Menu for the Week of February 22nd - With notes

Sunday

Pasta Puttanesca and a mixed baby greens salad with a dressing of olive oil and sherry vinegar.

The pasta is based on Bishop's Spagetti with Tomatoes, Olives, and Capers from Italian Vegetarian. Reduce the olive oil to 2 tablespoons. Reduce the pasta to 1/2 pound and use whole wheat pasta. I like Bella Terra. Do not drain the tomatoes and I suggest using Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes. Add a can of rinsed and drained white beans or chick peas. We find this makes 3 servings without a salad or 4 with one. This is one of our favorites.

Monday

Chinese Braised Mushrooms and Tofu served over brown jasmine rice.

I opted to double the recipe and serve two servings over one serving of rice. This comes to 530 calories for a total of 4 servings. I made my own vegetable stock and used a few dried porcini mushrooms in it. I didn't get much thickening with the cornstarch and may try something different next time. It was an easy and edible meal that had comfort food satisfaction.

Tuesday

Fresh Herb and Lemon Bulgur Pilaf

I ended up only having half the bulgar wheat I needed so I toasted up some millet in a dry pan and used that for the other half. I used some of the vegetable/mushroom broth from yesterday. We really loved this pilaf. I served it with a green salad with a ginger dressing and some fresh herbs to match the pilaf. We each had two servings of the pilaf along with the green salad for a total of about 550 calories.

Wednesday

Vietnamese Tofu and Noodle Lettuce Wraps
with
Asparagus and Radish Salad

Three stores were sold out of the tofu I needed so I have not yet tried these wraps. We did enjoy the salad with some tempeh in mole sauce.

Thursday

Savory Millet Cakes
with
Spicy Green Salad with Soy & Roasted Garlic Dressing

I made these cakes a vegan version by leaving out the Parmesan cheese. I substituted some flax seed meal, olive oil, and salt. They held together well and have a lot of potential but I need to experiment a bit with the oil flavor. The salad was excellent but the dressing was a bit of work. Actually this whole menu had some prep work issues but it comes together well at the end.

Friday

Couscous, Lentil and Arugula Salad with Garlic Dijon Dressing

This was quite easy and yummy. I left out the feta and added a bit of olive oil to the tomatoes and cucumber. We found that twice as much greens and veggies are good for the amount of lentil and arugula and dressing. Could easily make this stuff up ahead of time and build the salad each day for lunch.

The recipes for Monday to Friday are from the April 2009 Eating Well magazine. Thanks mom - this issue looks great.