Meal Plan: May 31- June 4th- Roasty Soba Bowl... Or Something Like That

This week, I bring to you what was supposed to be the Roasty Soba Bowl. Except I had a bad experience, a fail actually, with the soba noodles. So I did what any good vegan would do and improvised from my pantry. Thankfully, I had a bag of whole wheat fusilli on hand and they cooperated with me just fine. This bowl is really easy. Cauliflower that is meant to be roasted (but obviously I was lazy so I just steamed it), plain cooked lentils (I already had frozen in the freezer), the noodles and the star of the bowl, the miso-tahini sauce. You may or may not know that I am in love with tahini (or techina as we Israelis call it) so this should come as no surprise. It's simply some white miso (the best), tahini and water mixed together. I couldn't be bothered to whip out the food processor just to blend a clove of garlic so I left it out. If you think this recipe looks pretty bland and beige, I'd agree with you-- it could handle some fresh greens so go for it if you feel like it. On the bland front, I'd say it's straight up comfort food. Make sure to be liberal with the tahini sauce.

In terms of the supermarket this week, I spent a total of 140 shekel, which included all the ingredients needed to make a meal for friends of mine who had just given birth. The bulk of this week's shopping was buying four bags of frozen vegetables, which will carry over to next week as I used only two bags so far. Also stocked up on more quinoa which was on sale again for a better price, at ten shekels a bag. And I bought another bag of lentils. And that's all. I closed this month having saved a significant amount so I'm glad and hoping I can keep it up for June as well. This brings May to a close; I will be continuing to cook through Isa Does It until the end of June. 

Meal Plan: March 22-March 26th- Second Avenue Vegetable Korma

This week brings us one of the last recipes that I'll be making from Appetite for Reduction. Officially, spring has arrived (hallelujah!) but the weather has been a bit fickle. I'm taking advantage of these last weeks to make soup/stews before I transition to lighter fare.  Essentially this vegetable korma is a curry, with lots of spices and a bit of coconut milk.

This week at the supermarket I spent about 80 shekels. The usual peppers, corn, cucumbers, potatoes and carrots along with a huge bag of dried chickpeas (for next week's recipe), some drain cleaner, zucchini, and some sweet potatoes to go along with the korma. Not too bad considering that the chickpeas will be stretched for a good while after next week's recipe. I had leftover red onion from a salad I made over the weekend, ginger still from my most recent tofu experiment and I made homemade coconut milk!

Meal Plan: Jan 24th-Jan 29th Part 2- Beer and Lime Roasted Cauliflower

The main vegetable component to this week's recipe was the Beer and Lime Roasted Cauliflower. This is the last recipe I tried from Thug Kitchen and they serve them as tacos. I decided to leave out the taco factor and serve it over the Baked Spanish Rice that I wrote about in my last post.

I love baked cauliflower. Love it. Roasted with just some oil, salt and pepper, there's nothing better. (Obviously, oil isn't an option, and I've gotta say while I don't miss the calories that come along with the oil, I sure do miss the flavor. Anyone who says you can get the same flavor out of onions and other things with the oil is just fooling themselves. Okay, rant over.) That's why I was super excited to make this recipe.