A quick and easy lunch

We have been posting some complex recipes recently.   While they are totally delicious and worth the effort, especially when entertaining around the holidays, they can't really be thrown together without doing some up-front planning, specialty shopping, and taking the time to prepare the dishes.  To switch things up a bit, I want to share with you what I had for lunch today.

A sunshine burger sandwich, with a side salad, baby carrots, and black beans

While there isn't a specific recipe, I will explain what it all is, and how I brought it all together into a quick, nutritious and very satisfying lunch.

Everything I pulled out of the fridge, freezer, and pantry

Serves: 1

Prep time: 11 minutes (I timed myself, without rushing or leaving a mess)

Ingredients:

2 slices of Ezekiel 4:9 Sesame Sprouted Whole Grain Bread
1 Sunshine burger
1 cup of black beans
2 tablespoons of salsa
10 baby carrots
1 tomato
1/2 an avocado
1/2 romain lettuce heart
mustard to taste

Instructions:

Put one cup of black beans and two tablespoons of salsa into a small pot and heat on medium high.  I used black beans that I had previously prepared in the pressure cooker, and keep in that big jar in the fridge, but half a can of black beans would work just as well.  While black beans typically taste fine on their own, I wanted to spice them up a bit today and adding low or no-salt salsa while reheating them is a simple way to do that.  It also sneaks a few more veggies into your lunch.

Heat the sunshine burger, either on the stove, in the microwave, or in a toaster oven.  Today I heated mine on the stove, other times I'll start it in the microwave for 40 seconds and then finish it in the toaster with the Ezekiel bread to keep it from getting soggy.

Lightly toast two slices of Ezekiel bread, being careful not to make it too crunchy or dark.

Peel off two leaves of lettuce to use on your sandwich, and chop some more and put it on your plate to start the salad.  Cut three slices of tomato, and dice the rest and put it on top of the lettuce.  Cut and slice half the avocado putting half of the slices on top of your salad and leaving the rest for your sandwich.

By this time the beans should be boiling, the bread should be toasted, and the sunshine burger should be flipped and almost done.  Assemble your sandwich, and put it on your plate next to the salad and add some baby carrots.  Put the beans in a bowl, pour yourself a glass of water, and sit down and enjoy your quick, easy, nutritious, and delicious lunch!  That's all there is to it.

A Sunshine burger with lettuce, tomato, avocado, and mustard on Ezekiel toast 

Black beans with salsa

Thai Pineapple Stir Fry

I was really craving some Thai food one night, so I decided to try this dish for the first time.  I thought it was really easy to make and tasted really good!  Yum!!  Lots of good flavors in there!  I used a recipe I found in the Happy Herbivore abroad book that we just got, but modified it a bit.  These dishes could definitely be made together, but since it was my first time making them, I wanted to keep them separate to see how it went.  Also, this was just enough for the three of us, so definitely double up if you're making for more!

Thai Pineapple Stir Fry

Serves: 2-3
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients:

4 green onions, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
3.5 - 7 oz of shiitake mushrooms (depending on how much you like)
1 8-oz can diced pineapple (in juice, not syrup) or about 4 rings of fresh pineapple diced
1/2 cup lite coconut milk
1/2 tsp Braggs liquid aminos

Instructions:
Over high heat add a thin layer of water, the garlic, and green onions and water sauté for a minute or two.  Be sure not to let the garlic burn.  Add bell pepper and mushrooms and more water if needed to line the pan.  Continue to cook over high heat until the peppers and mushrooms are slightly tender.  Once peppers start to soften add the pineapple, coconut milk, and Braggs.


Chinese Cabbage Stir Fry

Serves: 2-3
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients:
1 Chinese cabbage, cleaned and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup lite coconut milk
1/2 tsp Braggs liquid aminos
1 8-oz can diced pineapple (in juice, not syrup) or about 4 rings of fresh pineapple diced

Instructions:
Over high heat add a thin layer of water and the garlic and water sauté for a minute or two.  Be sure not to let the garlic burn.  Add the Chinese cabbage, the pineapple, coconut milk, and Braggs.  Saute in the pan until the cabbage is wilted and slightly soft.

Easy Lentil Loaf and Steamed Asparagus

This lentil loaf recipe is super easy! It is definitely easy enough for a weeknight meal and my kids have really been loving it. We made it the other night with a huge serving of asparagus and it was delicious! We usually finish off one batch of the lentil loaf for dinner, so if you would like some leftovers I would definitely double the recipe.

Lentil Loaf

Here is the loaf recipe I found: http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com/veg/lentilloaf.html:

Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 min
Cook Time: 50 min

Ingredients:2 cups cooked lentils
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups tomato sauce
1-1/2 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix thoroughly and press mixture into a loaf pan. Bake 50 minutes or until the lentil loaf is cooked through.

Glaze

I also found this homemade glaze topping with another lentil loaf recipe that is super tasty http://terrywalters.net/pdfs/CF2_WINTER_p271_LentilLoaf.pdf:

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon apple butter
1 teaspoon arrowroot

Instructions:
In a small saucepan over no heat, combine all glaze ingredients. Place over medium heat and stir continuously until this ( about 2-3 minutes). Spread evenly over loaf and bake.

Enjoy!