Miso Zucchini Salad

Sundays are my day to get chores done and boy howdy, was yesterday packed full!  I started off the day by taking Duncan to play in the park with his friend Cat, a rather excited catahoula leopard dog, and by the time we got home we were pooped and hungry!  Sometimes I'm a little decision-challenged, but I'm guessing that I shouldn't have been trying out a new pressure-cooker egg recipe while starving.  Michael Ruhlman has been publishing a series of pressure-cooking blogs written by Laura Pazzaglia, and ever since he posted on pressure-cooking eggs, I've been dying to try the recipe for Eggs en Cocoette.  I happened to be missing most of the logical ingredients, so I settled on putting a little pesto in the bottom of the ramekin and goat cheese on top.  I tried to cook the eggs covered in foil for a soft yolk, but I somehow messed up the timing; first they were raw, then they were overdone, but they still tasted delicious.  I look forward to trying again next weekend.  Hopefully I'll get it right.

With the pressure-cooker out and very few groceries in the house, I decided to make chili for dinner.  My dried kidney beans were at least a year old, but I soldiered ahead with high hopes.  After an hour-long soak, I pressure-cooked them; they still weren't done, so I pulled them off the stove and left them in the hot water while we went to tea with Ben's parents.  When I  came home, they were mostly soft and that was enough for me.  I made my chili and darn it if my beans weren't mostly OK!

Admittedly, I hadn't set the bar very high.

Eggs and beans and chili bring me to my Asian-inspired zucchini salad.  As I mentioned, we hadn't gone grocery shopping in a week and were rather low on just about everything.  Fortunately, we overbought last week, and still had some nice, viable produce in the fridge, including a bag of zucchini.  I've been bored out of my mind with veggies lately, and with the crocuses starting to bloom and spring peeping around the corner, I'm into salads.  So what can I do with zucchini that doesn't involve roasting or steaming or sautéing?  I started Googling and voila, a lovely recipe for miso zucchini salad.  With a few modifications, I served Asian zucchini salad with chili for dinner.  Not my most well-thought out meal, I'll admit, but theres something to be said for just using what's in the fridge and making tasty food.

Miso Zucchini Salad

2 large zucchinis, cut into large matchsticks
1 1/2 T white miso paste
1 T GF tamari
1/2 T seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 T lime juice
1/2 tsp hot pepper sesame oil
1 tsp maple syrup
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp sesame seeds

1. Place chopped zucchini in large mixing bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine miso paste, tamari, seasoned rice vinegar, lime juice, hot pepper sesame oil and maple syrup.  Mix well and pour over zucchini.
3. Add cilantro and sesame seeds.  Serve cold.

Adapted from all recipes.com http://allrecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-miso/detail.aspx

Enjoy!

Eat like a dietitian part 2

I've stolen the idea of posting my weekly menu from my fellow blogger Allison at Decadent Philistines Save the World , both because I love the idea and because patients are always asking me what I eat.  No, I don't think everyone should eat like me, but darn it, if it helps you to eat healthier or provides new ideas, I'm happy to post a few weeks worth of menus.

If you're curious why I only plan meals through Wednesday, see my original post on menu planning.  Also,  despite what my meal list looks like, I always put veggies with my dinners but what exactly depends on what's in season and what's on-sale.

Sunday: One-Pot Cod with Chorizo, Potatoes, and Paprika Aioli w/ Salad from Cook's Illustrated
Monday: Bibimbap (see my previous post for the recipe and veggie sides here)
Tuesday: Pesto Pasta with Smoked Salmon and Blanch Kale (from our winter garden!)
Wednesday: Beef Tacos with lots o' veggies on top and broccoli salad

What are you eating this week?

Eat like a dietitian

Interesting meal addition from our friend Erik

Do you plan your meals?  I know I have to, otherwise we'd eat scrambled eggs for dinner every night.  It's not just that I need to know what to purchase at the grocery store, I also need to make enough food for lunches as well.  While I wouldn't call our household a scheduling nightmare, it's certainly a balancing act to make sure there is enough prepared food available.

My schedule is different everyday but I for sure see patients Monday-Wednesday, some nights not getting home until after seven.  Ben works a strange split schedule, mostly at the community college for 10 am to 1 pm and then tutoring roughly from 3-7 pm, returning home around 7:30 or 8:00.  I cook dinner during the week, making sure there enough left-overs for us to eat have a hot, instant lunch.

Every week is a little different.  Some weeks I have lots of patience and cooking time and no evening obligations.  Some weeks I have networking events almost every night and I throw food in the slow cooker every morning.  Some weeks are in-between.

When I sit down to plan meals, I try to balance my meal selections, rotating fish, beef, chicken, pork and vegetarian, though sometime we end up with more fish than not.  I also tend not to write down the exact vegetable side because that will depend upon whats on sale at the grocery store or farmer's market.

Here's what was on our menu this week:

Sunday: Szechwan pork stir-fry with bok choy from the latest Cook's Illustrated (it was delicious!)
Monday: Fish tacos or pasta with pesto and smoked salmon and chard (depends whats was on sale)
Tuesday: Salmon burgers and salad (working late)
Wednesday: Roast chicken and potatoes with brussels sprouts or broccoli
Thursday: Guys Night- leftovers or scrambled eggs
Friday: Home made pizza or something else fun
Saturday: Dinner with friends, menu TBA

How do you plan your meals?