For regular life, I plan out the main meal components just for a few days. Notice I said “main meal components” not “menu”. This is because what works for me is to cook up larger amounts of meat and grains — such as two whole chickens or two pounds of ground beef; a crockpot full of beans or a pot full of lentils; and/or 4 cups of dry grains which results in 8 cups of cooked grains. Having these components in ready in the refrigerator allows me the flexibility to combine them over the following days into various skillet dishes featuring unique sauces and flavors. So I sort of wing it, and I sort of don’t.

One great advantage in my favor is that I keep a well stocked pantry. This includes a half beef in the freezer and two sources for bulk natural food pantry items. One of them delivers right to my house every other month. The other delivers to our area once per month. Having all this on hand frees me from being dependent on weekly shopping or weekly menus. However, I do shop for fresh produce and local eggs every week. I buy local chickens as they are available and add them to the freezer.

To create the meals, I “shop” in my pantry and/or freezer to have a constant rotation of meat, beans and/or grains either already prepared or being prepared. Then I go “shopping” again in the pantry for each meal to dress the skillet dishes up various ways. So we eat similarly for a few days, but not so similarly as to bore anyone.

Here’s an example. Let’s say I have cooked chicken, cooked pinto beans, and cooked quinoa in the refrigerator.

Dinner 1: Create a warm skillet dish combining some of all them and adding coconut milk, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and cumin.

Lunch 1: Leftovers of Dinner 1.

Dinner 2: Make gluten-free 4-grain flatbreads, use some of the beans to make refried beans, shred the chicken and season it, shred goat cheese and make flatbread melts. Create a cold quinoa salad on the side, if desired, but it isn’t necessary.

Lunch 2: Leftovers of Dinner 2 and/or Dinner 1.

Dinner 3: Use chicken and pinto beans to make a chicken chili. Likely, there is no more quinoa left. If so, cook a pot of brown rice and eat it with the chili.

Lunch 3: Leftovers of Dinner 3.

All the meals will also have a salad made from homegrown microgreens and/or sprouts, and any seasonal unsprayed or organic veggies I get from the Farmer’s Market.

Do you see how you can introduce meal components into the rotation to create endless variety?

For further reading, see Healthy Skillet Dishes and Planning Ahead for Hassle-Free Healthy Cooking.

Our terrific and yummy dinner last night:

Warm Quinoa Dinner Cakes filled with Wild Salmon Salad,
topped with shredded raw goat cheddar cheese and sliced avocado.

These are dinner cakes, meant to be eaten as “bread” along with main dishes such as chicken, chicken salad, hummus, or wild salmon salad. Treat one of these similar to a Middle Eastern pocket bread (without the pocket) that is held in one hand, alternately taking bites of it and the other foods on one’s plate. Or one can approach these dinner cakes like mini wraps or use two of them to create a sandwich for a packed lunch (see a Sandwich Idea). The great texture comes from the addition of organic quinoa flakes.

Quinoa Dinner Cakes with Sweet Potato
gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free

Makes about 20 cakes

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 cup quinoa flakes
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/2 cup sweet potato puree*
• 3-1/2 cups filtered water**
• grapeseed oil for the pan

Combine all dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Whisk water, oil and sweet potato puree together in a separate bowl. Add wet to dry ingredients and mix well. Let stand for about 15 minutes to thicken. Batter should be thick.

Meanwhile, preheat a cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat.

Add a smidge of oil to the pan and spread it out. Pour batter into prepared pan using a 1/4-cup scoop. Let cook on that side until bubbles appear in the center and bottom is golden brown, then turn over with spatula. This may take several minutes; be patient, so as to prevent an undercooked middle. Allow to cook on second side for a few more minutes, or until browned. Repeat for all the remaining dinner cakes, adding more oil to the pan as needed.

Transfer each cooked cake to a cooling rack. If put in a covered container, the breads will get mushy from condensation.

Serve soon after cooking, while they are still warm.

Refrigerate completely cooled leftovers in an airtight container. Toast leftover cakes or use cold for sandwiches.

*Substitute any pureed vegetable for the sweet potato — try pumpkin, squash, or zucchini. Substituting pureed or mashed fruits (banana, apple, applesauce, pear, pear sauce, etc.) would make these into awesome breakfast cakes.

**May also substitute all or part of water with preferred nut or grain milk.

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon

I have used this sauce for ribs (link above) and also for chicken. To make the chicken, I poured about 1 cup of this sauce and an equal amount cashew milk over chicken thighs and drumsticks in my crockpot, along with extra sea salt. I cooked it all on HIGH for about an hour, and then on LOW for another 6 to 8 hours.

BBQ Sauce

• 1 can tomato paste
• 3 cups filtered water
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey

Whisk all ingredients together in a 4-cup measuring cup. Use for marinating and cooking meats. Store unused amounts in the refrigerator. Keeps for about a week.

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon

• 5 grass-fed beef short ribs, cut into 1-1/2″ thick pieces
  
• 1 can tomato paste
• 3 cups filtered water
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place rib pieces in deep dish rectangular oven pan, meaty side up.

Whisk all other ingredients together in a 4-cup measuring cup. Pour about 2/3 to 3/4 of it over the ribs, coating them well.

Bake for 1-1/2 hours, covered. Uncover and bake for 1 additional hour, basting every 15 minutes or so with the liquid in the bottom of the pan.

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon

Quick Sandwich Bread — Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free
a variation on a recipe shared by a friend

makes 2 loaves

• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 4 cups warm water
• 2 cups brown rice flour
• 2 cups buckwheat flour
• 1 cup millet flour
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 5 teaspoons guar gum
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 cup raw honey or raw agave
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, or grapeseed oil, grease two bread loaf pans.

Put water and yeast in mixing bowl. Let yeast get bubbly, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Fill each loaf pan with 1/2 the batter. Spread evenly with a spatula.

Bake the loaves for 50 to 60 minutes or more, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven. Let cool on rack, in pans, for 15 minutes. Turn loaves out of pans and return to cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing.

Store in an airtight container.

This bread is delicious toasted! We made grilled goat cheddar cheese sandwiches out of it today.

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon.

Jeff’s dinner
- green slaw, smoked wild salmon salad and organic corn tortilla chips -

 
My dinner
- green slaw, cold quinoa salad, and smoked wild salmon salad -

Jeff’s mom and dad just went on a cruise to Alaska and brought us back some smoked wild salmon. Oh, my, is it good! We have one can left and I’ll save that for when the kids are back with us and can try it, too.

Whether the wild salmon is smoked or plain, it can stand in for tuna and make a delicious sandwich. We often have a scoop of it with corn tortilla chips, a piece of toast, or a cold grain salad. It makes for a simple, cold dinner.

Wild Salmon Salad

• 2 cans wild caught salmon (smoked or plain)
• 1/4 cup finely diced onions
• 1/4 cup chopped olives
• 1/4 cup shredded raw goat cheddar cheese (optional)
• 1 teaspoon dill
• sea salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• extra virgin olive oil, a drizzle
• balsamic or apple cider vinegar, a splash

Drain wild salmon. Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix together well. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with tortilla chips, whole-grain toast, or a cold grain salad.

Variation — Wild Salmon Melt: In lieu of mixing the cheese in, spread the wild salmon on a piece of toast, top with cheese and put under the broiler to melt and crisp the cheese.

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon

Cold Quinoa Salad

 I hope the fact that this is a “to taste” recipe won’t discourage you from giving it a try. See what tastes good to you and give it a go!

• 4 cups cold cooked plain quinoa*
• 1 cup cooked and cold pinto beans (or other bean of your choice)
• 1/4 cup shredded goat cheddar cheese
• other add-ins of your choice — diced or shredded veggies or sliced olives
• oil of your choice — extra virgin olive oil, red palm oil**, or grapeseed oil
• dash of toasted sesame oil
• vinegar of your choice — balsamic, raw apple cider or rice
• sea salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, or to taste

Put quinoa in a big salad bowl. Use a wooden spoon to separate the grains. Add the beans, cheese and add-ins. Toss, taking care not to smash the beans. Add oils, vinegar, sea salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Adjust to taste.

*To cook quinoa: Rinse 2 cups uncooked quinoa in a sieve under cold running water for 2 minutes. Transfer to stainless steel medium size pot. Add 4 cups filtered water and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or other desired oil). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, undisturbed. Turn off the heat. Let cool. Chill.

**If using red palm oil: If red palm oil is solid at room temperature (depending on the season), mix it with the quinoa while the quinoa is still warm. Then chill the quinoa thoroughly before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon

The flatbreads make great toast, too! Toast them and top them with your favorite nut butter, jam, agave and/or honey — a delicious and satisfying breakfast.

This recipe is so forgiving and flexible that you can truly make it your own.

Gluten-Free Flatbreads

• 3 cups gluten-free flour mix*
• 3/4 to 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 1 cup water

Combine flour, salt and oil in mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. While mixer is on, pour in water. When combined, feel the dough. If it is sticky, add more flour. If it is too dry, add a little more water. Aim for achieving a firm but workable dough.

Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add a little grapeseed oil to the pan (or for fun, red palm oil!). Shape 1-1/2″ balls of dough into 4″ rounds that are about 1/4″ thick. You may need to grease your hands to work with the dough.

When the pan is heated, fry 3 to 4 flatbreads at a time (depending on size of skillet). Cook them for 1-3 minutes, until browned on the bottom, then flip over and cook until brown on the opposite side.

Transfer to a plate and cover with a towel to keep moist. Repeat with remaining flatbreads, adding oil to the pan as desired. When cool, store in an airtight container or freeze for future use.

*Gluten-free flours are: Amaranth, brown rice, buckwheat, cornmeal, teff, millet, quinoa, sorghum, and tapioca. Flax seed meal may also be used. Combine them to make a gluten-free mix, or use one at a time. You will want to experiment, as each flour has a different flavor. Currently, we are enjoying a gluten-free mix made from: sorghum, millet, buckwheat and sweet brown rice (which was shared with me by a friend).

To make the flour yourself, start with the whole grains and grind 2 cups at a time in a Vita-Mix dry container (or mill of your choosing). The softer grains (amaranth, buckwheat, teff, and millet) require about 30 seconds on HIGH, while the other grains require 1 minute of grinding on HIGH. (The exception to my knowledge regards the tapioca, from which I haven’t made a flour yet.)

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon.