this week's menu: #6

Sunday: Lentil & Garden Kale Soup

We have some winter kale in the garden still, so I was planning on making a chickpea and kale curry, but I forgot to soak the beans over night.  So instead, I made a soup.  I used this recipe.  I didn't have onion, so I used onion powder instead, and just threw the mustard seeds in with the soup, I also didn't add any lime, but did add red pepper flakes.  And I blended it, because I am now obsessed with using my immersion blender.

Monday: Battered Tempeh w/ Garden Greens, Rice & Cilantro Ginger Pesto

I used this recipe for the tempeh.  I'm not sure how much of a fan I was, but it was edible and the recipe was simple (just a lot of excess batter).  I've made better tempeh before using a different recipe, but I was looking to try to something new.  The mustard greens were in the freezer from our spring/fall garden.  We finally used up the rest of them to make way for this year's harvest.  We also used up the Cilantro Ginger Pesto we made from garden cilantro last year.  I love making different varieties of pesto and then freezing them in ice cube trays, it's so convenient and relatively inexpensive!

Tuesday: Parsley Pesto & Feta Pizza

Again, the pesto was from Parsley from the garden that we made last year.  We use walnuts to save on costs.  The pizza was pretty good.

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Parsley Pesto Risotto
A  friend had a potluck, so I wanted something relatively simple to cook and I didn't have time to run to the store, so I made a risotto.  I combined a few different recipes to come up with this:

• 2 cup risotto rice
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
• 6-8 cups stock
• Salt & Pepper
• Red Pepper Flakes
• 6 Pesto cubes

1. To make the risotto, heat 3 tablespoons of butter and add the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and the rice and stir to combine. Stirring constantly, cooked everything for a minute or so or until all the rice is well coated with butter.
3. Turn the heat to high and add 2 cups stock into the rice. When it starts boiling strongly, turn the heat down to medium and stir often, at least every minute or so, until the rice absorbs the stock.
4. Repeat with a 2 more cups of stock.
5. Add the pesto and the last cups of stock. Stir well to combine. Let the stock absorb.
6. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.

This makes a lot of risotto.


Friday: The Doug Fir Lounge:

On Friday, we went to see our friend Jordan's band, Toro y Moi, play.  We met a bunch of friends there and had a good time.  BRAIDS also played and they were amazing!  Anyway, we got there early to eat before hand.  I had a mushroom hazelnut soup and Willis had pasta with kale.  We ate there out of convenience, but I wouldn't go there on a regular basis.

Currently listening to:
Joan of Arc