Classic Chicken wing stew

Stews make easy meals as well...I can chop veggies during Baby's early afternoon nap and then during the early evening nap I put everything into a pot/slow cooker/thermal cooker and let it simmer for a couple hours until Hubby's home and it's all ready to eat. And if the stew is chocked full of veggies then I don't have to prepare that either. Just make rice and enjoy!

Here I actually pan seared the wings first, added the veggies, a bit of stock (not too much because the veggies let out a fair bit of water too) and seasoning and then covered for 45min on low heat. Chicken wings cook pretty fast...especially if seared already. 

Chicken Wings

Various veggies you can find: Carrots and Green & Yellow zucchinis were in my fridge this time

Soy sauce (dark and light)

Sugar

Cornstarch (to dust the chicken wings in before searing)

Cooking wine

Sesame Oil

Enjoy!

Sweet Chili Eggplant & Zucchini with Tofu

 

 If only eggplants didn't take so long to cook...I love eating it otherwise. Smooth and creamy. This made for a great veggie and protein compliment when the meat dish I prepared was on the small side.

Eggplant

Zucchini

Medium firm Tofu

Thai Sweet Chili sauce

Green onions

I tossed the veggies in oil and then pan seared them. I like my eggplant soft so I cook it until it's turns a bit translucent...same goes for the zucchini I also sear the tofu. Then I layer everything into a dish and drizzle as much or as little of the thai sweet chili sauce as you want. Garnish with some fresh green onions. Enjoy!

Pita Pockets

 

It was one of those days where I couldn't think of what exactly to put together. I had bits of everything but not enough of one thing to make a main dish out of it. And then I was inspired by the  pita pockets I saw in my fridge....filling the pockets only require a little of everything to fill. And it's yummy. So I just cooked each thing separately and we filled our own pockets the way we liked.

Paprika sautéed mushrooms

Sautéed zucchini
Sautéed kale & onions
Pan seared chicken
Pita pockets
Chipotle mayo
Mayo

Tip: Warm or slightly steam the pita pockets first if they're coming straight out of the fridge. They tear easily otherwise.

Quick stir fry

I've forgotten how easy it is to make veggie stir fry. It's so easy there isn't much to say about it...

Red yellow orange peppers
Zucchini
Onion
Szichuan Spicy Noodle Paste by Lee Kum Kee

Only tip is to sautee in the order of whatever takes the longest to cook to your liking.

Baked Portobello Caps

The picture doens't look like much...but those are baked portobello mushroom caps. I've always wanted to try cooking portobello...this was my first time! I didn't know it's actually a tedious process to scrap the brown gills looking stuff from the underside of the caps first. It ended up taking way longer than I expected so the stuffing for the caps overcooked on the stove (and then I had to bake everything afterwards.) Oh well...live and learn.

Stuffing:
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Onion
Diced mushroom stalks (cut from the portobello)
Panko
S&P
Dried herbs
Cumin

Sides were couscous and Shanghai bok choi.
It tasted good...but yeah, stuffing was over cooked. Next time!

Grilled Zucchini

I know...I've totally fallen off the routine....but I promise it's for a good reason. So stay tuned! Meanwhile, I did manage to get a few more items on camera to share.

It's nearing the end of BBQ season...sadly...but this was one of my favorites through summer: Grilled whole zucchini. (Under the pile of grilled cauliflour...which is also good.) What I love about the grilled zucchini is 1) it tastes really good and 2) I don't have to cut up all the little pieces and turn them each on the grill.

Zucchini - cut lengthwise
Coconut oil spray
S&P
Whatever dried herbs you feel like
Served with some tahini dressing is really nice...but on its own is good too

Cauliflour
Grapeseed oil
S&P
Cumin
Paprika

(Both coconut oil and grapeseed oil can handle being in high heat without burning, unlike olive oil. So it's healthier to use these oils on the grill.)

Grill. Enjoy!
And in another month or so when it's too cold/wet to be outside to grill, just put it in the oven. =)

Cold Noodle Salad

This is perfect for a summer meal. And it can cover nearly all the food groups at once.

Zucchini cut into thin strands
Boiled eggs
Tomatoes
Cooked, cooled Asian noodles
Turkey bacon
Chopped green onion
Dash of chili flakes
Goddess Dressing (from Trader Joes)

Zucchini Pasta with Kale & Tomato

I've been seeing posts about a gluten free zucchini pasta...and what makes it gluten free is because you're actually using whole fresh zucchini pieces cut into pasta shaped noodles as opposed to processing zucchini with other ingredients to make noodles. It's a bit labour intensive...I used a mandolin then stacked and sliced the zucchini down to fettuccine sizes. And then I made "pasta sauce" by just sauteeing and simmering the rest of the incredients together. Season to taste.

It's REALLY good. =) Hope you'll enjoy it too!

Zucchini

Pasta sauce:
Garlic
Onion
Basil
Savory
Salt
Soup stock
Kale
Tomatoes
 

Roasted Veggie Pasta

Sorry for the poor lighting on this one....but it was Meatless Monday again...and I was low on vegetables so I went the easier route with pasta. Actually I take this easier pasta route a lot.

I oven roasted zucchini and red/yellow peppers. (Tossed them in olive oil and some dried herbs.)

And then opened a bottle of vodka rose pasta sauce I wanted to try from Costco. Tossed it all together with some parm, chili flakes and voila! Delicious!

On a non-meatless meal day I would love to try this again with smoke salmon or italian sausage. =)

(Yes, you do see penne and spiraled tube pasta - I forgot the name - all mixed together. I had two unfinished boxes of pasta leftover but neither was enough for one meal so I just mixed it....goes down the same.)

Veggie Casserole

I'm still working on the vegetarian repetoire of meals. It can't just be a regular salad because there isn't enough "stuff" in it to fill me up. A lot of people think that's what a vegetarian meal is like but there's so much more. What I'm trying to learn is how to create a healthy, hearty and tasty vegetarian meal...that won't leave me hungry 2 hrs after I eat.

So, after rummaging through my fridge for suitable veggies (I'm not very proficient with meal/grocery planning in advance...though mind you, it's sometimes the more economical way to just buy whatever is well priced and then figure out the meal later) I have:

Five cheese ravioli
Zucchini
Tomato
Onion
Eggplant
Goat cheese
Tomato paste
Various dried herbs


I chopped the onion and tomatoes and sauteed it first to make a tomato-y type sauce. I added tomato paste to thicken and add flavor. And then I layered it all together.


And ta-da!

The starch and cheses from the ravioli made the dish quite filling. Yes, I could've cooked it all separately and had ravioli with roasted veggies on the side, which I will probably do one day, but I was lazy and just wanted everything in one dish. =) Enjoy!

Tomato Zucchini casserole

I was running out of vegetables in the fridge.
There was some leftover tomato paste that would go bad soon if I didn't use it up.
It was cold out.
I had dishes to do.

And this tomato zucchini casserole became the solution! Baked veggies, especially with cheese and panko on top always tastes good. Cold season = casserole season. And while it baked, I was free to do the dishes. Genius!

Tomato
Zucchini
Tomato paste
Frozen corn niblets (found those in the freezer)
Cheese
Panko
S&P
Dried basil flakes (Really, whatever dried herbs you have around would do)

I got the thin slices of zucchini with a mandoline and then just layered everything together. Adding a spoon of tomato paste now and then. Baked it at 400 F. And it was delish! The dishes got done too.

Salmon Onion Quiche & Spaghetti Squash Salad

Meatless Monday! Well, we do have salmon in it, but that still counts as vegetarian right? Kind of? I was trying to use up leftovers and quiches are great to put them in.

Quiche:
Salmon
Onion
Leftover yellow zucchini
Eggs
Almond Milk

Crust:
Flour
Water
Olive Oil

Salad:
Spaghetti Squash
Tomatoes
Leftover yellow zucchini
Basil
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Sautéed Yellow Zucchini

(Apologies for the bad picture lighting on this one...I forgot to turn off my cell phone flash.)

This is an easy vegetable side to any dinner...hard to mess up.

Zucchini
Dried Basil and Oregano flakes
Salt and Pepper
Dash of Cumin

When you see the zucchini slices starting to turn transparent, then it's time to flip. Enjoy!

Zucchini Tomato Soup

It was Meatless Monday...and it was cold. I had a flat of tomatoes where some were starting to show spots, as well as two green zucchini's at the bottom of the veggie drawer that needed eating. So I decided to do a zucchini tomato soup.

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Onion

Garlic

Couscous

Tomato paste

Cumin

Basil flakes

Chili flakes

Oregano flakes

Carrot juice

Sugar

Water

Dash of white wine

While grating the zucchinis, I found I had way too much, so as a last minute idea, I made some zucchini patties to eat with the soup:

Zucchini

Spelt flour

Frulani cheese

Egg

S&P

It was perfect for a cold day. The chili flakes added extra heat and kick to the soup. The zucchini patties were flavorful with the cheese and absorbed some of the heat from the soup when eaten together. The couscous in the soup added heartiness without it getting too heavy. Will be made again I'm sure.