What I Ate Wednesday #43 - Weeknight Dinners

This week I thought that my usual What I Ate posts were getting a little boring, so I decided to show you a collection of some recent meals instead. Most of the photos were taken with my phone, so please excuse the poor presentation. One fine day I might learn how to use my husband’s DSLR and add some pretty decorations to my kitchen counter.

A hearty meat-less chili is one of my favorite comfort foods, especially during the colder months. My version always includes kidney beans, sweet corn, red bell peppers, canned tomatoes, and sometimes a little TVP (dried soy crumbles). And a squirt of hot Sriracha sauce, but not too much, for the perfect level of spiciness. I usually serve my chili with potatoes and guacamole.

A big pile of roasted vegetables is my go-to weeknight dinner whenever I don’t want to cook a real meal. I simply throw all the vegetables I can find in my kitchen onto a large baking tray, set the timer to 30 minutes, and get some other things done. Okay, a little peeling and chopping is required, too, but that’s no big deal. This particular variation contained sweet potatoes, tahini crusted carrots and zucchini, broccoli florets from the freezer, and a few pan-fried mandus (Korean dumplings).

Friday night is pasta night in our household. Our local Aldi sells delicious whole grain penne, which have become my favorite kind of pasta. Their whole grain spaghetti are awesome, too, but I love how the sauce creeps into those little tubes. I usually make a fruity tomato sauce to go with the pasta, which also includes some extra vegetables like carrots, zucchini, and/or mushrooms. Topping the dish with pesto and pine nuts is optional but highly recommended.

Fried rice makes an almost weekly appearance on my dinner plate, but sometimes I get a little adventurous and use quinoa instead of rice. I like to mix in a dash of curry powder and curcuma, to give the dish a pretty yellow hue.

I recently found a recipe for sweet potato cauliflower soup on Manifest Vegan and immediately knew that I had to make that soup as soon as possible. I absolutely love blended vegetable soups, and that recipe sounded totally delicious. And it really was! I used homemade vegetable broth instead of water, and frozen cauliflower instead of fresh. It was simply amazing.

A little while ago, one of my favorite YouTube chefs posted a recipe video for tofu goulash. Pork or beef goulash was one of my family’s staple dishes when I was a child, so I was excited to try a vegan version. This recipe contains lots of vegetables and only a little tofu, just how I like it. It was really good! And surprisingly simple to make. I served the goulash with potatoes, but it would also go well with pasta or a slice of bread.

I’ve also been eating lots of meal-sized salads lately, mostly as a quick and refreshing lunch option. To make those salads more filling I always add some beans or legumes, like black lentils, sweet corn, chickpeas, or kidney beans, and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds or pine nuts.

What is your favorite quick and simple weeknight dinner?

See you!