Shrimp & Tofu faux Fried Rice

Shrimp & Tofu faux Fried Rice...I like to say that I am totally okay eating glop. Meaning I actually do not mind all of my food being all smooshed together. I know there are lots of people with serious aversions to this.. so if you are one of those folks, shield your eyes from the below image.

This was one of those, end of the week, throw it all together meals. On hand I had:

• Dozen and a half shrimp
• Half a block of firm tofu
• About 2-3 cups each of cooked quinoa & raw cauli rice
• 2-3 cups Trader Joe's Soyaki left in the bottle
• 1 bag of Trader Joe's shredded Brussels sprouts
• Edamame

I started by sauteing my Brussels in a bit of oil and 2 cloves minced garlic. While cooking I lightly fried up my tofu and gently cooked the shrimp until pink on both sides. Once the proteins were ready, I added them to the brussels saute and poured in my soyaki and let it get nice and hot and tasty! 

Lastly I added in the cauli rice and the quinoa to the simmering pot. I debated on serving it over these two or adding them in, but ultimately I got lazy and added them in. Hence the glop, with a sprinkle of edamame for some brightness and crunch. Luckily, roomie looked at said bowl of glop and said "This looks amazing!!!". I think I caught him at the perfect moment as the NFL draft was starting and he really wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to what was being served for dinner - but he seemed to wolf it down just fine!

Italian Sausage & Spiralized Zucchini Two Ways

Italian Sausage & Spiralized Zucchini Two Ways... Trusty ol' spiralizer made an appearance this week... actually last weekend. During my Sunday meal prep I spiralized oodles of zoodles... and squoodles?? Do we have a name for squash noodles? Anywho, 3 yellow squash and 3 zucchini, through the spiralizer and in a large Ziploc to use for two dinners throughout the week,

Come Monday & Wednesday I simply popped a couple of Trader Joe's Italian sausages in the oven and tossed my veggie noodles in my choice of sauce. The first rendition including pesto and the second Whole Foods Vodka. A sprinkle of parmesan and that was it. Easy peasy.

Chicken & Paneer Tikka Masala over Cauli Rice

Chicken & Paneer Tikka Masala over Cauli Rice.. So last Friday when I was walking home from work, ravenous and well aware that I was still multiple hours away from dinner, I decided I just HAD to stop at Whole Foods to get a snack. What ensued was the purchase of a snack as well as a block of Paneer. "Why?", you ask.... well so did I. Have you ever seen something at the grocery store that you know you have no current use for but you are so excited or interested in it you grab it simply because you know you want to make yourself use it sometime soon? Well that is basically the big answer to that Why here.

Anywho I gabbed this block of paneer figuring I'd buy the rest of the accouterments for the meal on Sunday in my normal shopping trip, and I did. At TJ's I grabbed a jar of their Tikka Masala sauce, I made sure to get an extra chicken breast for shredding on Sunday in the slow cooker, and lastly a head of cauliflower to make into cauli rice.

On Sunday when I was meal prepping for the week, I made a batch of cauli rice by removing the leaves, giving it a rinse and chopping it into golf ball sized pieces. Then I dropped them in the vitamix and let it turn into rice in just a few short pulses. Into the Tupperware it went until Tuesday night.

The goods...

Come Tuesday night I chopped the paneer into bite sized hunks and fried them in a bit of oil, just quickly over high heat for a minute or less on each side until golden (probably not necessary and more caloric but oh well). Next I removed the paneer and added my sauce to the hot pan. I let it come to a light bubble and added in my already shredded chicken as well as the paneer back in. I let it all meld together and get nice and hot. On the side I was sauteing some broccolini as well as lightly roasting (350 degrees for 10 minutes) the cauli rice on a baking sheet in the oven.

I plated it all together and my goodness didn't it look just like the Indian flag???

 I was also extremely pleased to have some leftovers to turn into a Dahlicious quinoa bowl for lunch the next day!!! I added a few large spoonfuls of quinoa & chick peas then layered on the leftovers and voila!

Sunday Lunch at Home: Lentils & Burrata

Sunday Lunch at Home: Lentils & Burrata... This was so simple and just basically using up things that needed to be used but it turned out soooo Dahlicious that I had to take pics and share.

I had a handful of assorted (mostly kalamata) olives that needed to be used, some heirloom grape tomatoes, half a ball of burrata, and TJ's lentils. The lunch basically became a big bowl of warm lentils topped with diced salty olives, bright tomatoes, and creamy burrata with a tiny drizzle of grapeseed oil to bring it all together. Voila!!

So COLORFUL!!!

The finished perfection

His & Hers Sunday Lunch

Homemade Quinoa Lunch Bowls for Work

Homemade Quinoa Lunch Bowls for Work... I have to confess that every week I struggle to figure out what to bring for lunch. I try to bring my lunch at least 4 days a week to be healthful and economical, but it's not easy. I would say you have to be really well organized and prepared at the beginning of the week, and you have to be OK with eating repetitive things, because creating something totally new each day is also hard. UNLESS you go the leftovers route which is a great route and trust me there are plenty of weeks where I just make extra dinner knowing it will be the next day's lunch. But for the last two weeks I have been making quinoa "bowls" if you will and they have been awesome! I have never been one who likes bringing salads, I just don't find them satisfying so this is a great alternative if you are like me and can't eat a bowl full of lettuce for lunch.

I start off by making a big batch of quinoa on Sunday. I have been doing about 2 cups of dry quinoa and that is plenty to last me the full week. Simply follow the instructions which likely include just bringing the quinoa and water (add better than bouillon or use chicken stock for more flavor) to a boil then on low for about 15-20 min covered until the water is gone. Store in some sort of sealed Tupperware,

I also make a batch of shredded chicken in the slow cooker. Pretty easy just 2-3 chicken breasts with a few cups of water (salt/pepper/seasoning for flavor). On high for 3-4 hours. Pull out the chicken, shred with two forks and store in some sort of sealed Tupperware.

Once you have those staples down, then pick the additions you'll add - so far mine have included:

• Trader Joe's Lentils (pop in the microwave, fluff, and store in Tupperware
• Chick Peas (Drain, rinse, dry, store in Tupperware)
• Cucumbers (chop/dice/slice to your preference, store in Ziploc or Tupperware)
• Radishes (chop/dice/slice to your preference, store in Ziploc or Tupperware)
• Fresh Spinach
• Avocado (I usually bring a whole one to work and chop it up at lunch time to add in so it doesn't get brown)
• Edamame (I generally grab the already shelled stuff at Trader Joe's to spoon in as needed)
• Tomato (I usually just throw in a handful of washed whole little cherry tomatoes)
• Cheese (Probably better a hard cheese like feta or Parmesan, but experiment!)
• Dressing (I have a favorite homemade dressing which includes grape seed oil, white balsamic vinegar, a squeeze of grainy mustard, salt, pepper, & dried oregano). I generally pack it in a mini Tupperware on the side to add at lunchtime.

I use a tall Tupperware to bring mine and so far it has worked out well. I basically just layer it all in there the night before and then give it a big old shake at work when I'm ready to devour it! Check out some pics below.... oh also how about these genius little guac cups from Whole Foods?? As a snack with little heirloom carrots - gorgeous!

4 days of carrots with guac!

4 days of quinoa

Spinach/quinoa/cukes/tomatoes/chicken/parmesan/dressing

Qunioa/edamame/radishes/chick peas/cukes/dressing

Quinoa/lentils/chicken/radishes/cukes/avocado/dressing

Seeduction Toasts

Seeduction Toasts... I struggle with bread at home. I LOVE good bread, but if it's around I'd be tempted to eat it, so I have to keep the stocking of that Dahlicious stuff to a minimum in my home. That being said, I like to have some sort of healthful bread option around especially for weekend mornings, when all I want is a hearty piece of toast with some yummy topping. I think I have found my perfect solution in the Seeduction loaf from Whole Foods. It is super dense and while it is soft it's full of these crunchy seeds and nuts that makes it super filling. I have found that it works well with both sweet and salty toppings which I am totally loving. On the flip side, it's not exactly Dahlicious enough to be tempted to slather it in butter and dunk it in some sauce or soup. Hence, my perfect solution.

B-fast toast with peanut butter & fruit

A bite of  raspberry, a bite of banana, repeat.

Afternoon toast with burrata and olives

Anytime toast wtih smashed avocado, lemon juice, salt

Avocado/lemon pepper toast,  up close & personal with the seeds

Asian Turkey Meatballs

Asian Turkey Meatballs... A little over a year ago I discovered the perfect turkey meatball recipe from Smitten Kitchen which I put to use in this post and this post. The inspiration for whipping them out this week was a combination of a recent food obsession (dumplings) and a recent health obsession (majorly reducing calories and carbs *sigh*) and so I pretty much decided to make a dough less dumpling soup. AKA an Asian Turkey Meatball Soup.... and then I had so many extra that I used them in a lunch and another dinner this week.

The soup itself was super simple, think broth, meatballs, veggies, garnishes - about 15 minutes in total. The most laborious part was the making of the meatballs but for me those types of tasks are somewhat therapeutic, so if you're like me then stock of up on the following ingredients and carve out some time on Sunday and become a mini meatball factory.

What I used:
1-1.5 lbs ground turkey (I had 1lb breast meat and .5lb thigh meat)
Fresh Grated Ginger (let's call it a small palmful)
Garlic (2-3 cloves minced or pressed in a garlic press)
Green onion (say 10 or so sprigs, finely chopped)
Soy Sauce (1/4 cup?)
1 egg
Panko Bread Crumbs (1/4 cup?)

How To:
In a large bowl whisk the egg and add the breadcrumbs, give it a swirl and let them meld for a few minutes. Once they become a paste add everything else and mix by hand. Once everything is evenly mixed, with wet hands, form the meat into balls (think golf ball size) and place on a baking sheet. I made 17 meatballs in total but mine were a bit bigger than golf balls - I also wasn't aiming for an exact amount so 17 worked for me.

Post chilling, ready to bowl into to perfect fluffy meatballs

If you're cooking them that day in soup pop them in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up - in this case I made these Sunday for soup on Monday so I let them sit covered in the fridge for a full 24 hours.

Come Monday night I boiled a pot of chicken stock (I always use Chicken Better then Bouillon) and pulled my meatballs and already chopped veggies out of the fridge. Once the stock came to a boil I added 6 meatballs - gently lowering them in on a large spoon. I let them cook for about 12 minutes at a low boil/semi vigorous simmer. Once they were about 3 minutes away from being fully cooked I added in about 2 handfuls each of my veggies: Napa cabbage and lacinato kale (pre-chopped and ziplocked on Sunday)

Boiling away!

Pre-chopped veggies

Almost ready....

I wanted the soup to feel like I was eating wonton soup so for me cabbage is quintessential, and the dark green of the kale made me feel like I was getting some good vitamins in there. Once everything was nicely cooked I ladled myself a hot bowl and topped it off with a squeeze of lime, additional diced green onion and a few sprinkles of sriracha for heat. It was Dahlicious and filling and satisfied the craving.

Dahliciousness

The next night I wanted to use up the rest of the meatballs but wasn't in a soup mood, so instead I popped the remaining guys (which were already on a baking sheet) in the oven at 350 for about 35 minutes. While cooking I sauteed my leftover kale and cabbage on the stove and steamed up some TJ's white rice. I served the meatballs and veggies over rice with a  splash of TJ's Soyaki and voila.

Sauteing the rest of the veggies night 2

Meatballs way 2

The last of the meatballs, which had been part of the oven roasting, were cut up into bite sized pieces and added to a container of quinoa to bring for lunch. I also brought some chopped cucumber, soyaki, and an avocado to assemble at work on Wednesday. That also proved to be totally Dahlicious and a great lunch option