What’s for dinner?
My friend Shoshana once told me that she found women’s conversations about food and recipes to be incredibly boring. “What’s the big deal — you buy food and you cook it. Don’t women have anything else to talk about?” Only when she got married did she understand the challenge of planning menus from start to finish.
Comments to my last post on cooking indicate that even experienced homemakers have trouble coming up with ideas for daily meals. I’m opening the floor for suggestions. Here are my guidelines:
- Kosher, of course!
- The menu/dish should consist of mainly unprocessed, inexpensive ingredients readily available in Israel.
- Meat should not be the focus, i.e. chicken and potatoes is out but chili that includes ground turkey, or a casserole using leftover chicken are acceptable. In fact, anything incorporating leftovers gets extra virtual points!
- Baked, cooked or microwaved–not fried.
- Kid-friendly.
- Nutritious, preferably including whole grains, legumes, and/or vegetables.
- Limited amounts of oil and fatty cheese.
- Quick to prepare, or containing elements that can be prepared in advance.
Feel free to post ideas, recipes and links in the comments.
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SephardiLady Said,
May 30, 2007 - 14 Sivan 5767 @ 8:59 PM
You would probably appreciate the soup I prepared for Shabbat just this afternoon. I noticed that I had a handful of unused veggies which were waiting to go bad, or in the case of the zuchinni, I needed to cut around the bad parts.
So I sauteed a chopped onion and some chopped garlic with olive oil. I then chopped and added a number of random vegetables that I had on hand:
-one sweet potato that was never used
-three parsnips which were about to go bad
-pieces of two zuchinni that were headed to the trash bin if they sat another dday
-three carrots from my oldest bad
-a cup of diced canned tomatoes that was leftover from last night’s dinner (I could put that receipe in too-yum!)
-some canned corn from a big huge can my neighbor gave me that she couldn’t find a use for. The can is way too huge, but I used some for last night’s tex mex recipe and I keep finding uses for it, including snacks for the kids.
-a handful of spices including dried dill and parsely, salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of chicken consume.
-water too.
I took a small taste and it is very tasty, will freeze well, and any frozen vegetable like green beans could easily be added if necessary.
And for extra, extra credit, I let my oldest help slice the carrots.
Diana Said,
May 30, 2007 - 14 Sivan 5767 @ 10:09 PM
I don’t know what products are easily available in Israel, but I like to make this because it is quick, easy and delicious:
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
14 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
2 cans kidney beans
5 ounces frozen corn, thawed
1 cup rice, cooked
3/8 tsp. salt
2 oz. cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons sour cream
Steps:
Sautee onion at medium low for 4 minutes
add garlic and cook 3 more minutes
add chili powder wait 1 minute
add tomatoes, 1 cup water, beans
bring to a boil
reduce heat to low
simmer for 20 minutes
add corn
cook 10 more minutes
cook rice separately
Optional if you make pareve chili: top with cheddar cheese and sour
cream before serving
Also, I am one of the moderators for the Kosher Healthy Simple Recipes Yahoo! Group, which has lots of ideas along your guidelines, and will have advice about products in Israel.
SephardiLady Said,
May 31, 2007 - 14 Sivan 5767 @ 2:58 AM
I should note that we rarely use soup powder here. But the onions I’ve been getting recently lack flavor and punch. Anyone else having the same problem?
N Said,
May 31, 2007 - 14 Sivan 5767 @ 3:27 AM
My whole family loves rice and beans, which I make with black (also called pinto) beans. I even used canned beans, for extra easiness.
You start rice separately – I used brown rice. Chop up onion and garlic and saute. Then rinse the beans and add. Cook for a bit, smushing up the beans to make it a bit saucy. You can either add chicken stock to help this along, or veggie stock, depending on whether you want it to be parve or not. I like to put in left-over chicken (good for after Shabbat). Once it is heated, add the rice and stir it all up. That’s it. You can add anything else that appeals, but we like it just like this.
Sorry about the lack of exact amounts – I never measure anything.
Fern R Said,
May 31, 2007 - 14 Sivan 5767 @ 4:31 AM
I make a really good black bean chili that is vegetarian. You literally just dice up the ingredients and put them in the crockpot and walk away, can’t get much easier to prepare than that!
Fern’s Black Bean Chili
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained
1 (24 ounce) can diced tomatoes, juices reserved
1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Place all ingredients in crockpot. Mix well. Cook for 6-8 hours on low.
The above recipe makes 5-6 servings. Each serving has 252 calories and 1.4 grams of fat. It also has tons of potassium, fiber and protein and a fair amount of vitamin C and iron (I subscribe to a website that calculates the nutritional content of your recipes).
Ari Kinsberg Said,
May 31, 2007 - 14 Sivan 5767 @ 4:35 AM
“The menu/dish should consist of mainly unprocessed, inexpensive ingredients”
any suggestions for making your own fishsticks (not fried)?
off topic, but thanks for participating at http://agmk.blogspot.com/2007/05/trivia-hallel-zimmun-on-passover-with.html
triLcat Said,
May 31, 2007 - 14 Sivan 5767 @ 5:14 AM
I’m getting increasingly better at ordering pizza as I get closer and closer to my due date, but seriously…
I like to stir-fry (in olive or canola oil) an egg or two (in the beginning), some onion, mushrooms, tofu (or chicken or beef), baby-corn (canned), maybe a tomato and some pepper strips. Sometimes I buy the bodek (hard to find, but worthwhile) stir-fry mix and mix in an onion, an egg, and some mushrooms)
Mix it in with brown rice and a bit of soy sauce, and it’s pretty healthy despite the 2-3 tablespoons of oil you fry it in.
chaya tova Said,
May 31, 2007 - 14 Sivan 5767 @ 6:55 AM
We have a dish that we affectionately dubbed “mush” It’s basically everything you put into stuffed cabbage but using shredded cabbage in stead. you mix the cabbage, ground beef, rice, tomato sauce and spices together and bake for an hour and a half covered. It comes out looking pretty much like mush but tastes delicious. It also freezes well.
mominisrael Said,
June 3, 2007 - 17 Sivan 5767 @ 2:00 PM
Thanks for all the recipes!!
SL–Sounds yummy!
N–I wish all my kids ate beans! I have a shortcut with cooked beans— I saute the onions and then add the raw rice, liquid, and beans. Bring to a boil and cook all together. I’ve also seen a recipe for cooking them from scratch in a pot inside a pressure cooker!
Diana–kosher,healthy, and simple? Sounds like my kind of list. Your recipe is easy and fast, and everything is available here. Say hello to NY, I’ll be there soon.
Fern–great recipe and beautiful blog!
Ari, I think the trick is getting the shape. Maybe a butcher can do that for you with frozen fish fillets. I suggest brushing them with mayonnaise, dipping in seasoned bread crumbs, and baking.
Trilcat–Is it like scrambled eggs with vegetables, or something else?
CT–I’ve made that in the crockpot! Yummy!
Diana Said,
June 5, 2007 - 20 Sivan 5767 @ 6:55 PM
I’ll have Lady Liberty put out the welcome mat for you!
Kol Ra'ash Gadol Said,
June 6, 2007 - 20 Sivan 5767 @ 5:22 AM
It may be becasue of his age, but my DS (3) loves tofu, so I often make tofu soup, which is whatever veggies I have in the house made into broth, with tofu. Season according to taste.
The best thing about this is that you dont really need to serve anything with it.
Easy kid food for sides: instead of grilled cheese make quesadillas. Less heavy and easier to eat (also quicker to cook). My DS will eat any cheese you put into it, but the fresh Mexican cheese (I think that baaretz any of the farmery cheeses – i.e. soft and crumbly, kinda bland and a little salty, but not too much) will do.
mominisrael Said,
June 6, 2007 - 20 Sivan 5767 @ 6:56 AM
Thanks D.
KRG–I read too much bad stuff about soy, and stopped buying it.
How about a recipe or link for the q’s?