The Microwave

Tonight's dinner brought to you by the humble microwave.

I opted for a stir-fry, but I need to keep things fast and simple.  So here's how Mr. Mike was involved in our dinner.

Step 1: chop your vegetables - broccoli, carrots, kohlrabi.  Steam 4 minutes in the microwave.
Step 2: stir-fry some onion and red pepper in a little oil.  When they are soft, add the microwaved vegetables and some Trader Joe's Island Soyaki sauce.  Then add a little cornstarch and water mixed to thicken the sauce.

Step 3: Microwave the leftover sesame noodles from the weekend (look a couple of posts down for the link - yum!)
Step 4: Microwave some Aidells Chicken and Pineapple meatballs.
Step 5: Don't tell your kid about the pineapple.

Enjoy.

Frittata and Sesame Noodles

This weekend was an exercise in prepping for the week.  In order to fill up my fridge with vegetables, I went with an old favorite Tri County Produce.  I haven't been there in awhile, but I walked a few miles on Saturday with friends and was in the area.  And they  have coupons.  I have never used a coupon there, because their prices are so reasonable it's VERY hard to spend the amount needed to get the coupon, unless you are buying meat and wine.  And I don't buy much of either.  I managed to spend enough to get 5 free ears of corn.  They were HUGE and very sweet too.  Not local, but good.

I picked up some discount bananas and tomatoes too.  I lost a couple of tomatoes (went bad before I could  use them) and the bananas are destined for banana bread.  I MEANT to make chocolate covered frozen bananas, but haven't had the energy.

Saturday night was pizza night (with corn and salad).  I made the dough in the bread machine and par-baked it.  That's always good for one more meal too.  At least for now.  I can foresee the day when both pizzas will be gone in one night. 

Sunday was the prep day.  I made a veggie frittata for lunches this week.

Bread crumbs
chard
onion
zucchini
corn
tomatoes
cheese
eggs and milk

Monday night was our 2nd pizza night, and also the night of my quilting group meeting.  We did a potluck.  I happened to find this recipe on one of the blogs I read, and it seemed perfect.  So I made that on Sunday too.  Our quilting potlucks are hilarious.  The last one (last month) had half desserts.  This one - not a single bite of chocolate, but a lot of carbs.  2 loaves of bread, 2 people brought crackers and cheese, I brought the sesame noodles.  Then two people brought fruit, but they BOTH brought green grapes and red cherries.  Hilarious.  Plus carrot soup and a vegetable dish.

My version of the sesame noodles had cooked broccoli and raw julienned summer squash instead of green onion, because one of my quilting friends is allergic to onion.  Also, a couple don't do gluten, so maybe next time I'll use rice noodles instead of pasta and tamari instead of soy sauce.  They were very tasty, but if I were making them for just myself?  I'd probably use some sriracha.

Up for the rest of the week: a stir-fry with kohlrabi, peppers, and broccoli and some teriyaki meatballs from Costco.  Probably a skillet pasta dish with canned salmon - maybe a creamy mushroom sauce.  I bought mushrooms.  I can make a cream sauce.  Should be doable if I have the energy.

Stir-fry

I did make the promised stir-fry this week, using up the leftover veggies from the friend's kid's birthday party.  It was fast, easy, and delicious.

We also had roast chicken (from Costco), salad, and lots of chili and lasagna to eat this week.  On Friday, we went out for pizza and to test out our Axxess card (local discount card).  We tried a new pizza place, and the pizza was soggy and greasy.  Won't be going back there!

Stir-fried Bok Choy

This is a recipe from Perfect Vegetables (Yep, Cook's Illustrated again). We've made this many times, especially since we started getting bok choy from the CSA last year. I've also used a similar recipe for other Asian greens like tatsoi or yakuna savoy.

Sesame-Glazed Bok Choy
1 medium head bok choy
1 T canola oil
2 T soy sauce
2 T water
2 T rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 T minced fresh ginger
2 scallions, sliced
1 T sesame seeds, toasted (optional).

Trim the bottom inch of the boy choy. Wash and pat dry. Slice the leaves away from the stem. Cut the stems in half lengthwise and slice into 1/4 inch pieces. Set aside in a bowl.

Line up the leaves in a stack and slice into ribbons.

Mix the soy sauce, water, vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil in a small bowl.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Cook the bok choy stalks for 5-7 mins or until soft. Add the greens and saute one min. Move the greens to the edge and add the garlic, ginger, and scallions. Stir these in the center for about one min, or until fragrant. Stir well.

Add the soy sauce mixture and continue to cook for about a minute. Top with sesame seeds. Serve.

I sometimes have issues with too much water...haven't figured out how to fix that. Sometimes it gets soggy and I have to cook longer to dry it out, which kinda defeats the purpose of Asian greens, which are really healthy (but shouldn't be overcooked, like just about any vegetable).

Asian Dinner for a friend

We had our friend Maryanne over for dinner last night. It was a pretty simple meal, and cheap too. I made chicken with orange sauce (used jarred sauce), fried rice, and stir-fried veggies. I made enough to serve 3 adults and a toddler - said toddler only really ate a few bites of broccoli and some chicken. Maybe 3 bites of rice.

Chicken with Orange Sauce
1 lb chicken breast strips ($2)
1/4 small jar Trader Joe's Orange Sauce ($0.70)
2 T. canola oil ($0.10)
Total: $2.80

Season chicken with S&P to taste. Saute chicken in oil until browned. Add a few Tbsp of orange sauce at the end and stir well.

Fried Brown Rice
1.5 cup dry brown rice (0.50)
2.75 cup water
1/2 lb frozen peas and carrots (0.50)
1 ear corn, cooked (0.75) - we had a leftover ear from the CSA this week. You could use frozen, canned, or leave it out to lower the cost. This was the case of "I have it, I'm using it."
1 tsp dark sesame oil (0.07)
1 T canola oil (0.05)
2 T soy sauce (0.18)
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced (0.08)
1 large clove garlic, minced (0.20)
salt and pepper
Total: $2.33 (and this made enough for two meals)

Cook brown rice a day ahead of time (or at least a little bit ahead of time). Heat oil in large frying pan. Add ginger and garlic, stir-fry for one minute. You can add green onions here too, but my friend doesn't like onion. Add rice and saute for a few minutes to warm up. Add defrosted peas and carrots, and corn. Stir well and saute for a couple more minutes.

Add soy sauce, sesame oil, S&P to taste.


Mixed vegetables:
1 lb frozen broccoli, carrot, cauliflower mix from Costco (1.08)
1 T canola oil (0.05)
1 T soy sauce (0.09)
S&P to taste.
Total: $1.22

Steam veggies in microwave to cook. Saute for 3 mins on medium-high heat in oil (this deepens the flavor). Mix soy sauce and S&P at the end.

Total cost of meal for 3 adults:
$1.17 (half the rice)+2.80 (chicken) + 1.22 (vegetables) = $5.26, or $1.75 per serving.

Ramen

I had plans for a Ramen stir-fry tonight (there were recipes in the paper this weekend). I guess I was craving Asian, because on the way home I stopped at TJ's to get teriyaki chicken, sushi, and egg rolls to "round out" the ramen. Not very frugal. But the ramen is:

Ramen stir-fry:
2 pkg ramen, flavor packets discarded - 0.40
1/2 an onion, thinly sliced - 0.15
2 small carrots, julienned - 0.15
1/2 lb summer squash, julienned - 0.40
2 T soy sauce - 0.18
1 T canola oil - 0.04
1 T rice vinegar - 0.08
1/2 T sesame oil - 0.10
1 clove garlic, pressed - 0.05
1/2 tsp ginger, minced - 0.05
2 T chopped cilantro -0.10

Total: $1.70 for 4 servings, or 0.43/serving

Of course, the egg rolls were 0.40 each, the chicken was $1 per serving, and the sushi was $1.50 each (we split a package of 8 slices). All told, $3.33 per person, not too terribly bad for scratching my itch for Asian food.

Vegan Pad Thai

This recipe for Vegan Pad Thai comes courtesy of Vegan With a Vengence by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

I did, of course, make some changes. I adjust ingredients based on what I have on hand. It might look a little odd, but it was very very tasty.

Vegan Pad Thai

Pad thai

1 lb tofu (1.20)

1 lb rice noodles (1.25)

8 scallions, sliced (0.60)

1 small red onion, cut in half and sliced (0.30)

1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped (0.25)

2 cloves garlic, minced (0.10)

8 oz zucchini, thinly cut into matchsticks (v-slicer) (0.60) - recipe calls for sprouts instead

6 Tbsp canola oil (0.25)

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (0.50)

Sauce:

6 T low sodium soy sauce (0.50) - recipe calls for tamari, I used low sodium soy sauce and dark soy mixture

4 T sugar (0.12)

1/4 c. rice vinegar (0.30)

2 T tomato paste (0.15)

2 T Asian chili sauce (0.15)

juice of 2 limes (0.50)

Total: $6.77 for 8 servings. This is probably the equivalent of 4 restaurant servings, for 1/2 the price of one. ($1.69 for a restaurant-sized portion, 0.85 for a serving).

Press the tofu between paper towels and 2 plates, with a weight on the top plate. Slice tofu into 1/3 inch slices, and cut into triangles if desired.

Mix up the sauce and set aside.

Cook rice noodles according to package directions.

Heat 2 T oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Stir-fry tofu until golden and crispy on both sides. Remove to a plate.

Heat 2 more T oil. Add 1/2 of the red onion, saute 1-2 min. Add garlic and stir-fry 30 more seconds. Add 1/2 of the sauce and stir until it begins to bubble. Add noodles and stir for 2 min.

Add 1/2 of each of the peanuts, scallions, zucchini, and stir-fry for about 3 more min until zucchini is softened. Stir in 1/2 of cilantro. Remove to a bowl.

Repeat with other half of ingredients.

I served this with a salad (we have tons of lettuce), and a piece of surprise free salmon from the neighbor...it was very yummy.