Here’s the challenge again—create a week’s worth of delicious, healthful, satisfying dinners for 2 from the produce bought at the FARMERS MARKET following these simple guidelines for whole food plant-based cooking and eating:
- Include vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains every day
- Include greens everywhere possible (soups, salads, sauces, sandwiches, etc.)
- Include starches in every meal (potatoes, oatmeal, brown rice, whole grain pasta, etc.)
- Minimize salt
- Avoid all added oil (no olive, coconut, canola, corn, peanut, etc.)
- Avoid all animal products (no meat, dairy, cheese, fish, poultry, etc.)
- Use nuts and seeds sparingly with the exception of chia and freshly ground flax seeds.
- Use fruit for dessert and as a whole food sweetener instead of sugar.
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Dinner is served. Here is tonight’s menu:
- RED PEPPER PESTO ON WHOLE GRAIN PASTA
- BEET GREENS WITH ONIONS AND BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE
- FRESH STEAMED SWEET CORN
- BERRY-MELON SKEWERS
- PINO GRIGIO
RED PEPPER PESTO RECIPE
- 3 roasted red peppers (fresh roasted or from jar with water, not oil, drained)
- 1 cup fresh basil packed
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- ¼ - ½ cup quick cooking red lentils, boiled and drained, added for body and for nutritional value
- ¼ cup toasted walnuts or pine nuts
- 2 tbls. Nutritional yeast
Place all ingredients in blender to make pesto. Add salt to taste. Serve over whole grain pasta of choice
BEET GREENS WITH ONIONS AND BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE
- Dry saute onions stirring often til lightly browned. Add a little of any liquid to prevent burning (water, vinegar, wine, veg broth, Bragg’s Aminos “soy” sauce)
- Add chopped fresh greens and a little more liquid to steam for 5 or so minutes with lid on.
- I steam corn in the same pot for convenience.
- Flavor greens with a shake of balsamic and a spritz of Bragg’s Aminos “soy” sauce
I must confess, just after taking the photo above, I promptly spilled one glass of wine onto one of the plates. So the corn, pasta and greens were swimming in Pino Grigio. Not bad—isn’t this how new recipes are created?!