I did it! I spent (some of) the weekend getting really organized and meal planning and I prepped SO WELL that this week’s food was completely heavenly. It helped that I was super inspired by the recipes in these cookbooks.
I got Run Fast Cook Fast East Slow from the library last week and have been obsessed from page one. OBSESSED.
Maybe you are already aware of how stellar Shalene and Elyse’s cookbooks are, but I somehow missed the memo back when the first cookbook came out. I did it out of order though, because I started with the sequel and after realizing what a gold mine it was, promptly went back to the library to get the original.
I used some of Elyse’s weekly prep ideas to get myself squared away so that I’d be eating well from Monday through Friday.
The produce I get from the UC Davis student farm CSA is getting predictable enough that I can plan it into the menu now. This week we got:
- rainbow carrots
- beets with greens
- fava beans
- red and green leaf lettuce
- chicory
- rutabaga
- red kohlrabi
- chard
- green cabbage
- red russian kale
- baby bok choy
- green garlic
- popcorn
- herb bundle (with mint, rosemary, lavander, and sage)
Did you count those SEVEN heads of lettuce? Yeah. We have greens going on in a major way.
And last week I got freshly shucked (shucked?) wheatberries!! So cool. So anyway…back to the cookbook.
Kyle grilled on Sunday before leaving for a couple of days, so I had him cook extra salmon for me to eat throughout the week.
I also doubled this Thai quinoa salad (grain salads make the best leftovers).
It was delightful and the dressing was so simple with just a few ingredients. The lime juice made is taste so fresh and the fish sauce added major umami.
This salmon was the biggest splurge of the week for sure, but it balances out when you make it last for multiple meals.
This was the first.
And this was the second.
I added extra herbs and nuts to make the salad fresh and new again. Meanwhile I brushed the fish with oil and broiled it for five minutes to get a new char thang going on.
I finished all of the quinoa and it was seriously the best lunch I’ve had in a while!
I had the third (and final) piece of salmon the next day for lunch alongside this Thai salad – with kale, carrots, cashews, avo, and more herbs (cilantro and basil).
I also did some baking.
The “superhero muffins” were one of the most popular recipes to come out of the first cookbook, so it only makes sense that they had THREE new versions of it in the newest book.
I combined the beet blueberry and the carrot apple to make a carrot and beet version. I had candy cane beets from the CSA that needed a home. And since the food processor was on…I shredded a ton of them, as well as carrots…mostly to freeze for later use, but there were carrots in the quinoa Thai salad of course.
And since the oven was cranking…and we had another massive haul of strawberries…
Strawberry muffins!
OMG these muffins were such a hit!
I made a dozen but they were gone after two breakfasts! I’ll have to write down the amounts next time I make them. And I assure you there will be a next time.
Mini chef.
I also made the “quinoa tempo bowl”, which is one of the power bowls in the book.
They give you a rough guideline, but then give you suggestions of ways to tweak it as well.
I roasted kohlrabi, rutabaga, and broccoli rather than the Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes called for because that’s what I already had on hand from our CSA.
They had two sauce recipes, so I let Kyle pick, and he went with the creamy cashew ginger, which was TO DIE FOR.
I made extra so I’d have more for another meal. Same with the tempeh.
I marinated it all day, so it would have maximum flavor and I could skip the steaming step. Kyle and I love the strong flavor of tempeh, so I never bother steaming it first.
Served over quinoa, with cashews on top, it was a hit with the adults!
The kids were so so on the tempeh, and ate the few I gave them, but didn’t love it. More leftovers for me!
It made a mid week lunch super easy to pull together for me.
I also made a big (BIG!) bowl of the DIY grain bowl for my own lunches.
Like the power bowls, they offer ideas on different ways to make it. I chose brown rice, kale and red leaf lettuce, watermelon radishes, slivered almonds and fancy feta with the apple cider vinaigrette. It was heavenly.
Totally reminded me of my favorite prepared salad from my parents’ WF store.
I even added candied walnuts one day, because why not add more nuts?
I’ll continue to share more as I make it because I’m so into this book, I will likely meal plan from it this week too!
Pingback: Run Fast Cook Fast Heal Slow – Hungry Hungry Hippie