I could not wait to try this seaweed wrap hack since the tortilla wrap hack got into me sometime ago.
There are many options to fill the four quarters of seaweed nori sheets. Here is one with egg, cucumber, avocado and salmon.
Fresh corn (on the cob) tastes the best but when not in peak season, frozen (much preferred option) and/or canned corn can be a convenient alternative - great in Corn Salad, Spicy Corn Kernels and Pea, Corn Lettuce Wrap.
Our pantry may not stock canned corn but the same does not apply to canned sardines which, besides canned beans, is the most well-stocked in our pantry (recipe: Avocado Sardine Toast); and sometimes canned tuna (recipe: Tuna Chickpea Endive Wrap) - see a pantry cabinet filled with canned sardines. Now, there was just one and only, long forgotten tin of corn kernels sitting on the pantry shelf - probably purchased because of huge discount or sale then - which will be used in today's side-dish/ snack Corn and Tuna Avocado Cups.
The combination of sweet corn and briny savory tuna is a classic combo, so here is this super quick and easy appetizer/snack for today - Corn and Tuna Avocado Cups - a good balance of protein and healthy fats (also try Avocado with Sardine Ricotta Cup).
There will definitely be leftovers for this corn-tuna mash because there are not many avocados to go around. This corn-tuna mix is also very versatile e.g. sandwiches/wraps and atop salad bowls. So, feel free to make a batch, store in airtight container to last in the fridge about 2-3 days.
As the pantry did not have tortilla chips in order for guacamole (see Easy Homemade Guacamole) to serve its purpose as a dip (also see Sardine Cheese Dip), the guacamole is used here as a condiment or dressing-spread (option to use Homemade Pesto as dressing-spread) for this homemade egg English muffin.
Now, does this look like delicious breakfast? Breakfast for lunch or light weeknight dinner, anyone?
Theme days or theme nights make meal planning so much easier. In our family, Wednesday and Friday means sandwiches/wraps lunches e.g. Chicken Salad Sandwich, Rainbow Veggies Wraps.
Do you have a theme day or theme night?
On sandwich Wednesdays and Fridays, the brain is switched to auto-mode for lunch preparations. There is no need to even think of what's for lunch and THAT, ITSELF is a real time-saver.
The "sandwiches" can come in different forms - sandwich pockets. wraps, burgers.
Not chicken salad sandwich or wrap, but assembled and built as chicken burger filled with leftover shredded chicken, kale and cucumber.
Avocado, mashed and smeared on the bun, replaces the oil-based dressing used in this chicken salad sandwich.
This can also easily come together as salad without the bun (carb-free option).
Do you know? Avocado is not only a good source of healthy fats, it is also rich in carotenoids - lutein and zeaxanthin which help protect our eyes and skin from the sun harmful UV rays.
There are definitely more reasons to enjoy avocado as salad toppers in grain bowls (e.g. Shrimps Quinoa Bowl), veggie bowls (e.g. Asparagus Potato Salad), creamy avocado dressing, sandwich/wraps fillers and avocado dips.
And how can we forget everyone's all-time favorite guacamole.
The perfect guacamole should be creamy, with some soft chunks for a nuanced texture when enjoyed.
When it's asparagus season, make asparagus veggie bowls (or grain bowls).
I'm doing without the grains today, keeping it to asparagus, broccoli, bell pepper and garlic roasted potatoes, topped with sliced avocado and hard-boiled eggs.
Meal planning and preparation during the weekend helps in setting a healthy and nutritious mode for the week. If you can't do full meal preparation during the weekend, a partial meal preparation such as cleaning/rinsing and slicing/chopping the vegetables, and batch-cooking the eggs goes a long way in saving you much time during the busy weekdays.
If you are looking for more veggie bowls and grain bowls ideas, they are labeled under Search Ingredients on the right column of the website. There are vegetarian/plant-based, poultry, seafood options of veggie and grain bowls available.
Making your own marinara sauce from scratch is not difficult. But when you are pressed for time, even 15 minutes is a lot of time. Store-bought marinara sauce makes meal preparation easier and reduces cooking time as there is no need to prep. the onions, garlic, tomatoes; and it is not necessary to wait for the ingredients to cook down over the stove.
Pasta marinara sauce is not only good for pasta, it is also quite handy as "seasoning" sauce. For example, simply think shrimps and vegetables stir-fry with tomato-based "seasoning sauce" . Oh, isn't that sweet and sour shrimps? Quite close.
Sweet and soup or tomato-sauce shrimps is the protein feature of the grain bowl today. With store-bought marinara sauce, these delicious tomato-sauce shrimps can be prepared in less than 20 minutes.
This pasta bowl has no sauce, and it is not missing any.
The garlic-cilantro oven-roasted shrimps, and the roasted zucchini and bell peppers (alike Oven-Style Ratatouille and Vegetable Tian) are all good components of flavors to the pasta. Add in buttery avocado and roasted tofu to make it a balanced meal of complex carbs, lean protein, healthy fats and vegetables's healthy fiber, vitamins and essential minerals.
Now, can anyone tell me if ricotta cheese is considered "healthy" cheese? Or bluntly, are all cheese(es) unhealthy? High sodium? High fat?
So that you know, our family does not buy reduced-fat milk or half-half, always going for whole milk. On the same note, we do not go for reduced-fat, skimmed-fat cheese. If ricotta cheese is super-fattening, we better cut down on the usage, especially when I have found a super easy way to create a dip/spread/filling (e.g. Sardine Ricotta Cheese Spread) out of it, and this convenience might be deemed a hidden evil.
Not only this is an easy recipe to fall back on when we are in a rush, it is also a mess-free filling and spread for sandwiches and a wonderfully great pre- or post-workout snack (morning and/or in the afternoon) when paired with vegetables and fruits such as celery, bell peppers, avocados and apples.
This "golden" salad dressingis now the "liquid gold" in my kitchen, especially in my homemade salads and workout meals (e.g. Asparagus, Chicken and Potato Salad Meal, Mushrooms, Green Beans, Broccoli Salad Bowl) It is an easy and healthy upgrade from the basic extra-virgin olive oil-apple cider vinegar-garlic-salt-pepper vinaigrette-based dressing.
The gold? Turmeric.
Did you know that black pepper and turmeric is a perfect match which defies the good'ol equation of one plus one equals two? According to some research sources, piperine - the active compound in black pepper will increase and enhance the bio-availability of curcumin (active component in turmeric) hence boost curcumin absorption in the body.
Sometimes, I simply forget but whenever possible, I try to add turmeric in my cooking e.g. when cooking rice, and when preparing salad dressing.
If you enjoy these salad meals, or veggie grain bowls, do check them out here. Or if you prefer a shrimp-similar salad bowl, try this Mixed Veggies, Shrimps, Avocado and Radish Bowl.
With salad and grain bowls incorporated into our family meals, there are endless possibilities to switch up the vegetables, grains and proteins.
For choice of meat proteins in our family, it is usually (almost surely) chicken e.g. Steamed Vegetables with Quinoa and Rotisserie Chicken Bowl , Asparagus and Cauliflower with Quinoa and Chicken; and for seafood-based protein, it can be either fish or shrimps e.g. Avocado, Radish, Mixed Veggies and Shrimp Bowl. Other times, it might be as basic as - one egg, like in this Mixed Veggies, Mushrooms and Egg Salad.
Of course, there are also meatless protein options e.g. tofu, tempeh. As my homemade protocol, a meal-salad bowl is made up (at least 50% of the bowl) with mostly vegetables - salad greens always on the bottom, then built up with hardier vegetables (can be steamed or raw) such as broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, green cabbage, red cabbage, zucchini and red onions. Based on the seasons, I also like to add fruits e.g. nectarines and berries during summer, apples during the autumn months; kiwi and oranges in winter.
This Farmers' Market Salad is made with organic salad vegetables, watermelon radish, sweet peppers - all from the farmers' market.
Piled below the grilled/roasted shrimps, eggs and avocado is a fresh mix of salad vegetables - organic heirloom red spinach, red dandelions, baby kale and lettuces.
From the farmers' market
Lately, I enjoy salads that can be partially prepared in advance e.g. radish and sweet peppers are prepared and sliced, set aside; eggs already hard-boiled (part of routine meal preparation).
Come meal-time, roast/grill the shrimps for a healthy, delicious and nutritious salad bowl meal e.g. Asparagus, Cauliflower, Quinoa Bowl, that can be assembled very quickly.
Most times I like to keep my homemade salad and dressing simple e.g. Purple Cabbage & Orange Salad and Bean Salad. Besides my favorite basic oil-vinegar-garlic dressing, the next go-to is turmeric-based, and then comes this creamy avocado dressing. nailed to perfection when the avocado is over-ripe.
How it excites me when my favorite organic Earthbound salad greens goes on sale.
I love using Earthbound organic salad greens because most importantly, they are organic and has been triple-washed. That means, I can use them straight from the box without having to rinse (and dry) the leaves again, saving plenty of time.
Hopping on the wrap-wagon with some leftover tortilla wraps from making garlic black beans burrito, I decided to make more wraps as these minimal-preservatives tortilla do not keep long.
Sweet potato puree/mashed sweet potato works quite well in the wrap and its texture works fine with another creamy element - avocado. To pump in more vegetables, celery and cucumbers were also added while making the the egg omelette.
By the way, do you know the difference between Asian-style vs Western-style omelette? The former tends to be on the drier-side (almost like a pancake) while the latter is associated with being moist and sometimes, runny. This case, we need the drier version (Note: Dry but not too dry) for the wrap.
Other than my favorite red tomato-based pasta sauce, I also enjoy green pasta sauces - one is herbaceous pesto-based and the other being buttery avocado-based. Both green sauces are rich and flavorful, also quick and easy to put together - just bring on the food blender
Part of the roasted Hatch chili was used to make salsa, while the remaining was combined with lime and avocado to make avocado sauce. The spice and tangy zest cut through the rich creamy avocado so perfectly.
I have cooked this bean soup (Tuscan Bean Soup) before, but this time replacing the "greens" from kale to collard.
I enjoy making such bean-style soups - warm and wholesome especially towards the last few months of the year when it is typically colder; and this is also the time when I bring in the Immersion Hand Blender
I was never really a fan of avocado. Was. Until recently when I used it as spread on my toast (my Omega-3 rich sandwich!) ...
Oh my, ripe avocado mashed perfectly on warm toast is very appealing, indeed. Nah, I am not doing that today. For a change, I will just add thin slices/cubes of avocado into the egg omelette.
Avocado and Bell Pepper Omelet (Fried Egg)
In a lightly oiled cast iron skillet, pinch of cumin to toast, then add 1 tbsp of thinly sliced onion to aromatize. Once the onions start to caramelize, add 1/2 red bell pepper already diced and saute on the skillet. Whisk an egg, and gently pour the egg such that it covers the entire skillet surface. While the egg browns at the bottom (underside), add in cubed avocado on the egg surface that is still cooking, pinch of salt and pepper, then fold the egg to semi-circle, turn off the heat while the remaining heat cooks the egg. Serve.
An omelet for breakfast or to make a satisfying lunch by sandwiching between two slices of bread/toast.
Yes, you can slide this right into these pita pockets!
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Tag: avocado, avocado omelette
I got this sandwich idea from Alton Brown's episode on.....Sardines!
A good sustainable Omega-3 friendly sandwich, baby!
I adapted his dressing for sardines: use cilantro instead of parsley, and added a little diced tomatoes.
Then everything fall in place as what he "taught". Spread the avocado on a toast, then lay the dressed sardines on top of the avocado. Very tasty! I love it! ...speaking from me who is not really a big fan of avocado. But when it's done this way, I embrace it graciously.
I enjoy my bread lightly toasted. You can use a sandwich toaster or this George Foreman GR10B 36 Square Inch Nonstick Countertop Grill, Black
