What’s for dinner? (2018 week 07)

I’ve got a busy week ahead so it seems wise to pick up menu planning & prepping again to make sure I keep eating well ánd do not have to throw away leftover vegetables. I hate discarding food, don’t you?

Menu plan

• Sunday
  Surinamese roti with vegan No-chicken Chunks from The Vegetarian Butcher
• Monday
  Potato-leek soup (fridge), greek salad with fermented tofu “feta” and pizza sandwich with leftover tomato sauce
• Tuesday
  Nasi goreng (fried rice), tofu rendang and stir-fried chicory
• Wednesday
  Valentine’s Day dinner date with the hubs :) Three course vegan meal by De Gewilde Keuken accompanied by suitable teas from TeaLounge. Photos (hopefully) to follow!

Cleaned vegetables and baked tofu in advance for quicker cooking.

I’m curious about the Taifun “feto”. I’ve made faux feta myself a long time ago; I enjoyed it but didn’t really bother preparing it again. Maybe this store-bought version is a good alternative?

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Sinterklaas Menu et cetera

Although autumn weather has been really kind to us so far, the past two days have been really cold (east wind brrrrr) and anyway: Sinterklaas dinner has to be a hearty, wintery meal no matter what the temperature. Comford food! As I mentioned on Monday we’re having company, so we decided on a three course meal which I’ll post below. But first our plan for the rest of the week. I hope you’ll find some inspiration in our meal planning?!

Menu plan 4 – 9 December

• Thursday: spaghetti with tomato-veggie sauce.
• Friday (Sinterklaas): see below.
• Saturday: purple kale-potato mash with homemade seitan sausages from Isa Does It (p.237).
• Sunday: Indonesian style meal with nasi goreng, sambal goreng kool (cabbage) and a tempeh dish that has to be decided. Also plan on making atjar tjampoer with the rest of the cabbage plus carrots.
• Monday: vegetable stirfry with tofu
• Tuesday: [leftovers]

Sinterklaas Menu

• Starters: ‘Pumpkin Duo’ = pumpkin-sunchoke soup and a pumpkin-potato pierogi with garlic-herb sauce on a bed of two kinds of mustard leaves.
• Entrée: beer-braised seitan with carrots and sunchokes (Vegan Eats World), oven-baked french fries and large-leaf chicory salad with apple, clementine and walnuts.
• Dessert: kukicha tea poached pears with candied ginger (Vegan Eats World).
• After dinner: tea with liqueur bonbon and Inca berries to compensate ;)

Leftover in our fridge are carrots and 4 or five sunchokes. Plenty of options with those!

Back to menu planning

Last time we did some menu planning was halfway June, when Mr Gnoe started a new job. We were full of resolutions, but didn’t manage to keep it up. Trying again – just a few weeks before the end of CSA season O_O

Menu plan 29 November – 2 December

• Saturday: Pumpkin mash with endive and oven baked lemon tofu
• Sunday: Turkish Feast by Mr Gnoe: millet with sun-dried tomatoes and olives, eggplant casserole, fasulye (beans) and spicedcabbage salad (pictured above)
• Monday: Isa Chandra’s Braised Cabbage with Seitan (p.97 Appetite for Reduction), potato mash and mushroom gravy (either this recipe or this one)
• Tuesday: Lisette Kreischer’s easy pumpkin-sunchoke soup (substituting large‐leaved chicory for pak choy and adding a little leftover coconut milk) with bread and salad

I love that I no longer have to think about what to eat the next few days! And looking forward to the meals to come :D Will be planning more after our next CSA arrives on Wednesday. Luckily I’ll have a sneakpeek of the contents on Monday as I have to write the accompanying leaflet this week. Need to think about Friday’s Sinterklaas dinner! We’re not really celebrating but there’s a guest coming and I want to make something special.

Starting 2013 Afresh

I did some extra cleaning for the turn of the year, but that’s not what this post is about.

Maybe you noticed I haven’t been writing much lately; I even stopped (b)logging my weekly vegetable haul. Furthermore, I failed to make photos since December. O_o I guess I fell into some sort of winter slump.

CSA season ended the week before Christmas but there are still many greens left in the fridge… Not that fresh any more. :\ So now that the new year has begun I’m resolved to take up menu planning again — and actually started a few days ago. The pantry and refrigerator need to be emptied of 2012’s remains!

November 2012 CSA vegetables (week 45-48)

In stock

Veggies

• Pumpkin
• Parsnip
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Leek
• Brussels sprouts
• Red cabbage
• Savoy cabbage
• Sunchokes
• Avocados
• 1/3 courgette
• Thyme

Leftovers

• Chilli-tomato sauce
• Stewed pears (Yogi kookschrift: Bord 1-5)

Other

• Pickled Seaweed
• Blue Sheese
• Tempeh
• Tofu
• Open package of silken tofu
• Open package of soy cream
• Open package of oat cream

Once we’ve depleted this surplus we’ll get organic Odin vegetables till our local veggies return in May.

Menu plan December 30th 2012 – Januari 2nd 2013

• Roasted parsnip & carrot salad with thyme (Ecofabulous 151), mashed potatoes with celeriac, Asian “lemon chicken” and stewed pears, red grapefruit for dessert [Sunday]
  
• Tomato soup (freezer stash) and pita bread with bean-corn-avocado salad with leftover chilli-tomato sauce, homemade oliebollen (Ecofabulous 167): traditional New Year’s fritters [Monday]
  
• Spicy red cabbage with tofu and gingerbread… (Ecofabulous 138), mashed potatoes and salad [Tuesday]
• Microwave teriyaki, yuzu scented winter vegetable tsukemono and Brussels sprouts with sesame [Wednesday]

Further planning will follow on Thursday. Now I’m hopping into the kitchen to cook dinner!

Some More CSA (week 44, 2012)

So. VeganMoFo has ended and I didn’t meet my goal of 20+ posts… I got to 19! Not bad for a newbie, I think. Especially considering I’d planned to write some in advance but didn’t have the time. I also didn’t live up to the promises I made about travel-friendly recipes and how I survived my holiday in France as a vegan. Don’t worry, I still mean to make good on them! But now it’s back to normal with my weekly veggies and menu plan.

For some, CSA season has already ended. Not here though: our local organic vegetables will continue until the week before Christmas. Lucky me. :)

Here’s this week’s fall haul.

• Kale
• White cabbage
• Tomatoes
• Garlic
• Celeriac
• Radicchio

Menu plan Wednesday October 31st – Wednesday November 7th

Including veggies we didn’t manage to eat up yet (green cabbage, fennel, leek, sweet dumpling pumpkins) the following will arrive on our dinner table.

• Wednesday: Nigel Slater’s peppers & chickpeas with harissa (adapted) with Sarah Kramer’s cumin spice quick bread (freezer stash) and fennel-tomato-olive salad with fresh basil (Groentegerechten p.32).
• Thursday: stuffed mini pumpkins with rice and gyro style roasted lemon olive seitan with dill sauce (Vegan Eats World p.54, 253); radicchio Caesar salad.
• Saturday: dinner @ my aunt’s!
• Sunday: kale-celeriac-potato mash with leftover veggie dogs & chorizo tempeh (VEW promo card), cabbage salad with coriander-mayo dressing left over from Sarah’s spiced potato salad.
• Monday/Tuesday: Nigel’s spicy stuffend pittas and soup (probably freezer stash or pantry).
• Monday/Tuesday: leftovers or improvising.
• Wednesday (when @variomatic is joining us for dinner): Chloe Cascarelli’s pasta ‘Alfredo’ & salad.
• Possibles: apples from the oven with chocolate sauce (still have some left!) and Chloe’s cinnamon-espresso chocolate chip cookies..!

Bon appétit!

CSA Season Going Strong (weeks 45-47, 2011)

The quality of the photos logging my weekly CSA greens from Amelisweerd are showing how the end of the season is nigh. Not that we’re getting less, or ugly vegetables. Now that the days are shortening quickly it’s just getting harder to make good pictures without a photostudio in da house.
(Jump to menu plan)

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 45

• Baby cauliflower and broccoli (ending up in Jumble Bento)
• Lollo rossa lettuce
• Celeriac
• Spring onions
• Mustard greens
• Tomatoes
• And oooops… I forgot to pick up my green cabbage! :\

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 46

• Corn salad
• Broad-leaved endive (escarole)
• White cabbage
• Topinamboers (Jerusalem artichokes, sunchokes)
• Rocket (aragula, rucola)
• Conference pears

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 47

• Goudreinette apples
• Raddichio rosso
• Lettuce
• Late baby corn on the cob
• Parsnip
• Red cabbage
• Chervil

Menu plan November 25th – December 1st

I also got some organic veggies from another local garden that need(ed) to be finished: kale, carrots, leek and Brussels sprouts. Other foods in my fridge that won’t hold much longer are bell peppers, courgette, green beans, tofu, soy cream, shiitake mushrooms and coconut milk — a drinking variety which I don’t like and want to get rid of by cooking.

• [Friday] Brussels sprouts with ginger, cumin, walnuts and raisins (Ecofabulous cookbook), parsnip-potato mash, salad of raddichio and corn salad
• [Saturday] Chinese takeaway
• [Sunday] Faux teriyaki meat from the Vegetarische Slager (‘Vegetarian Butcher’) with vegetables and noodles (I used this recipe with green beans instead of sugarsnap peas and no bok choi but Brussels sprouts and shiitake mushrooms)
• [Monday] Spicy parsnip soup (Vegagerechten p.113), fruity red cabbage slaw and bakeoff bread
• [Tuesday] Veggie stir-fry (green and red paprika, white cabbage, shiitakes, onion, leek, carrot, garlic, ginger) and leftover takeaway bihun goreng
• [Wednesday] Pumpkin risotto with grilled zucchini, oven-roasted plum tomatoes & red onions (Vegagerechten p.375) on corn salad
• [Thursday] Chervil soup with oyster mushrooms, bean & bell pepper stew (Vegagerechten p.244), salad with walnuts & garlic croutons made of bread leftover from Monday (Vegagerechten p.196)

One of these days I also hope to make an apple tarte tatin for dessert. And I can already tell you next week’s menu will bring a veganised version of coleslaw with lime mayonnaise (Vegagerechten p.203) and saffron-sunchoke soup (Vegagerechten) on the table. I can hardly wait! ;) Still need to think up something with raddicchio and celeriac.

As I’m only getting around to posting this week’s veggies and menu plan today, several of the meals have already been cooked and eaten. ;) I’ll add some pics below!

Parsnip-potato mash, Brussels sprouts with cumin and ginger, raddichio salad

Teriyaki & cassava krupuk

Spicy parsnip soup and red cabbage slaw

Fall Greens (CSA vegetables weeks 43 and 44, 2011)

I’ve got a lot of vegetables left over in my fridge, so it’s time for some serious menu planning!

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 43

Last week’s veggies:

• red Batavian lettuce
• cilantro
• pointed paprika
• (Batavian) endive
• leek
• celery

Amelishof CSA vegetables week 44

This week’s greens:

• pumpkin
• lollo bionda lettuce
• Elstar apples
• parsley
• kohlrabi
• green beans

Menu plan Wednesday November 2nd – Tuesday 8th

You’ll even find vegetables on the menu from my CSA loot further back!

• Wednesday: eating out with birthday boy @variomatic in Hotel de Goudfazant (Amsterdam)
• Thursday (Mr Gnoe’s piano night): leek-fennel soup (veganized version of Vega Gerechten p.134) & veggie dog with greens
• Friday: spicy sweet potato soup, chili con ‘carne’ tacos and fennel-orange salad with black olives (Vega Gerechten p.150 & 179)
• Saturday: Indonesian dinner! Osèng-osèng kohlrabi, sambal goreng tofu & green beans with white rice (Vegetarisch Indonesisch Kookboek p.50 & 94)
• Sunday (Dexter-5 Night with Elsje): garlic-Jerusalem artichoke soup, garlic or rosemary bread from Vlaams Broodhuys, 2 types of hummus (red beet & pumpkin), cooking pears and red beet salad with walnuts and balsamico (Vega Gerechten p.81, 61 & 188)
• Monday: Ethiopian lentil dish (cutting from Leven, lente 2011) with ‘faux sour creme‘ (La Dolce Vegan!), pita bread and kohlrabi salad (Groentegerechten p.32) OR Indonesian leftovers with nasi goreng
• Tuesday: eating @ mother-in-law’s

Cabbage and Carrot Salad Recipe (CSA vegetables week 26 and 27, 2011)

The first two weeks of summer brought some really nice greens to our dinner table. Introducing a new feature on Graasland as well! But you gotta read on a little for that. ;)

Organic CSA vegetables week 26, 2011

Here’s what we found in our CSA box the previous week.

• Leek
• Spinach
• Radicchio
• Gooseberries
• Celery
• Chinese cabbage (napa, michihli)

It may seem a bit meagre but there’s something missing from the picture! Half a head of Chinese cabbage and a whole head of red Batavian lettuce. We picked up the veggies on our way to my aunt’s and since our fridge was still rather full we decided to leave some of the loot with her.

Organic CSA vegetables week 27, 2011

Now more importantly: this weeks veggies…

• Broad beans!!! Love ‘em!
• Tomatoes
• Field peas
• Basil
• Iceberg lettuce
• Pak choi (bok choy)
• Savory (bonenkruid)

I hope I won’t bore you by sharing another menu plan?

Menu plan July 7-12 2011

Due to our schedule there’s a lot of ‘easy food’ on the menu this week.

• Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese [Wednesday]
• White bean & tomato soup (freezer stash), baguette, green salad with scapes, radicchio and pinenuts [Thursday]
• In between hike and going to the vets: Indian lentil soup (dahl, freezer stash), homemade pizza, cabbage & carrot salad (recipe below) [Friday]
• Broad bean soup, rosemary focaccia from Broodnodig, leftover mashed carrot salad, radicchio salad [Saturday]
• After a day of hiking: vegan ‘shoarma’ (Vivera roerbakreepjes) with pita bread, garlic sauce and leftover carrot-cabbage salad [Sunday]
• Field peas with veggies Provençale (adapting recipe for fresh peas), baguette, salad
• Stir-fry of pak choi, leek, mushrooms and tofu with rice

New feature!

Cabbage contours by Jacqueline Tinney

Many people don’t know what to do with cabbage. That’s a pity because it’s such a healthy vegetable; loaded with vitamins A & C, potassium, calcium, phosphor. It is also thought to be anti-carcinogenic! And if you’re a CSA participant like us you’ll often find it in your box. :)

So. I decided to share some cabbage recipes I like as a special feature on Graasland! Starting of with this week’s side dish of cabbage & carrot salad. Other recipes you can expect in the future are ‘Cabbage with Coconut’ and Indonesian ‘Sambal Goreng Cabbage’.

Easy cabbage-carrot salad

This is a veganised version of Eethuis Iris’ recipe from Zonnig zomers tafelen (p.20).

Cabbage-carrot salad & orange juice

Ingredients
Serves 4.

• 350 g pointed cabbage (I used a mix of pointed and Chinese cabbage; you could also take ordinary white)
• 100 g carrot, cleaned
• 3 tbs veganaise
• 0.5 dl fresh orange juice
• pinch of curry powder
• salt & pepper
• 2 tbs of roasted sunflower seeds
• chopped parsley (optional: it’s not in the original recipe but I added it for colour)

Preparation

1. Clean cabbage and cut out the hard core.
2. Shred the cabbage very finely.
3. Grate the carrot — or pulse a few times in your kitchen machine.
4. Make a sauce of veganaise, orange juice, curry, salt and pepper.
5. Mix vegetables and dressing, top with sunflower seeds and parsley.

On the contrary of what you may expect, the cabbage in this recipe is not overwhelming. I will make this salad again, maybe tweaking it here and there looking for an even better version: like adding a dash of lemon juice and possible some sweetener like agave syrup or golden raisins.

Do you have any favourite cabbage recipes to share? I’d love to hear them!

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Recipe submitted to the July Whip Up Something New! Challenge hosted on Joyfully Retired

Last greens of spring (CSA vegetables week 24 and 25, 2011)

Organic CSA vegetables week 24, 2011

Our tomcat Ringo coming to check out the escarole among the organic vegetables again…

• Radishes
• Broad-leaved endive
• Romaine lettuce
• Chinese cabbage (napa, michihli)
• Red & green basil
• Broccoli
• Scapes (garlic flowers)

Organic CSA vegetables week 25, 2011

• Pointed green cabbage
• Rhubarb
• Red lettuce
• Rapini (turnip tops)
• Courgette (zucchini)
• Snow peas
• Parsley

It’s the last rhubarb of the season and I haven’t figured out yet what to do with it. Any ideas?

Here’s the rest of our menu plan!

Menu plan June 22-27 2011

• Pea soup from a can [Wednesday]
• Sambal goreng cabbage tahu (Vegetarisch Indonesisch kookboek p.93) [Thursday]
• Szechuan noodles (leftover sauce) and Chinese cabbage with coconut (Exotic & Traditional Vegetables p.2) [Friday]
• Simple dinner with guests before going to piano recital: Cream of tomato soup (La Dolce Vegan p.114), salad with snow peas, brownies [Saturday]
• Imam’s Eggplant, mashed carrot salad & tabbouleh (World Food Café p.37, 39 & 31)
• Tomato, cucumber and green pepper mezze (World Food Café p.37), Turkish lentil soup (Met machtig mooie menu’s de wereld rond p.36), leftovers

From the menu plan I previously posted I’ve already shown you the Couscous salad with Orange Basil-Tempeh and Sweet Miso Dressing. Here are the pictures of two other dinners I photographed.

Lentil loaf (from Food for Thought podcast) and Turkish takeaway leftovers

Szechuan noodles from Vegan Family Meals

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Confusion (CSA vegetables week 23, 2011)

Even MORE strawberries this week! We have to thank that to a mix-up with our vegetables: at first only iceberg lettuce and dill were delivered to our CSA pick-up point… Now that won’t do, right? ;) When it was fixed later in the evening we got even more lettuce, dill — and two boxes of strawberries which we weren’t supposed to get at all since we had them last week. Lucky us!

• Bok Choy
• Strawberries
• Red beets
• Iceberg lettuce
• Chard
• Garlic flowers (scapes)
• Red bundle onions
• Dill

So there’s actually another head of lettuce and a hand of dill in the fridge; they didn’t feel like coming out for the picture. ;)

Menu plan June 9-11 2011

Dinner plans for the next couple of days:

• Salad with couscous, orange-basil tempeh and sweet miso dressing (Vegan Family Cookbook), Moroccan tajine (freezer stash) [Thursday]
• Japanese meal at a friends house. Our contribution: Ginger Miso Soup with Kombu Dashi (Vegan Family Cookbook) [Friday]
• Szechuan Noodles with Hot Spicy Peanut Sauce and Pak Choi (Vegan Family Cookbook) [Saturday]

I’ve already shown you our Mexican dinner (bento) and Summer Picnic Pie, so I’ll just leave you with a picture of the Hollandse pot (‘Dutch dish’) from last week’s menu plan: broad-leaved endive mash & bangers with mushroom gravy.