February 24, 2016

1, 2, 3 eat



When you don't have enough time, energy or will to cook, what do you make? My husband and I like to cook, but sometimes we just don't feel like cooking, for one reason or another. Here's a little compilation of 'fast food' that may be found on our table on any given day.

The first is my favorite kind of fast food — leftovers. At the back of the plate are two leftover Ethiopian dishes from one of our favorite cookbooks, Teff Love by Kittee Berns. It was made the night before when we did feel like cooking. Come to think of it, it was actually from two nights before, and by the third day, we were out of injera, so the leftovers were paired with sautéed mushrooms and frozen broccoli.



Here's a tasty lunch bowl made from leftover lentils, potatoes and brussels sprouts. Thank heavens for leftovers.



A simple stir-fry can be a quick way to manage lunch or dinner. Tofu and shredded cabbage cook in a flash, and you can add your favorite seasonings — or just salt and pepper if you're really feeling lazy.



Here's another quick stir-fry variation — this time with tofu, mushrooms, bok choy and mung bean noodles. There was a bit of leftover sauce in the refrigerator from a recent, more ambitious dinner, and it made the perfect finishing touch to a fast and simple lunch.



If all else fails, there's always takeout. My plate is filled with tofu skin hot pot, Japanese rice noodles and brown rice from Bamboo Garden — a vegan Chinese restaurant in Seattle.

14 comments:

  1. Love this! We do "fast food," also. Usually, it's mashed potatoes, baked tofu, and a veg. Our other fave is coconut noodle soup with tofu, carrots, and broccoli. With rice noodles, it takes 15 minutes, so it's faster than writing down and calling in a takeout order!

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    1. The coconut soup sounds good — and yes, faster than take-out. Take-out is usually a last resort when we really, really don't want to cook, but do want to eat in our cozy dining room. :)

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  2. Leftovers are often my favorite part of eating out! Not that I don't enjoy the initial experience - it's just even better when I get to relish those flavors twice, and put off cooking for another meal. :)

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    1. Oh yes! I love it when I suddenly remember I have leftovers from a wonderful dinner out. It's so much to be able to enjoy the meal a second time.

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  3. Yes, leftovers have saved my behind many a time. Although your leftovers look better than mine... :-)

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    1. Some of my leftovers are pretty good ... others not so much. I don't care. Leftovers work for me unless they are really bad.

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  4. your leftovers look pretty glamorous!!! I really love leftovers too! I especially love when I still have leftovers from the previous night's dinner that I can repurpose for lunch. That's my real favorite. I usually cook dinner every night, but sometimes I poop out and we end up getting take out. We're so lucky to have a really good and vegan-friendly Thai restaurant about 1 block from our house. Woot!

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    1. We may be a little too lucky with vegan restaurants near our house — such a temptation. Even so, we cook most nights, and I'm really disappointed if we don't have leftovers for lunch!

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  5. Your leftovers look great! When we don't feel like cooking it's usually something like a stir fry or miso soup with veggies, sometimes a vegan omelette or scramble. Otherwise we look through the freezer, as we often make big batches of things and freeze them so we can whip something out on nights like that!

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    1. Stir-frys and miso soup are standards around here — And socca made from garbanzo flour is also fast and easy. I haven't been very good at freezing leftovers though it makes so much sense to do that.

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  6. I'm the same way with leftovers - for dinner especially. Who wants to cook after working all day?
    Prep definitely helps - i'll make one or two things that can be added to various dishes so it isn't EXACTLY the same.
    That tofu/cabbage dish is a great quick one. Loving those mung bean noodles a lot too recently.

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    1. I'm retired, and I still don't feel like cooking many days! You are really skilled at mixing up your leftovers to create new meals. I like using leftovers that way too!

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  7. I'm suffering from a severe case of lack of inspiration in the kitchen at the moment - stir frys and soup are about all I can manage. Any time you want to drop off some leftovers over here, I'd be very happy!

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    1. Believe me, there are days when I'd like to drop off the leftovers somewhere rather than eat them again!

      All you have to do is learn to make tortillas. Then you can stuff the stir-fries inside and think you're eating something entirely different. :)

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