Showing posts with label dinner to lunchbox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dinner to lunchbox. Show all posts

Jan 18, 2016

dinner to bento: vegetable au gratin casserole



Before I get into today's post, I have to announce the winner of Superfoods 24/7 (AmazonB&N)! The winner is: Sue Hegle! Congratulations! Contact me at zsusveganpantry dot com so I can get your mailing address.






Today's post features another Dinner to Bento meal. That makes 2, so it means that I'm on a roll. If you had seen my first Dinner to Bento meal HERE, you might have noticed that I changed it from Dinner to Lunchbox to Diner to Bento. Why? Because I like it better. I love the term bento, which means meals packed in a lunch container, meant to be taken to school or work. 

While it might seem that is all there is to it, bento also means that the meal is healthy, balanced, thoughtful and appetizing. It means more than just throwing a few things into a container and calling it a bento. It is the art of thoughtfully organizing a lunchbox. Now, don't you like Dinner to Bento better, as well?


This dinner is vegetable-centered and is an easy vegetable casserole in a bechamel sauce. After sauteing some garlic and oregano and cooking the flour, you mix in some non-dairy milk and bring to a simmer.



Thinly slice your vegetables (use a mandolin for the fastest, most accurate way) and layer the veggies in the bechamel sauce, starting with the potatoes. Cook the potatoes in the sauce for about 5 minutes to give them a jump-start.




Then stir in the spinach until it wilts (this happens fast as the sauce is hot), add the onions and then the squash. Press down on the squash until some of the sauce bubbles up. Don't add more liquid, otherwise you'll wind up with soup.


Cover and bake until tender. Add some optional fresh bread crumbs (leave 1/6 of the dish uncovered with bread crumbs; this will be transformed into your bento later), bake until the bread is crisp and serve with a green salad. Here I served it with Creamy Garlic Tahini Dressing.












For the bento portion, you will be creating a Oregano Bean Puree Crostini. Sautee fresh oregano, garlic and lima beans until the beans are fragrant with the herb, about 5 minutes. You can do this while the casserole is baking.

Blend the beans with 1/6 of the vegetable casserole (scrape the bread crumbs off, if you added it) and season to taste. Chill before packing. 



Let's talk bento

Above I wrote of the thoughtfulness of packing a bento vs. packing a lunchbox. There are a few things to keep in mind that will make the lunch be healthy, nutritious, balanced and appetizing.

The traditional bento relies on proportions:

4 parts carbohydrates
3 parts protein
2 parts vegetables
1 part treat

As vegans, you will find that your carbs and proteins might fall into the same categories: beans are both carbs and protein. Same with nuts and seeds. There are a few high-protein exceptions: soy and seitan, but typically don't go crazy adhering to the above traditional proportions. 

Instead, especially if you are using whole grains as your carbs, your proportions will more likely look like:

6 parts carbohydrates (whole grains, legumes, seeds, nuts)
2 parts protein (whole grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, soy, seitan)
2 parts vegetables
1 part treat (sweets, fruit)

Bentos also require color. As we now know, color doesn't just make food look appealing, but it is a great way to ensure you get your proper balance of nutrients; if you eat the color of the rainbow, you are maximizing variety, and therefore gaining your nutrition from a variety of plants. 

Rule of thumb for color? Make sure you have one of each of the following categories covered:

Red/Yellow/Orange
Green
White
Brown/Black/Purple

A note on the White color: if it is typically a white grain you are thinking of (such as rice), consider using whole grain instead. In the example, use brown rice instead of white rice and call it a win. 

There you have it: cover the proportions and the color spectrum and you will have built a bento.

My bento for today is:

Oregano Bean Puree [yellow, carb, protein] served with 
Pickles [the beans need the acid - use pickled onions or jalapenos instead, if you like (green, vegetable)]
Crostini [thin slices of toasted bread (white/brown, carb)]
Salad [green, vegetable]
Carrot curls [orange, vegetable]
Chocolate Chip Banana Muffin Bite [from Everyday Vegan Eats (brown, treat)]

A tip before we get to the recipe: pack your box tightly to avoid shifting of the food. Nothing worse than lovingly and carefully packing the container only to have everything mix up and mash together when the box is moved. Use containers to separate ingredients or vegetable or grain pieces to hold the sections separate. More tips next time!









Vegetable Au Gratin Casserole/ Oregano Bean Puree
Prep time: 30 minutes    Cook time: 60 minutes
Serves 4 to 5


Casserole:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2  teaspoons sea salt
1/2  teaspoon black pepper
4 1/2 cups non-dairy milk
Fresh ground nutmeg
2 pounds Russet potatoes, thinly sliced (⅛-inch)
8 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
4 slices whole grain bread

Dressing:
4 tablespoons vegan sour cream
4 tablespoons vegetable broth
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
2 teaspoons tahini
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2  teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

Oregano Bean Puree:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup lima beans
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 sprigs fresh oregano
1/6 vegetable casserole (without bread crumb topping)


1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Heat the oil in a 12-inch oven-safe skillet. Add the flour garlic, bay, oregano, salt and black pepper. Cook until fragrant. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Add about 8 grates of fresh nutmeg. Bring to a simmer and add the potatoes. Stir the potatoes around in the sauce to ensure all slices of potatoes are coated. Simmer the potatoes for about 4 minutes.
2. Add the spinach and stir to wilt. Add the onions in a single layer. Add the squash slices as the last layer. Gently press on the squash to bubble up the sauce over the slices. Cover the skillet tightly with a lid or foil and bake for 40 minutes.
3. Add the bread to a food processor and process into crumbs. Add to the casserole, spray with oil and continue to bake, uncovered, until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes. Serve, reserving ⅙ of the casserole.
4. For the Dressing: While the casserole is baking, combine the sour cream broth, vinegar, tahini, garlic, paprika and salt in a small blender. Process until smooth. Serve with green salad.
5. For the puree: Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the beans, garlic and oregano. Saute until the beans are fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer the bean mixture to a food processor. Add the casserole mixture and process until as smooth as you like. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with crostini (toasted slices of French or Italian bread.

 © 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

Jan 2, 2016

dinner to bento: caramelized onion and kale sautee

Before I get into today's post, I have to announce the winner of The Taco Cleanse (AmazonB&N)! The winner is: CHARJ! Congratulations! Contact me at zsusveganpantry dot com so I can get your mailing address.






With one of my girls in college and the other with a job and school, I have been finding the need to pack them lunchboxes. That adds another level of work to my day and I've been wondering how best to tackle that. With a potential new book in the works, I really don't have the luxury any more to make lunch in the middle of the day and then dinner at night.

What to do?

How about making dinner and then using some of those ingredients or components to make lunch for the following day (or the day after)? Sounded good to me! If all goes well, this will become regular blog posts that I can share with you.

I'm calling these Dinner To Bento.

My first offering is Caramelized Onion and Kale Saute with Brown Rice and Beans. After you cook the dinner, set aside some of the saute and rice and make them into Chipotle Burgers. The burgers can be served in wraps, on buns or on a bed of greens.

The easiest ways to cook brown rice fast is to use my method or a pressure cooker.


The ingredients are pretty simple: onions, garlic, sage, kale, broth, rice, beans and jalapenos. Slicing the onions as thin as you can (without taking forever) makes the onions cook faster. Get the rice on first and then start slicing the onions.


After cooking the onions about 8 minutes (keeping the pan covered and adding splashes of broth about every 4 minutes), add the sage and garlic. Another 10 more minutes and you will have caramelized onions.


Add the broth, beans and kale and continue to simmer until the kale is tender - about 10 minutes. By now the rice should be cooked and steaming under a kitchen towel (this goes for either method - once cooked, drape a kitchen towel over the pot).


Before you serve the saute with the rice and chile, set aside 1 cup of the saute (drained) and 1 cup of the rice.





Transfer the saute, mustard, chipotle puree (simply blend a can of chipotle en adobo until smooth and store in the fridge in a covered container where it will keep for months) and quick-cooking oatmeal to a food processor and pulse to chop.


Mix the processed mixture with the rice, form into patties and cook in a skillet until browned. Pack in lunchboxes the next day (in a microwave-safe container if you are planning to reheat it) with a bun or tortilla, a container of chipotle mayo and lettuce and tomato.


That's it! Two meals in one, yet different enough to transcend "leftovers."








Caramelized Onion and Kale Saute/Chipotle Burgers
Prep and cook time: 45 minutes  
Serves 3 to 4 

Saute:
2 cups medium or short-grain brown rice
3 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 cups vegetable broth, divided
2 sprigs fresh sage or 1 teaspoon dried sage
6 garlic cloves, sliced
8 ounces kale, tough stems removed and chopped
2 cups cannellini beans
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
Sea salt and black pepper

Burger:
1 cup drained saute
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats**
1 teaspoon chipotle puree*
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup cooked medium or short-grain brown rice
1 teaspoon olive oil

Mayo:
1/3 cup vegan mayonnaise
1 teaspoon chipotle puree*


1. Cook the brown rice. 
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the onions (use a little oil if you like, but it is not necessary). Cover the skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Stir, add a splash of broth, cover and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, sage, garlic, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Repeat with a splash of broth, stir and continue to cook until the onions are caramelized, about 10 more minutes. 
3. Add the kale, beans and remaining broth to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and stir well. Cook until the kale is tender, about 10 more minutes. Mash some of the beans using a potato masher or large spoon and cook for another minute. Before serving, remove 1 cup of the sautee (drained) and 1 cup of the rice. Serve with the brown rice and slivers of jalapeno. 
4. For the burgers: Add the saute, oats, chipotle and mustard to a food processor. Pulse until combined but not pureed. Transfer to a bowl and add the rice. Mix well and adjust seasoning. Divide the mixture into 4 portions and form into patties about 1/2 an inch thick.
5. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the patties and cook until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Serve on buns with the chipotle mayo.
6. For the mayo: Mix the mayonnaise and chipotle in a small bowl until well combined. 

** If you don’t have quick-cooking oats, process rolled oats in the food processor before adding the saute, mustard and chipotle. 

* Blend a can of chipotle en adobo until smooth and store in the fridge in a covered container where it will keep for months.

 © 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.