This week I’ve got a recipe for you whether you want a nice sit-down dinner or something you can grab and eat in front of the TV. Hearty plant-based meals packed with good nutrition.
In the video, you’ll see this weeks box had zucchini, yellow squash, spring greens, an onion, green beans, snow peas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, and butternut squash.
Everything this week could be used in salads, including cooked cubed squash.
I am not eating any more snow peas, so those are donated to neighbors from this point forward.
In the video, I talked about some of the nutritional benefits of the veggies this week, so I’ve included that here as well.
Nutritional Benefits of Vegetables
Zucchini
Only 30 calories for a whole medium zucchini. It’s good for weight loss. It helps with eyesight. Zucchini is a great source of vitamin C, fiber, omega 3 fatty acids, and has 2 grams of protein.
Green Beans
High in fiber, green beans also are a source of protein. They are packed with vitamin A, C, K, B6 and folic acid. They are also a good source of calcium.
Sweet Potatoes
High in vitamin A, C, B6, D, iron, and fiber. It will boost your immune system and it doesn’t spike blood sugar.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes improve your digestion, give you 40% of your daily vitamin c. vitamin a to protect your vision, potassium, and iron. The lycopene in tomatoes defends against several types of cancer.
Cucumber
It’s 95% water, so it helps with weight loss, hydrates you and flushes toxins from the body. It contains antioxidants, polyphenols that lower the risk of many female cancers, is a good source of fiber and helps lower blood sugar.
Butternut Squash
Good source of vitamin A, B6, C (1 cup is 50% of RDA) folate, and potassium. It helps with bone health, immunity, and protects from heart disease and breast cancer.
Here are this week’s Sunday dinner ideas
As a disclaimer: I am not a food photographer. I take pics with my phone so you can see what it really looks like when a regular person makes it. Sometimes I forget, or only remember after I’ve eaten (life with the enchiladas).
For the butternut squash, I decided to use it as a rich pasta sauce. I made a few substitutions to make this recipe vegan. After making it, there are a couple other changes I would make.
Butternut Squash Roasted Broccoli Alfredo Penne
The sauce didn’t really show up in the photo very well. I don’t have food lighting. But, it’s a nice thick cheddar colored sauce.
Easy substitutions are a vegan butter or olive oil for the butter, and nut milk for the milk and cream. Vegan cheese or nutritional yeast for the parmesan cheese.
As I made it I realized the sauce was way too thick, which normally the opposite happens when you use nut milk instead of milk/cream.
I added over a cup of water to make it more a consistency of the sauce. That water could have been added to the blender with the squash if I would have known I needed it.
I would also add more broccoli.
You may notice in the photo my penne looks fatter than usual. I cooked the pasta in my Instant Pot which makes it plumper.
It tasted very rich and creamy. I liked it enough to make it again and to use this sauce in other recipes.
Lessons Learned
When you are making a new recipe, read it through to see if it makes sense to you, because not all recipes work or have correct instructions.
Make sure you have the substitution ingredients you need to make it vegan if that’s necessary.
Allow a little extra time the first time you make something.
Take notes of changes you’ll make next time.
Don’t make a recipe you’ve never cooked before for an important dinner or one with time constraints. The first time it usually takes longer than what the instructions say.
Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Corn Enchiladas
This is a great recipe for freezing in single servings for lunches.
Cheese is a big part of this dish, so I would recommend you use vegan cheese rather than omitting it.
I saw some interesting tortillas at the store, so I gave them a try instead of using whole wheat or regular corn tortillas. They are corn tortillas made with nopal cactus and chia seeds.
A portion of 2 enchiladas was filling without any side dish. I had this with a meat eater and he didn’t miss the meat at all. He loved them!
I moved the leftovers to a smaller dish to refrigerate overnight. Then freeze into lunch portions in the morning.
Ok, remember what I said in lessons learned with the pasta recipe?
Well, there were some issues with this recipe.
#1. It tastes amazing and I will make this often.
#2. If you make it with 2 pounds of sweet potatoes, you’ll have twice as much mix as will fit in the tortillas or in the 9 x 13 pan. You’ll also have enough enchilada sauce for another batch if you make the easy sauce int eh recipe.
#3. I used corn tortillas, which here in Cabo are smaller than the wheat tortillas for tacos. I don’t know what the recipe creator considers small, but mine would only hold 1/4 cup of filling, not 1/2 cup as stated in the recipe. That may be why I still have half left.
#4. The process: Corn tortillas go in a small frying pan over low heat to soften before putting the filling in or they will break when you try to bend them under. Flour tortillas are much easier to work with. While I was filling one I had the next heating. I used a quarter cup measuring cup full of filling and topped it with a tablespoon of sauce. I turned it over onto the tortilla, put a tiny bit of cheese inside, and folded it under and placed it seam side down in the pan snuggled up next to the one before it.
#5. By squishing them up, I was able to put 12 in the pan. 8 lengthwise and 2 and 2 on the side.
#6. I may not have used as much sauce on top because I wanted to have enough for the rest of the filling.
#7. I put about 2 cups of cheese on top and it looks nothing like the photo on the recipe, which is completely covered in cheese. Mine tasted great with the amount of cheese I used.
Simple Oven Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms
Ingredients:
1 small carton of baby portabellas or white mushrooms
1 lb green beans
1 T olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Slice mushrooms thinly and break green beans in half
Preheat oven to 400
Combine all ingredients and toss to coat
Spread in single layer on baking sheet
Bake 20 minutes
That’s it for this week’s recipes.
Last week’s recipes are here.
Health and nutrition are a big passion of mine because, without your health, all the success you can achieve is meaningless. In 1981 I started seriously studying health, nutrition, and the mind/body connection. I stopped eating meat in 1990 for health reasons and compassion for animals. In 1999 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2005, the day after Christmas, I lost my mother at the age of 69 to lung cancer. Since then, helping others to regain their health by making simple changes has become a driving force in my life.
Until next time, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just comment on this post here or on Facebook.
If you would like private mentoring, go to the contact page above and tell me what you would like help with. As your mentor, whether for your health, your lifestyle or your business, I hold a bigger vision for you than you hold for yourself. When you have faith and a team that believes in you, it gives you courage. When you don’t have to do it all yourself, all things are possible for you. Commit today to go for your dream 100%.
With over 40 years in sales and marketing, along with 45 years studying human behavior, Lynn Pierce, “The Voice of an Ageless Life and Business,” mentors soul-based entrepreneurs to reach your own personal version of success and an ageless lifestyle. Tell Lynn what the life of your dreams looks like, and she’ll create the blueprints to get you there, along with the sales system to fund it. Author of, “Breakthrough to Success; 19 Keys to Mastering Every Area of Your Life”, Lynn Pierce’s personal growth and business acceleration systems help her clients get three times the results in half the time with one-tenth of the effort. Claim your free special report, “What Do You Stand For” here
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