Another Week of Menus

I like the kitchen, but it's nice to spend time in other rooms, too. One fun thing is to make lunch while making dinner. Of course, regular leftovers for lunch is always an option, but it can also be fun to create a different meal using the same ingredients.

Here is another week of menus I created for our CSA (community-supported agriculture), featuring ways to make lunch while you are making dinner. Being for the CSA, they are produce-rich. Below are the lunch and dinner main courses. This is just the bento part and assumes you have other sides to send as well.

These are suggestions to get you started, using foods I commonly cook, so some are similar to the previous week of menus. You can do the same with the foods your family likes. There are a few recipes at the bottom for the starred menu items. Happy eating!

Dinner: Stir fry with short-grain white rice and green salad. Lunch: Sushi rolls with cabbage salad and edamame. 

Put on the rice to cook, and boil water for edamame. These can cook while you prep vegetables. When they are done, drain well, then salt. Set aside.

While chopping vegetables for stir fry, chop up a little extra cabbage and carrot to make a small cabbage salad to serve with the sushi. Dress lightly with mayo or sushi vinegar*. Also, cut anything you might want to put in the sushi, such as thin strips of carrot, cucumber or avocado. You can also simply mince up some leftover stir fry to use as a filling.

As soon as the rice is cooked, set some aside for the sushi rolls, about 1 cup per roll. Season with sushi vinegar*. Either now or after dinner, make the sushi rolls using vegetables from dinner, strips of tofu, or tuna salad made for the purpose. Cut the sushi rolls in half. Pack two half rolls plus a little container of salad in each sandwich box. Put the edamame in a separate container, or use them to fill any spaces in the sandwich box.

Dinner: Black bean soup, green salad. Lunch: black bean salad* with corn, tomatillo salsa* and red peppers. (For omnivores you could put chicken in the salad or a piece of sausage on the side.) 

If you're using dry beans, cook them, then set 2 cups of drained beans aside to cool. While you are finishing the soup, cut the corn off the cob and dice the red pepper. You could also add some diced celery and/or carrot. Stir in 1 cup of tomatillo salsa. Pack into individual small lunch containers. Put tortillas or chips in a separate container.

Dinner: Roasted vegetables, sausages, cole slaw. Lunch: Torte*, cole slaw.
While the vegetables roast, beat a few eggs with a little salt and milk, and grease a 10-inch cast-iron skillet. When the vegetables are roasted, put some aside for the torte. Leave the oven on; turn it down to 325. Roughly chop the roasted vegetables, mix them with the eggs, then pour it all into the skillet. (If you have leftover cooked spinach, zucchini or broccoli, that could be added as well.) Let it bake in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes--while you have dinner! Before serving dinner, put aside some cole slaw for lunch. After dinner, let the torte cool while you clean up. Pack slices of cooled torte into a sandwich box, along with a little container of cole slaw, and a piece of leftover sausage, if any escaped.

Dinner: Enchilada casserole with GF sauce*, steamed green beans, green salad. Lunch: enchiladas, green bean salad.

I prefer to layer the enchilada ingredients rather than roll. You can fill them with grated cheese, black beans, corn, cooked meat, or whatever your family likes. Since you will be serving this for lunch at room temperature, avoid greasy beef or anything that has solid fat at room temperature. (If you have black-bean salad or tomatillo salsa left from the other day, you can use it here.) Put aside a little of the sauce to send with lunch.

While the casserole bakes, steam the beans. Dress some in butter for dinner. Dress the lunch beans with vinaigrette, or simply with olive oil and salt, because butter is greasy when it's cold. When the casserole is done, allow it to cool for about 10 minutes, then put aside the portions you will need for lunch. If you cut them first, you can make sure the lunch portions are presentable; by the end of dinner, a casserole can get a little funky looking. Pack the casserole slices right into the sandwich boxes with the green beans on the side. The tortillas in the casserole soak up the sauce, so your diner will appreciate that you packed a little extra sauce as well.

Dinner: Black-eyed pea soup with ham hocks and bread. Lunch: Akara* with chopped vegetable salad.
Soak enough black-eyed peas for both dishes. Put 3 cups of soaked beans into the bowl of the food processor for akara. Put the rest in the soup pot with the ham hock and let them cook. 

Meanwhile, chop vegetables for the soup, putting a small portion of each vegetable into a bowl for the raw salad. Some suggestions for soup would be celery, onion, carrot, tomato, peppers, zucchini, beets, celeriac and parsnips; you can use similar vegetables for the salad. They don't have to be the same. Also add about a half cup to a cup of chopped onion and a half a cup of chopped pepper to the soaked black-eyed peas food processor bowl. 

The beans should be simmering by now. Add chopped vegetables to the the soup pot (along with any leftovers from earlier in the week that might be good in the soup). Chop some parsley and/or cilantro; add some to the soup and some to the food processor. Dress the salad with vinaigrette and put it aside. While the soup finishes cooking, make the akara. Cool the akara, then put into sandwich boxes; add a silicone muffin cup with the vegetable salad. Include a container of catsup or other dip. By now the soup should be cooked; season to taste and serve.

RECIPES

Sushi Rice

1/4 cup of Japanese rice vinegar (I sometimes use white balsamic or apple cider)
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt

Add enough to your rice to give it flavor, but not enough to make it soggy. I usually quadruple the recipe and keep it on hand. It keeps fine on the counter.

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillos, onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt. Quarter enough tomatillos to half-fill your food processor bowl. Add a small quartered onion and a handful of cilantro. Pulse to chop; leave some texture. Season with lime juice and salt. Yum! It will be a bit watery; that's normal. Serve on EVERYTHING. This would be good in the enchilada casserole, with the black-eyed pea soup, or the akara.
 
Black Bean Confetti Salad

Black beans, fresh corn, carrots or red pepper, tomatillo salsa. Drain the beans, mince the carrot or red pepper, and cut the corn off the cob. Mix together. Add salsa to taste, and extra salt if desired. Yum! Use up leftover salad in the enchilada casserole.

Torte

3 cups roasted vegetables, or 1 large zucchini
1 medium onion, chopped
3 eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
Wash and trim zucchini, if using; steam in hot salted water for 10 minutes; drain and cool. Saute onion in olive oil. Dice the cooked vegetables. Beat eggs and mix in bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and seasonings. Add vegetables and onions and mix well. Turn into greased 8x8 baking dish and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Cool well.

Faux Enchilada Sauce, Gluten-Free (sorry this is not a real recipe)

tomato (sauce, diced, puree, paste, whatever)
canned chipotles in adobo, to taste
olive oil
garlic
onion
chili powder (or paprika, cumin and oregano)
salt
tiny pinch of cinnamon

Put everything into the food processor. You may sautee the onions and garlic first if you like. If using tomato paste, add water. Blend and taste. Use.

Akara (adapted from congocookbook.com)

What you need

• three cups soaked black-eyed peas or similar
• one small onion, quartered
• one-half teaspoon salt
• hot chile pepper, or a piece of sweet green pepper or sweet red pepper, roughly chopped
• cayenne pepper or red pepper (to taste)
• one-half teaspoon fresh ginger root, peeled and minced (optional)
• vegetable oil for frying

What you do

• Pulse beans, onions peppers and salt in food processor until you have a paste.
• Heat oil in a deep skillet. Make fritters by scooping up a spoon full of batter and using another spoon to quickly push it into the hot oil. Deep fry the fritters until they are golden brown. Turn them frequently while frying. (If the fritters fall apart in the oil, stir in a beaten egg, some cornmeal or crushed breadcrumbs.)
• Serve with an African Hot Sauce or salt, as a snack, an appetizer, or a side dish.
• Variation: Add a half cup of finely chopped leftover cooked meat to the batter before frying; or add a similar amount dried shrimp or prawns.