Late Winter Plant-Based Meals {Inspiration to Make it to Spring!}
Hello friends! It has been a few weeks since I’ve shared much of my own cooking. Though I am still hitting the farmers market weekly and purchasing plenty of seasonal items, this time of year my menu tends to get a bit redundant until the new spring goodies start popping up. Yes, even I get a bit bored with seasonal produce after a while! Bored may not be the perfect term, more uninspired. However, despite my long-awaited visit to Slutty Vegan last week, I’m still cooking away and finding joy even in the simplest of fresh meals while I (im)patiently await the early spring produce at the market.
With plenty of February left on the calendar, perhaps some of my simple meals will still motivate you in your own kitchen to stay the course and keep on top of that healthy home cooking to feel fit and vibrant going into the springtime! Honestly, often the best way to stay on track with proper nutrition is to keep things simple so that you don’t get overwhelmed with options. Yes, I love encouraging people to try new dishes and vegetables, but when times are busy, easy rules the day. As much as I love cooking, some weeks I opt for quick and comfortable whether I have time or not. Sometimes a gal would rather snuggle up and read a book than stand over the stove top.
I’ll jump into my usual meal prep post style here with some photos to whet your appetite and have you drooling over vegetables. As always, take what you want for inspiration and put your own spin on it!
Speaking of inspiration, I started off this week perusing social media for ideas for a Super Bowl meal. No, we don’t care much about football in this household, but it is kind of fun to make something I wouldn’t normally make for the occasion. I had a few lonely baking potatoes just begging to be used, and just so happened to see a great idea for potato nachos upon scrolling through Purely Planted’s feed.
The boyfriend loves nachos, so of course I jumped right over to her blog to check out the recipe. Totally plant-based, and extremely easy to put together. The potatoes get sliced and coated in a tasty mixture of nutritional yeast and spices before baking in the oven. I should have gone a little thinner in my slices, but with a few minutes of extra cooking time they came out just fine to provide the base layer for the toppings.
The great thing about this type of recipe is that you can easily make adjustments based on what you have on hand, so mine had a few substitutions from her recipe. I layered on chopped Red Russian Kale, black-eyed peas, fresh tomatoes, pickled green tomatoes and fresh sliced jalapenos. After they came out of the oven for serving I made a simple guacamole with avocados and lime juice. So good! With the guac on top I didn’t even miss any cheese! You could of course easily add some vegan cheese, but I was still trying to be a bit moderate after my indulgent Slutty Vegan visit last week, haha! I highly recommend going to her page and trying out the recipe yourself. I would gladly make the potatoes on their own just as a side dish.
That plate was definitely the highlight of the week, but some other classics filled in the gaps on the plan and in our bellies. Bowls, bowls, and more bowls…
A Buddha Bowl with similar ingredients to the wheat berry bowl I shared a few weeks ago was another bright spot on the menu. My Palouse wheat berries are becoming a fast favorite in the meal prep rotation, especially to fill out a bowl like this with lots of fiber and plant-based protein. After cooking the wheat berries I mixed in some marinated tofu for an extra punch of protein and flavor.
I have also come to really enjoy the nutty flavor of roasted sunchokes. One of my farmers has had a great harvest this year, and I have been buying them regularly. The first few times I had them I wasn’t totally enamored of the somewhat homely vegetable, but as with many items–practice in cooking makes perfect. If not perfect, I always give items a few tries to find out the way I enjoy them best. These were roasted for about 45 minutes to really get that caramelization and texture. The Brussels sprouts were also roasted and placed with a pretty type of radicchio lettuce, and some sprouts rounded out the nutrient content of the bowl.
The dressing was a mixture of soaked raw cashews, fresh parsley, miso and lemon juice. I can’t recall the exact ratios, but it was a bright and tangy way to bring the whole bowl together.
Another simple bowl recently included a lentil and cauliflower mixture cooked with curry spices and paste, tomatoes, Komatsuna greens and coconut milk. I do still really need to explore Indian cooking more to nail down some wonderful curries and dals, but I have fun experimenting even in the simplest of ways. The warm spices are always great on cold days, especially paired with brown rice to make a perfect post-workout meal to refuel.
The leftovers all just get mixed together, but every now and then I have my act together for a nice shot for the blog.
And of course…
…soup!
I couldn’t crank out a meal prep post in the winter time without at least one soup. A big pot of soup will always be one of my favorite tips for easy meal prepping. Great for lunch or dinner, or maybe even breakfast if you choose. I made this pot at the end of the week when I had just a few lonely vegetables left in the bin to use up before restocking at the market. Onion, a chopped rutabaga (Swede), green split peas, celery, Swiss chard and parsley. I just used basic vegetable broth, Italian seasonings and bay leaf for seasoning. Nothing fancy, but always does the job.
When you get great lighting, even the simple meals look that much more appetizing! Lots of gloomy weather ahead these next few days, so perhaps I’ll bask in the sunshine of my photo reel when I need some vitamin D.
Back to the farmers market on Saturday, so plenty more cooking ahead next week. As usual, I don’t know what I’m making until I get my goodies. No matter the season, no matter the inspiration, I will keep it as fresh and local as I can! Happy cooking!
