable Chili

March 10, 2016 / Jenny / 14 Comments

This chili is as pleasing to the taste buds as it is to the eyes. Sweet potatoes, black beans, tomatoes, corn, lime juice and cilantro give each spoonful vibrant color, flavor, and nutrition. Serve it with some tortilla chips, sliced avocado, and shredded cheese, and you have a festive, healthy meal.

In a previous post, I mentioned a cookbook my husband somewhat recently bought, called Thrive Energy Cookbook, by Brendan Brazier. This chili recipe I am sharing below is based on a recipe in that book, though I did change and substitute a few things. The flavor of the this chili is absolutely rich and warm-tasting, with a subtle zing from the lime juice. My son, who normally won’t go near a sweet potato, even likes it, and my husband loves it. All the vegetables blend together beautifully.

It really is a good meal to have right now, in early March, when we are longing for color, but our gardens have not caught up to that longing yet. And though our snow has all melted and it has warmed up some, it is still cold and damp enough outside to appreciate a nice warm bowl of chili.

Speaking of gardens and color, I did see some crocus and daffodil shoots poking up just above the soil in our yard yesterday. Spring is coming, though here in Michigan I’m sure we have some cold days ahead of us before spring really settles in.

Until then, there is the fresh wind, the brighter sun, the earthy smell of the wet ground as it prepares itself for new growth. I saw some red-winged blackbirds the other day–one of the first signs that spring is coming. Soon we’ll be looking for fresh greens and asparagus!

For now, it is the perfect time to tromp around in my favorite boots through mud and wet undergrowth, cleaning up the yard or hiking down to the lake. My friend and I came across these beautiful milkweed pods on a walk the other day.

If you are longing for spring, but still shivering in the evenings, this chili has just the right amount of warmth and bright color to cheer you up and nourish your body for challenges ahead. I hope you all have a great weekend! There is a Fiesta Friday going on at Angie’s blog, co-hosted this week by Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook and Aspara @ Eating Well Diary. If you are looking for food inspiration or to find great blogs, it’s a great place! I’m looking forward to checking it out!

Colorful Vegetable Chili

Servings: 5-7
Time: about 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes simmering time
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Ingredients:

3 cups of sweet potatoes, cubed
2 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil
1 cup of sweet onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of chili powder (more if desired)
2 teaspoons of ground cumin (more if desired)
3 cups of tomatoes (fresh, or if canned, I like the San Marzano kind), quartered
2 cups of corn (fresh or frozen)
2 cans (14 oz cans) of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 to 1/2 cup of lime juice (about 2 to 3 limes’ worth)
1 cup of vegetable broth (I like to add a cup of water and a teaspoon of the Better than Bouillon vegetable base)
1 handful of cilantro leaves, stems removed
shredded Cheddar cheese for topping (optional)
sliced avocado for topping or garnish
tortilla chips

Directions:

Wash and cube the sweet potatoes. Place them in a large pot. Cover the sweet potatoes with salted water, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until just barely tender (about 6 minutes, depending on the size of the cubes). Drain and rinse with cold water. (If desired, transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking, and drain again.) Set aside.

In the same large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook until the onions are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and cumin and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, black beans, lime juice, and vegetable broth. Simmer gently, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, at medium-low heat. Add a little more water if the mixture is too thick.

Spoon the chili into bowls and top with cilantro and shredded Cheddar cheese (if desired). Serve with sliced avocado and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from the Thrive Energy Cookbook by Brendan Brazier

Tempeh, Vegetables and Noodles

January 15, 2016 / Jenny / 8 Comments

Tempeh is marinated and baked in a tangy sauce made of soy sauce, honey, garlic, and ginger, then combined with stir-fried vegetables and noodles. This makes a delicious, comforting, and healthy meal.

In keeping with my desire to eat nutritious meals as part of the New Year and a fresh start, I am sharing a recipe for a delicious vegetarian meal using tempeh. Until recently, I have struggled with using tempeh, because without the right flavorings, it can taste really bland to me. Yet I know it is such a good source of protein, and from a great source–soy. Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans, and the whole beans are retained and softened during the fermenting process, making tempeh easier for us to digest than other forms of soybeans.

Therefore, I was SO happy when I found this delicious marinade, which I adapted from one I found on allrecipes.com. I changed some things, like using honey instead of maple syrup, powdered ginger instead of fresh, and I used less tempeh but kept the same amount of sauce, because I wanted to be able to drizzle the sauce over the whole dish, making it warm and comforting with every bite. This sauce is so good, I will use it with other meals as well!

The past week, we got some snow. The birds at our birdfeeder have been eating their seed like crazy, leaving their tiny footprints all over the yard and front porch steps. In winter, when the outdoor landscape is bleak, certain things stand out to us more, like little birds or little bird footprints. The comfort of a warm bowl of tempeh, vegetables, and noodles in a tangy sauce tastes that much more comforting on a cold winter day. The contrasts are starker and more noticeable in winter, and we experience things more strongly. It makes me think of a quote by one of my favorite writers, Virginia Woolf: “Never are voices so beautiful as on a winter’s evening, when dusk almost hides the body, and they seem to issue from nothingness with a note of intimacy seldom heard by day.” That reminds me to turn off the lights and eat by candlelight tonight. I hope you all have a great weekend, and stay warm! I am going to make it to Fiesta Friday today, co-hosted this week by the wonderful Julie @ Hostess at Heart and Elaine @ Foodbod.

Tempeh with Vegetables and Noodles

Servings: 2-4
Time: 2 hours to marinade, and about 30 minutes to bake and prepare
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Ingredients:

For the marinade:

1/4 cup of soy sauce (I use reduced-sodium)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of honey
1/2 teaspoon of dried, ground ginger
1/4 cup of water

For the rest of the meal:

8 ounces of tempeh, sliced into thin slabs
2 tablespoons of olive oil, plus another 2 tablespoons for the vegetables
12 ounces of your choice of noodles
2 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 cups of broccoli flowerets, chopped

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients for the marinade sauce and stir vigorously until all combined. In a 9 inch by 9 inch baking dish (or something similar), pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Place the slices of tempeh on top of the oil in the baking dish, then pour the marinade over the tempeh. Cover with foil, refrigerate, and marinate for about 2 hours.

When the tempeh is done marinating, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the tempeh, covered with foil, in your oven for 20-30 minutes. Then raise the temperature to 375 degrees. Take the foil off of the tempeh and let it bake for another 10-15 minutes, till it becomes golden brown.

When you take the foil off of the tempeh, bring a large pot of water to boil, and cook your noodles according to package directions. Drain the noodles. While the tempeh is finishing baking and the noodles are cooking, heat a wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in two tablespoons of olive oil, and stir-fry the vegetables until just tender, about 5-10 minutes. Pull the tempeh out of the oven. Arrange the noodles and vegetables in bowls. Top with pieces of tempeh, and spoon the desired amount of sauce from the tempeh baking dish over the meal. Enjoy!