Engine 2 Challenge: What’s For Dinner? Meals in a Flash

-by Lisa C from Whole Foods Market, Lake Calhoun

A common challenge when changing to eating the whole foods, plant strong way is finding time to cook.  After all, most vegetables aren’t always ready in their whole state – they need rinsing, chopping, dicing and slicing.  All that before they hit the salad bowl or the stove top.

Throughout my life, one of the biggest determining factors in any success has been a good planning process.  My current weekly planning process for healthy eating takes about 4 hours, and it includes:

• 1 hour for planning meals.

o   This involves mapping out breakfast, lunch and dinner on a simple grid for all days of the week.  I reference my schedule and social engagements and consider those with the planning process.  I check the pantry and create a grocery list.

• 1 hour for grocery shopping.

o   I put everything in the order of the grocery aisles, starting with produce first.

• 1-2 hours for advance food prep .

o   I usually make one or two main dishes to package and freeze in individual servings.  Last week I made sweet potato lasagna and raspberry lemon tofu cream for parfaits.

o   Rinse and chop vegetables to put into covered containers for snacking and adding to salads and other dishes.

o   Wash and dry salad greens.

o   Steam leafy greens.

o   Make a salad dressing.

This process, along with a well stocked pantry, really seems to work well.  We always have something to eat when I don’t have the time or energy to figure something out.

Sometime, however, the reality is that there isn’t an extra four hours in my week to plan. So, on those weeks I rely on healthy convenience foods from my pantry and freezer to get me through. One of my favorite healthy convenience foods that make it on my menus frequently is our 365 Everyday Value Frozen Brown Rice.  Ready in less than two minutes, it beats waiting the typical forty minutes for brown rice to cook.  I often use it to create healthy brown rice bowls during the week that are ready in less than ten minutes.

 

Here are a couple of my favorites:

Lisa’s Brown Rice Bowls in Minutes

Asian Style

• 2 cups 365 frozen brown rice, cooked
• Peanut sauce (recipe below)
• 2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli, steamed or cooked
• 2 carrots, shredded
• ½ red bell pepper, chopped
• 2-3 portions of Teriyaki tofu, chopped (optional)
• 2 scallions, chopped
• ¼ cup almonds, roughly chopped (optional)

Cook brown rice according to package directions.  Make peanut sauce.  Mix rice & sauce together.

Mix broccoli, carrots, bell pepper & tofu into rice mixture.  Divide into serving bowls.  Top with chopped scallions and almonds.  Serves 2.

E2 Peanut Sauce

• 4 T. creamy peanut butter
• 2 T. apple cider vinegar
• 1 T. water
• 3 T. agave nectar or maple syrup

Mexican Style

• 2 cups brown rice, cooked
• 1 tsp. dried cumin
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• ½ bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 can black beans, rinsed/drained
• ½-1 cup chopped red pepper
• 1 cup corn, fresh or frozen (thawed)
• 1 tomato, chopped
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• ½-1 cup salsa
• ½ avocado, chopped

Cook brown rice according to package directions.  Stir in cumin, oregano and fresh cilantro.  Divide rice between two bowls.  Layer ingredients in order listed,  Serves 2. Ole!

Here’s a little help to inspire you to make your own “mighty bowls”, using whole grains, plant proteins and vegetables.

Mighty Bowls of Goodness

Create a colorful, nutritious and delicious one-dish meal.

Here’s an easy—and filling—way to mix and match the bounty of the season into a big bowl of mighty goodness. Choose your favorite bean and grain, and then add in veggies, greens and spices.

Quick Tip: Start your week by pre-cooking your favorite grain and bean varieties and prepare a selection of veggies. With those bases covered you can assemble these mighty bowls in a flash.

Whole grain or Starchy VeggieCooked  ½-1 cup	BeanCooked  1-cup	GreensLightly steamed or raw  1 cup	VeggiesRoasted, lightly steamed or raw  ½-1 cup	Herbs & Spices   To taste	Condiments or Sauces   2 tablespoons or to taste
Rice: brown, red, wild  Quinoa Millet Whole-wheat couscous Buckwheat Kamut®: wheat, spelt Barley   Sweet or other potato Baked or steamed Mashed or cubed   Butternut or other winter squash Baked or steamed Mashed or cubed   Whole-grain pasta: wheat, corn, rice	Red beans: kidney, adzuki (aduki)    White beans: cannellini, navy   Green: split pea, lima   Lentils: brown, black, green   Soybeans: tofu, tempeh	Kale: all varieties  Collards Bok Choy Chard Spinach Cabbage   Watercress Lettuces: any Sprouts: any	Broccoli  Brussels sprouts Asparagus Carrots Cauliflower Mushrooms Onions Corn Peas Artichokes Peppers Tomatoes	All dried spices  All fresh herbs Parsley Cilantro Basil Ginger Garlic Chives Green onions Chilies Nutritional yeast Nori Cayenne	Fresh salsas  Hot sauces Lemon juice Lime juice   Oil-free dressing of your choice: creamy or vinegar based   Vinegars: plain or infused   Tamari

For more time saving inspiration, please see this blog entry by Jen from Whole Foods Market, St.Paul, on how to stock and freeze your way to quick nutrient dense meals.