cooking more with less

Lately, my favorite way to cook is evolving in the same way as my favorite way to teach: doing more with less. Instead of plotting five recipes with ingredients that can’t be used in more than one recipe, I’m streamlining my cooking process to make the most of what I have on hand. I’m also building up my pantry with staple ingredients and making sure to have fresh produce that can be used in multiple meals.

Some of my favorite ingredients to keep around the kitchen are:
– protein: eggs, tofu, tempeh, black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, Wild Planet tuna, Cento tuna, sardine fillets
– grains: Seeds of Change quinoa + brown rice, rainbow quinoa, wild rice, Ezekiel bread
– green things: Olivia’s Baby Spinach, scallions, cilantro, parsley, avocados
– produce: garlic, onions, lemons, limes,` mushrooms
– sauces/condiments: sriracha, nama shoyu sauce, Cholula chili garlic sauce, Red Boat fish sauce, kimchi
– spices: sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, Penzeys Sunny Paris, Penzeys Chili 3000, Aleppo pepper, chipotle pepper, red pepper, nutritional yeast

Today I found tempeh on sale at Whole Foods and had scallions, parsley, garlic, spinach, and quinoa in the fridge, so I created a simple tempeh-mushroom-spinach quinoa bowl.

Chimichurri Sauce

While cooking rainbow quinoa on the stove, I made a chimichurri sauce from parsley, garlic, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, and olive oil in the Vitamix.

Scallions

I chopped up some scallions.

Tempeh

I cut up tempeh into cubes and fried them in a cast iron skillet.

Mushrooms

I sauteed the mushrooms in the cast iron skillet.

The Final Bowl

I mixed the quinoa, baby spinach, tempeh, and mushrooms together, then added lime juice and chimichurri sauce. It turned out well, yielding 4 1/2 servings for lunches/dinners.