List your top three to fiveish typical dinner menus

[Ego]

This morning was overcast so Mrs. Ego demanded our meal involve roasting. I felt like guacamole.

Roasted asparagus, Brussells sprouts, tomato, Kimbo baked tofu, yellow and orange peppers. Olive oil and Valentina's sause with salt and pepper to taste. Side of guacamole. Pita.

[jennypenny]

@Ego -- Finally found Beyond Meat. Check the ingredients when you buy it. Some of the products use pea protein isolates which are fine. Some use soy protein isolates which are not so fine.


Our eating habits are changing a bit. Bean burgers made from variations of the recipe found on the Prudent Homemaker's website have made the rotation as well as a meatless version of Shepherd's Pie using lentils. The cooler weather also means a weekly pot of soup that I make while I do my weekly baking.

[Ego]

Some use soy protein isolates which are not so fine.

What is the issue with isolates? Isn't that tvp?

[jennypenny]

Some use soy protein isolates which are not so fine.

What is the issue with isolates? Isn't that tvp?

Yes, it's the main ingredient in most tvps, mostly because it's a byproduct (waste product, really) of other soy food production so it's readily available. It's easy to get too much soy when products containing SPP are consumed. They also react differently with the body than regular soy. Even tofu and silk aren't great. Soy is best consumed fermented (tempeh, miso, etc).

http://www.livestrong.com/article/24917 ... y-protein/
Soy products contain varying amounts of protein. Foods that contain soy protein isolate, for example, have the highest amount of protein, followed by soy flour, whole soybeans and finally, tofu. This is important because the potential negative side effects of soy may be related to the level of proteins and isoflavones in soy. Foods that have added soy protein and isoflavones can react differently with the body than whole soy foods such as tofu, soy silk and miso, according to Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. Foods with higher levels of isoflavones can potentially increase the risk of cancer.


** we need a nutrition log, not to argue diets but for this kind of info

[Ego]

Ahhhh.... you haven't been following the milk thread.
http://forum.earlyretirementextreme.com ... 52#p127158

[jennypenny]

Haha ... no I hadn't read that thread. I'm not arguing for or against milk or soy products. It's just generally accepted now that people should moderate their soy intake, and it's hard to avoid overdoing it on the soy if it's hidden in a lot of foods. Kinda like salt. I'd prefer soy content was listed on nutrition labels like salt.

[Ego]

Haha ... no I hadn't read that thread. I'm not arguing for or against milk or soy products. It's just generally accepted now that people should moderate their soy intake, and it's hard to avoid overdoing it on the soy if it's hidden in a lot of foods. Kinda like salt. I'd prefer soy content was listed on nutrition labels like salt.

I like the idea of encouraging people to be aware of what they are ingesting. The thing that bugs me a bit is when people worry about soy because it has weak plant hormones but then completely ignore things like dairy and meat (mammalian hormones) or the hops in beer which are more bioavailable forms of plant hormones.

[Riggerjack]

We are Costco shoppers, and most of our food comes from there.

I am a big fan of their rotisserie chicken. We will bring a few home, I will strip them, then sometimes we make a broth from the bones and skin. The broth can become the base for chicken noodle soup. I sometimes make homemade noodles for me (DW is gluten intolerant, and has special noodles). Sometimes I just add egg noodles, or whatever DW is using.

The chicken gets used in soup, or with spices for taco salads, or with curry and coconut milk, or oil and peprika, fried, or fried in Italian dressing. Or just eaten out of the fridge, of course.

Whatever we have for dinner becomes lunch the next day.

We work 10 hour days, and our commute is another 2, best case. So easy, and quick have priority for weekday dinners.

[chicago81]

Hard to list as a "top 3 to 5 dishes" type thing, but probably 90% or more of my dinners recently, typically consist of:
- Pan fried animal protein (boneless/skinless chicken thighs, center cut pork chops, ground beef), sometimes in bacon fat, with salt, pepper, garlic powder, possibly some dry herbs
- Steamed vegetables (typically one or more of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts), with some butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder
- Occasionally a little bit of some kind of sauce made from a couple pureed vegetables (tomato, onion, garlic clove, green pepper, celery, etc.) put in with the protein and/or veggies toward the end of cooking.

[Seppia]

Italian frittata (basically an omelette).
The ingredients are ultra basic, the detail is in how it's cooked.

Mix eggs together, add salt and a pinch of pepper.
Heat oil in a non stick pan on high heat.
Pour eggs in, add a lot of Parmesan on top (while the eggs are still liquid).
Cover with a lid (very important!), turn heat on very low.
Don't touch and wait till it's cooked throughly , without ever turning the frittata.
Pay attention not to overcook it, if you do the frittata will start inflating and expanding, nothing bad but it will not look as good and the consistency will be a lot "airier".
The perfect cooking time is as soon as there's no more liquid egg on the top of the frittata.

Here's how it looks (I used too much oil this time)

[BRUTE]

let's be honest, italian food isn't even in the same category as other food. what's so impressive to brute about italian cuisine is how they almost make a mockery out of ingredients. frittata? it's a fucking omelette. caprese? it's literally cheese and tomatoes with some olive oil and herbs. how is it so good? lardo. it's just fucking bacon. pesto? ground up herbs and some oil. all italian cheeses taste better than just about any other substance brute has tasted. and even their meat is amazing. not to speak of seafood. brute hates seafood, but in italy, even brute will eat tons of it.

and brute would literally die if he had the chance to taste that thinly sliced, cooked beef carpaccio with 1 inch of fresh tuna sauce again for the first time..

[Seppia]

and brute would literally die if he had the chance to taste that thinly sliced, cooked beef carpaccio with 1 inch of fresh tuna sauce again for the first time..

Vitello tonnato.
That's the name, it means roughly "tunaed veal".
The good news is it's also super simple to do.

This one is a very good recipe (you might need to use google translate - if anything is not clear just copy paste and I'll help) http://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Vitello-tonnato.html
You can substitute the veal with pork tenderloins for a similarly awesome effect.

I'll add two bonus recipes:

First one is Farinata, basically a focaccia done with chickpea flour
I only have the picture of the end result:




Difficulty level: easy.
You basically mix around 50-50 some chickpea flour and water, add salt (it needs quite a bit of salt because chickpea flour is kinda sweet) pepper and olive oil (about half a glass for a pound of mix) and create a paste that has the thickness of a thick vinaigrette.
Then you heat a non stick pan, add a bit more oil in the pan, and add the mix.
Let cook at low heat, timing depending on how thick it is.
For a half inch thick farinata it's at least 30 minutes per side.

The original recipe calls for a full night of resting of the mix, and has to be cooked in the oven, but this is 90% as good with 10% the effort.

Second thing is the eggplant spread.
Difficulty level: monkey.

Peel eggplants



Chop and put in a pot


Add one inch water, close the top and let simmer at low heat stirring often.
In ten-twenty minutes it will look like this


Let cool down, add a lot of salt and extra Virgin olive oil.



This can be used as a spread on bread/crackers/etc, as a complement to a tomato sauce on pasta (ie: cook pasta, mix with tomato sauce, add a couple spoons of eggplant spread and salted ricotta), as a filling for tortillas (just sautée it in a pan with some fresh eggs and some Parmesan first) or inside an omelette.

I will post a few more Italian recipes in the coming days.

[ThisDinosaur]

The "leftover omelet" idea from the blog inspired me to do the same thing with chili. If you go to a chili cook off (the sub type where people will actually share their recipes) its often really surprising the variety of secret ingredients people use. With that in mind, I like to take a couple cans of red kidney beans, something spicy, and any and all leftovers / unused condiments etc. and throw them in a pot. Sometimes its better than others, but its always different .

@Riggerjack
Tell me more about your bone and skin broth? I've been wasting my rotisserie skeletons like a sucker.

[jacob]

@ThisDinosaur - I do the same thing with chili (it takes leftover salsa, new kinds of beans, fried zucchini, ... in a way, it's like keeping a yogurt culture alive.).

Also, I sometimes(*) combine the two leftover meals in the following way to clear out the fridge of several different kinds of leftovers in a way that goes well together. That makes three kinds of leftover meals. A web of leftover meals.

Rough guidelines ...
1) Chop onions and fry them. (You can add hotdogs or bacon if you want to cheat). Put those on one quarter of the pan.
2) Fry potatoes (leftover from greek potatoes or even boiled potatoes ... or I suppose french fries .. something potato based) on the free 3/4 of the pan. Then put them together like you did the onions.
3) Pour leftover chili (or canned beans or real beans or something like that) on the remaining 1/2 of the pan.
4) Dump a few eggs on top of onions.
5) Cover with lid, heat on low. Wait until eggs are done.

(The only thing that can go wrong here is if you stir the eggs too much into the beans or chili.)

Serve with ketchup and pickles and possible bread.

(*) It's not exactly a weight loss meal and you might want to add some green too.

[Ego]

Serve with ketchup .....

Red Coca-cola.

Combine high fructose corn syrup and the next ingredient, plain old corn syrup, and you move it up on the ingredient list above tomatoes?

If you can't tell, I am really enjoying my role as resident nutrition asshole. Don't get me started on mayonnaise.

[jacob]

@Ego - I prefer to think of it as concentrated Brawndo!

[BRUTE]

Don't get me started on mayonnaise.

mayonnaise is the perfect health food! ever since he learned the recipe here, brute's been making his own. egg yolk and butter is his favorite so far. olive oil was good, but strong olive taste that overpowered the meat.

[Ego]

First one is Farinata, basically a focaccia done with chickpea flour

Difficulty level: easy.
You basically mix around 50-50 some chickpea flour and water, add salt (it needs quite a bit of salt because chickpea flour is kinda sweet) pepper and olive oil (about half a glass for a pound of mix) and create a paste that has the thickness of a thick vinaigrette.
Then you heat a non stick pan, add a bit more oil in the pan, and add the mix.
Let cook at low heat, timing depending on how thick it is.
For a half inch thick farinata it's at least 30 minutes per side.

The original recipe calls for a full night of resting of the mix, and has to be cooked in the oven, but this is 90% as good with 10% the effort.

I dropped Mrs. Ego off at yoga and hit the Middle Eastern grocery store. There I found a two pound bag of chickpea (garbanzo) flour for $3.69.



I mixed it as Seppia instructed but added a little pepper, then heated up the waffle maker I found in the trash, poured in the batter and .... presto....



It took about ten minutes to cook thoroughly.

Second thing is the eggplant spread.
Difficulty level: monkey.

Peel eggplants

Chop and put in a pot
Add one inch water, close the top and let simmer at low heat stirring often.
In ten-twenty minutes it will look like this
Let cool down, add a lot of salt and extra Virgin olive oil.
This can be used as a spread on bread/crackers/etc, as a complement to a tomato sauce on pasta (ie: cook pasta, mix with tomato sauce, add a couple spoons of eggplant spread and salted ricotta), as a filling for tortillas (just sautée it in a pan with some fresh eggs and some Parmesan first) or inside an omelette.

The Middle Eastern grocery also had Italian eggplant at $1.69 per pound.



Mrs. Ego insisted that the peels remain on. I added a few tomatoes and a clove of garlic.



I knew the Farinata would be a little dry as I did not use much oil so I made a salsa in the vitamix with tomatoes, a serrano chili, a lime and a few sprigs of Italian parsley.



The finished product. Absolutely delicious.



We had some lentils leftover from yesterday so I added them to enhance my ERE cred. Also, I roasted a few Brussels sprouts in the toaster over with olive oil and spices to add some green.

I will post a few more Italian recipes in the coming days.

I can't wait! Thank you.

[jennypenny]

@Ego--That looks great. Did you have to spray the waffle iron or was there enough oil in the batter that you didn't have to? I'm going to try it. I might flavor it like falafel and dip it in tahini.

@Seppia -- Please keep posting recipes!

[Ego]

I just spread a little olive oil around on the waffle iron. I put very little oil in the batter, maybe a tablespoon, which explains why it was a little dry. I used the waffle iron because I don't own a non-stick pan (yet!).

I've never used chickpea flour before and was reading the wiki page about it. Apparently it is a good vegan egg replacement for baking. Also, I enjoyed the page for farinata.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farinata