A new "What's for dinner?" thread!

[Marlet]

I just tracked down the old one and it is crazy long! So I thought, if no one minds, I'd start a new one.

Last night we had a lentil loaf. It was sooo good! It was a combo of two recipes so I'll share what I did.

Lentil Loaf:
2 cups brown lentils (in 4 cups water)
2 cups brown rice (I used brown basmati)
2 bay leaves
1 section of garlic (I broke off a piece from a whole clove)-chopped
onion to taste (I just cut up a section and then threw in some)
bread crumbs- I dried two pieces of wheat bread to get mine
kethcup (or other sauce)
cheese (I used mozzerlla)

seasoning mix:
salt
pepper
thyme
dill
parsley

Add lentils, chopped garlic, chopped onion, and bay leaves to water. Bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for 45-50 minutes.

Cook rice according to directions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine lentil mixture (remove bay leaves prior to doing this!) with rice and mix well. You can mush the lentils a bit before adding to the rice. Add in seasonings (I "premix" them by putting them all in a bowl and stirring them up). Add in bread crumbs. Stir up mixture until everything is well mixed.

Spoon in one layer of rice and lentil mixture into bottom of casserole pan. Add in some cheese (if you eat it that is! If not, skip this step ) and spoon in rest of the rice and lentil mixture. Top with ketchup or barbecue sauce (or sauce of choice). Cook for 45-60 minutes.

It turned out SOOO good! We ate the whole pan last night. I think if I make it again I'll do more lentils and less rice. I'll also mash the lentils a bit before starting to mix it all up. I forgot to do that last night and while it was good I wanted more of a loaf than I got. I wasn't sure about the cheese at first but am glad I added it. It kind of stuck it all together (though I think that's what the lentil mashing accomplishes as well). We just ate it with sugar snap peas. Even though it was "light" it was filling. And the lentils were really nice and meaty. Totally worth making again!

Tonight we had "Sloppy Lens". Just lentils (I used some from the ones I made last night so it was already seasoned with the onions, garlic, and bay leaves), a can of Manwhich, and hamburger buns with cheese melted on top. OMG... These were soooo good! I wasn't sure how much lentils to add to the sauce so I just added in half cups at a time. I think I probably did two cups total. At first it was runny but after it was heated up and scopped onto the buns and everything it had thickened up nicely. By the time I was done with my first one I was able to eat the second one without a fork. I'm sure I could have done the first one that way but I was leary of it. I am definitely making these again. I know my family liked lentils but man! These last two nights have sealed the deal. DH asked me when i was making both of them again.

So what did you have for dinner?

[KnockedUpButtercup]

We had barbequed tofu. I basically followed the cooking method from Vegan with a Vengeance's Pomegranate Tofu, but instead of making her sauce I used some from a bottle. It was really good. After it was done, it took it out of the pan and dumped some canned pineapple into the sauce that was left in there and put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes. Then I piled it all onto some brown rice, with some greens for a side dish.

Yum.

Holly

[LankyLizards]

Ok, you guys' dinners sound delicious and healthy! And here I go with my non-healthy dinenr. We had Amy's frozen pizza tonight, because the cook (um...me) was tired. :

[pixiexto]

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Burritos and a HUGE green salad with homemade wine vinegar dressing.

[caiesmommy]

Last night dp made a cold pasta salad using:

rice noodles
cucumber
tomato
pepper
onion
corriander seeds
cilantro
olive oil
chili oil
walnut oil

It was sooooo yummy!!!
Even better since I didn't have to make it!!

Now tonight I'm up to bat...Im thinking im making

chickpeas, lentils and rice with a salsa/cilantro dressing...if theres any cilantro left..if not probell veggie burgers

[pixiexto]

Tonight is going to be lentils & rice with caramelized onions and mushrooms and a green salad.

[chanale]

That cold pasta dish looks good. I think I might try something like that for our packed lunches.

Almost all this week's recipes are from The Greek Vegetarian. For tonight, I picked out two mezedes: skordalia and roasted beets. I haven't yet decided what to have with them.

ETA (the next day): I did make the nutty skordalia (we dipped carrots and cherry tomatoes in it), but no beets. DH made an arugula salad with oranges and olives.

[nicole lisa]

Tonight was veg fajitas. Yum!

Tomorrow night is the old stand-by: rice, sauteed bok choy and broccoli, roasted squash and salad with hemp dressing.

Fri through Mon we're at a conference so we'll be scrounging up food out.

[Marlet]

We do a cold pasta similar to that one....it is by far our favorite meal!

Tonight we had lentil burgers (yes I cooked a lot of lentils the other night ) and peas sauteed with soy sauce. This was my first time doing lentil burgers and they are a tad dry but I know it was from too much of one ingredient. I used this recipe and added radishes to it. I baked them since I had no olive oil and they are great so far! Dh is eating outside (phone conference) so once he gets in I'll know more for sure. My 2 year old is liking it so it can't be too bad (although she's not very dicriminating ). I know there has been an issue with veggie burgers falling apart so I was worried about these. Not even close to falling apart...not even crumbly!

[MidwifeErika]

Tonight we had the meowee burgers with vegetarian baked beans. We had to eat really early, so now I am munching on some hummus that I whipped up in my new food processor (mother's day gift) on pita chips.

pixiexto: Could you share how you prepare the sweet potato black bean burritos? I happen to have a bag of sweet potatoes and some black beans and no dinner plans for tomorrow!! Also, you had posted lentils and rice with carmalized onion and mushroom.... was that all there was to that recipe? I also happen to have some onions and lentils and nothing to do with them!!

[UnschoolnMa]

Tonight the kids had nachos and I had a burritos consisting of wheat tortillas filled with beans, diced veggies, spinach leaves, garlic, and veg sour cream. It was so good I had two really big ones!

[mrsalf97]

We had tacos and homemade guacamole with blue corn chips.

I season black beans with taco seasoning and use that for the "meat".

[caiesmommy]

Last night I made
chickpeas, lentils and rice with carrots, celery, mushrooms and peppers, onion and garlic
all sauteed together with a sauce made of
pureed salsa, with more garlic onion, tomato paste, fresh cilantro and dried cilantro(ran low on fresh), cumin, fresh ground pepper

Tonight will probelly be a potato chickpea lentil curry on rice...use up the leftover rice lentils and chickpeas! lol
OR.....
Sweet potato chili in baked tortilla bowls and have the curry tomorro

[wildtigercubs]

Tonight I made Seitan, Mushroom and Herb Filo parcels (vegan): http://vegetationramblings.blogspot....o-parcels.html (sorry I get too lazy to type it all out again and this way you get photo's )

I also have that black bean and sweet potato recipe on my blog but I used red beans so just substitute: http://vegetationramblings.blogspot....nchiladas.html

Hope you guys like

[MidwifeErika]

Last night the kids ate what was left of the meowee burgers and I made myself a bean burrito. I made my own refried beans and used a whole wheat tortilla and it was really good! Then I had also made some rice pudding in the crockpot. No clue what I am making tonight though!

[pixiexto]

Originally Posted by hotwings640

pixiexto: Could you share how you prepare the sweet potato black bean burritos? I happen to have a bag of sweet potatoes and some black beans and no dinner plans for tomorrow!! Also, you had posted lentils and rice with carmalized onion and mushroom.... was that all there was to that recipe? I also happen to have some onions and lentils and nothing to do with them!!

Ooops, sorry to have missed this until now! I'll post this morning.

[caiesmommy]

I made yummy indian curry with chickpeas, lentils, on rice.
Tonight I have no clue...chili?, burritos?, tofu in peanut sauce?
we're running out of all fresh veggies but root vegetables TONS OF THEM LEFT!!

[UnschoolnMa]

Tonight it's easy. We are doing veg burgers and organic fries.

[vermontgirl]

Last night we had black bean and sweet potato enchilatas and local asparagus on the side. SO good.

[catnip]

Soyrizo Red Bean and Rice stew:

Take a large onion, a large carrot, 2 stalks of celery and a red bell pepper, chop and cook until just tender in a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the contents of 1/2 a package of Soyrizo sausage, then 1 cup uncooked brown rice. Add 4 cups of water and simmer until most of the water is absorbed, and the rice is cooked. Add 2 rinsed, drained cans of red beans, and crushed garlic to taste. Serve with a chunk of crusty bread and Tabasco.


Cauliflower Split Pea Curry:

Heat 1/4 cup of curry powder with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until fragrant. Add 2 large chopped onions, when they are just tender then add 2 chopped medium heads of cauliflower. Stir in 2 cups yellow split peas and 6 cups of water. Simmer for about 45 minutes, then add 1 package of frozen carrots and peas, several cloves of crushed garlic, and heat through. Serve over brown basmati rice. For non-vegans, a dollop of plain yogurt is tasty with this.