RECIPES: What the Happy Nurse & I Are Eating This Week! Soups, Falafels, Parsnip Fries, Quinoa Salad, Zucchini Hummus, Mac & Cheese, Chocolate Chia Pudding & MORE!!!

Well I'm super excited about our food plan for this week!  What I've made so far has been delicious (with only one minor kitchen disaster:-))!  I've happily tried a bunch of new, very simple recipes from the Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook (which I FINALLY got from Amazon this week after being back ordered since December!!).  No time for bulk cooking again due to my call schedule.


What do YOU have on your food plan for this week?!  Any recipe ideas to share?

Dinner Monday Night :-)
Spinach & Dried Cranberries
Homemade baked tortilla chips &
 Gluten-Free Crackers
Homemade tahini-free hummus & veggies
Tarragon Rice w/ Kalamata olive
Ambrosia

On top of a busy clinical week, I have an exam on Friday (yes, Doctors continue to have exams forever--we have to retake our specialty board exams every 5-10 years in order to continue to be described as "board certified!")  For me, this time its an important mock Board exam as I'm nearing the end of my specialty training.  Thus, I'm throwing in a bunch of familiar favorites this week to keep the pressure off as I study!  That said, I need variety to keep my disease of compulsive overeating at bay--so I've also chosen a few simple new recipes AND used the slow cooker!    

Soups:  (Slow Cooker, YAY!)

My FAV:  The Healthy Librarian's version of Robin Robertson's Sweet Potato, Spinach, Fire-Roasted Tomatoes, and a Bit of Peanut Butter Soup:  Tried it in the slow cooker this time and it worked beautifully.  Just threw everything but the oat milk and the spinach in at first and then right before taking it off the heat I transferred it to a big pot and added the oat milk & spinach & cooked for about 3 mins.  YUMM.  I like a little more spinach in the soup so this time in addition to the fresh spinach I added a bunch of frozen spinach too.  I also cut the sweet potatoes up into tiny cubes instead of big ones--just a preference thing.  I think more flavor soaks in!


My Own Split Pea Soup:  Yes I'm biased but I love this.  Basically I put 4 cups (one box) of Vegetable Broth in, a lot of green split peas (enough so I can see them about 1 inch under the surface of the broth), 2 chopped up carrots, 2 celery stalks chopped and two bay leaves.  Literally thats it!  SO good!


Black Bean & Salsa Soup from The Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook!  Can't wait to make this--another extremely easy recipe using canned salsa!


Chana Saag (not a soup but a slow cooker recipe!) from the  Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester--I LOVE Indian food & I love spinach so this dish is perfect!  Really looking forward to this!


Main Dishes

Falafels from the Party Vegan by Robin Robertson:  Ok these were amazing and super healthy.  I didn't fry them in oil, instead I used a bit of spray oil on both sides of each patty & it tasted great!  I think the key is processing the chickpeas into a fine powder, refrigerating per her instructions and not skipping out on the fresh parsley (don't use dry).


Healthy Girl's Kitchen's Butternut Mac & Cheese:  Going to do this AWESOME looking dish (and one of my recipes of the week on the Best of the Blogosphere post) this weekend after the exam is over!


Lemon Basil Pasta from The Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook!  Made this two days ago.  SO easy and super yummy except for one small disaster--I added a ton of dried basil instead of fresh.  Not as yummy as it could be I'm afraid!  Next time it'll be fresh basil!  I love that this is oil-free and basically uses lemon juice as a sauce :-)


Curried Quinoa Salad from The Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook!  I love Quinoa and I love curry--hello awesome lunch (with the perfect balance of all essential amino acids).


Sandwich Spreads, Snacks & Side Dishes


Lentil Spread--still haven't made it--like I said, crazy week! I LOVE this spread though and talked about it last week.  Its on the docket to be made tonight. 


Parsnip Fries with Roasted Tomato Ketchup from My New Roots:  Can't wait to make these!  She made them with parsley root--first of all, I have no idea what that is and second of all, we have a bunch of parsnip in the fridge and she said we could substitute with parsnip!  I'm going to alter the recipe a bit by forgoing the canola oil thing in favor of a little bit of spray oil.  On the roasted tomato ketchup front I've cheated and bought a can of roasted tomatoes!!  Ah time saving techniques!


Zucchini-Almond Hummus from Choosing Raw.  This looks amazing and I'm really enjoying this new (to me) blog!  (Thanks Wendy for the rec!)

Green Olive & Sundried Tomato Biscotti from the Party Vegan by Robin Robertson:  Repeat effort as promised to reduce the oil in the recipe--I've now gotten it down from 3 Tbl to 1 Tbl and am delighted to report that it is still just as delicious!  Next time, no oil, only water!  This time around I saved time by skipping the crushing the pine nuts step and threw them in whole!  It worked great :-)

Spiced Rice-Lentil Squares from Susan Voisin's Fat Free Vegan Kitchen:   Ok so I made a kitchen error with this one and used long grain brown rice instead of short grain--the result--it completely (and I mean completely) fell apart when I was baking it--nothing to stick it together & the chia egg wasn't enough.  (by the way first time using a chia egg and I loved it!!!)  So instead I poured the cooked mixture into a bowl and ate it cold as a salad.  Oh OH SO yummy!!  The spices were perfect--very Persian.  Ah kitchen improvisation!


Cool Slaw from "Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz:  This was recommended by a reader and wow was she spot on!  Easy due to the store bought bagged shredded cabbage and carrots (coleslaw kt)


Desserts!!! (not a regular category for us but I'm feeling like some this week!)

Chocolate Chia Pudding by Susan Voisin from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen:  Ok so this was extraordinarily good!!!!!!!!  I can't even explain how good!  I had no idea that you could use chia seeds (a great source of Omega-3's) this way!  If you like the consistency of tapioca pudding you will LOVE this!

Ambrosia by Susan Voisin from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen:  Once again SO delicious.  I just finished the last of it and can't wait to make more.  I loved that she just peeled the orange and chopped it up--no intricate peeling of the individual slices.  The pineapple really add a lot to this dish!


Post Punk Kitchen's recipe for Raspberry Truffle Brownies: Making these as a treat after the exam.  Will need to eat and give away the rest immediately as my husband can't have sweets in the house.  See my post for my ideas on how to alter the sugar aspect.

Ok that's all folks!  Enjoy! Oh!  And let me know if you have any ideas for recipes for Spaghetti Squash!  I've had one sitting on the shelf for awhile!! 


The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.  Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site.  By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.

RECIPES: What the Happy Nurse & I Are Eating This Week! Curries Galore, Sri Lankan Kale, Butternut Coconut Rice, Quinoa Puttanesca, Winter Slaw & More!

Ok!  Well its been a crazy week (another family member in the hospital--now discharged thank goodness!) and no time to mass cook!  For most of the week, I've been coming home and chopping a few things here and there and throwing it in the slow cooker (the 3-in-1 slow cooker of course!)!!  At least I did our meal planning and we got the grocery shopping done before the week began so I have everything on hand!!  


What we've made food-wise this week has been SUPER yummy so far!  My husband, the Happy Nurse, got a cookbook for Christmas called "Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz."  Therefore, this cookbook features prominently in our plan for this week!  So far, the curries I've made from this cookbook have been really good!!  


Here is what the Happy Nurse & I are eating this week:

Soups & Curries 
1) Aztec Corn Soup from  The Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay Nixon:  As if we couldn't get enough of this delicious soup with a Mexican kick, we're making more for this week!! Its an incredibly healthy soup thanks to the ingenious use of quinoa as a main ingredient!  Great balanced protein source & gives it a nutty taste--yum!
2) Eggplant-Chickpea Curry: Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: I haven't tasted this yet but it smelled really good cooking!  Instead of the Chickpeas, I accidently thawed the Canelloni beans we had cooked & frozen so I used those!  Instead of fresh tomatoes which are out of season, I used "Fire-Roasted"diced canned tomatoes.  Delicious!)

3) 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma: Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz:  took this for lunch today--the sauce is SO good!  I forgot to buy cauliflower so I used broccoli instead & I threw in some parsnips as well since we had some!  I used the Healthy Librarian's trick substitution for coconut milk (since it is so high in saturated fat!)--I added a teaspoon of coconut extract to oat milk instead!  At let me tell you, I cannot taste a difference--yay Debby!
4) Red Lentil & Root Veggie Dal:  Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: haven't made this yet but I've got all the ingredients!  For all of these curries we got the garam masala, etc spices from our local Indian foods shop.  We get all the regular spices and our dried beans/grains from our local health food shop where we can buy in bulk from bins!  Super super cheap!


Main Dishes
1) Healthy Girl's Kitchen's Sri Lankan Kale:  I've been wanting to make this for WEEKS, I just have been a bit stuck because we haven't had time to run across town to the only store that has unsweetened coconut! I keep putting it on the list, but this week it is for real!

2) Quinoa Puttanesca:  Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz Oh my gosh this is SO good!  I love pretty much everything in it--particularly the kalamata olives and capers!!  Instead of white wine, since we don't drink alcohol (12 step household!), I used sparkling apple cider (and it actually worked pretty well!).
3) Butternut Coconut Rice: Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz  I haven't made this yet but I adore butternut squash and I'm a huge fan of coconut, so both together--how could that be bad?!  I'm going to use the Healthy Librarian's trick substitution for coconut milk here too to reduce fat!
4) Mushroom Tibs:  Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz This recipe is an Eritrean-based recipe (Eritrea is a small country just north of Ethiopia) and since I'm a HUGE fan of Ethiopian food, I'm sure this will be delicious too!  And The Happy Nurse could not be more of a mushroom fan, so we both get to be happy!


Sides:

1) My New Roots Blog's Winter Slaw:  Ok I cannot even explain how unbelievably delicious this is!  And SO nutrient dense!!! Kale, carrots, cabbage (2 types), parsley, scallions--YUM!  And the dressing is amazing--a total home run all around!  
2) Healthy Girl's Kitchen's "Links for Latkas": So I had no time during the holiday week to make latkas and I really really like them!  So this week I saw a pound of potatoes on sale and I thought--why not?!  Wendy (the Healthy Girl herself:-)) has put together an excellent collection of healthy latka recipes--I plan to try a few of the recipes she has listed and compare them!  Great project for New Year's treats this weekend! (if I have time--if not, it'll be one recipe!):-)
3) Pineapple Collards:  Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz:  we have a lot of collard greens leftover from Christmas dinner!  I of course over-cooked!  I know we'll get bored of these mid-week so I think adding pineapple is an inspired idea!  I'll let you know how it turns out!
4)  Curried Cabbage & Peas: Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz I just realized how many curries I chose for this week!!  Guess I'm a mite bit excited about something on the spicy side when its SO cold outside!!
5) Brussels-Sprout-Potato Hash: Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz  My husband is NOT excited about this one, but I LOVE brussels sprouts!  I had some pretty amazing brussels sprouts for Christmas dinner (my sister made them--so delicious!) so I'm yearning for more!  I'm still on the search for some fresh ones--my grocery store was out--so this may get pushed back to next week's list!!


Alright!  What are YOU planning on eating this week?  Got any recipe ideas for me & the Happy Nurse to make for next week???!

Coming Up:

• SuperImmunity for Kids ~Part 2~!
• A Truly Healthy New Year: From Weight Loss to Sleep, A Few Suggestions for 2012 
• Treating Pain with Food--more thoughts

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.  Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site.  By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.