No mangoes to make Mango Tomato Sauce Meatballs, but there is always a pack of frozen vegetables available, so why not? For added fiber and overall nutrition as the more (veggies), the merrier.
That completes today's Meatballs Protein Bowl - steamed vegetables as the base, and portion of pasta to pair with tomato sauce meatballs.
The plan was to put together something quick, by simmering store-bought meatballs and store-bought pasta sauce in a pot, then make a one-dish meal of pasta with meatballs.
Everything was as planned, just a slight twist of adding (leftover) frozen cubed mangoes to the pot of simmer. That would only make it better, with reminiscent moments of sweet and tangy meatballs.
Make this Mango Tomato Sauce Meatballs and serve with Lettuce Fried Rice.
If you enjoy one-pot dishes, you may also like Braised Quail, Fennel and Tomatoes or Easy and Simple One-Pot Pasta.
Made similar Sausage and Peas Fried Rice (without peas this time) and freshen the fried rice with lots of shredded lettuce.
Similarly, this Salmon and Egg Pesto Fried Rice or Bell Peppers, Peas and Garlic Fried Rice can also enjoy some shredded lettuce in it. Our family never say "No" when more vegetables can be suitably included in any dish.
Lettuce not only complements fried rice with refreshing moisture and tender vegetable crisp, it also balances the saltiness of sausage in the fried rice.
If you enjoy vegetables in fried rice, you can also try Vegetables and Egg Fried Rice made with broccoli stems and Brussel sprouts leaves (and add some shredded lettuce if you have them in the fridge)
Some of my favorite ways to prepare kale include stir-fry steam or blanch. For today, let us enjoy blanched kale in this Chicken, Kale and Beets Protein Bowl.
Shell-on, shell-off, head or headless, we enjoy all of them. Shrimps!
Shrimps Salad Bowls are less common in salad shops; even there is, it's at a premium, sometimes even more expensive than salmon bowls. So it's best to prepare Shrimps Protein Bowl at home.
I have made shrimp bowls many times but each time, the bowl turn out different (yet always delicious!) because the shrimps are sometimes seasoned differently and vegetables are also changed out depending on seasons and availability.
Besides baked tempeh and incorporating tempeh in protein bowls, I have also made one-pot vegetarian protein stew with tempeh, beans and lentils. A warm hearty stew is welcoming especially during the cold winter months, so I am following cold-weather food (foot)steps and making Tempeh Soup with Moringa Leaves.
Not my favorite way to enjoy tempeh (preferred it baked like this Oven-Baked Tempeh) but when it's cold outside, a one-pot soup with everything including tempeh (and warmth, of course) is all I want! More importantly, this is a fuss-free way to prepare and cook a protein-loaded low-carb vegetarian meal, also absolutely easy to a filling and nutritious meal.
A warm and comforting soupy grain bowl is one of those grain bowls or protein bowls sought after during cool weather season, which is right now.
If Leftover Chicken Breast Salad can be prepared in 20 minutes, why not this Chicken Veggies Rice Soup?
This oven-"fried" meatless mince is like "meat-sauce" without the sauce, without the meat. Besides making Vegetarian Mapo Tofu, this meatless mince versatility can easily be extended to make such balanced meatless meals.
A batch of oven-"fried" mince is "blank canvas" for other stir-fries too; or tossed with pasta (above) or mixed in with quinoa (below), then served with vegetables as a complete meal.
You can always make your own vegetarian meatless mince (Vegetarian Simmered "Meat" Sauce) from scratch with diced mushrooms and tofu. It is definitely healthier and taste more naturally delicious than store-bought plant-based mince which wins on convenience but end of the day, still partially processed.
Oven-Roasted Shrimps Veggie Bowl again because this is one of the easiest no-fuss delicious low-carb bowl-meal to prepare, zero to hero, in less than 30 minutes
Fuss-free preparation, clean-eating yet flavor-packed one-dish meal that you can happily enjoy any month of the year. This Oven Roasted Shrimps Veggies Bowl is loaded with healthy steamed cabbage, zucchini, bell peppers and leafy greens then topped with delicious oven-roasted shrimps.
Other variations of Shrimps Veggies Bowls: Shrimps Veggies Bowls with Avocado and Tofu, Shrimps Veggies Bowls with Avocado and Radish
Fresh tofu skins/ yuba are available in flat-sheets; they also sometimes manifest as tofu knots, like these pretty knots in Tofu Skin/ Yuba Knots Veggies Bowl.
Besides easy recipes e.g. Yuba Salad and Braised Yuba, these fresh tofu skin/yuba knots are often served as shabu-shabu style hotpot item - meaning they can be simply blanched before consumption, and enjoyed at their best natural soy flavors.
One of my favorite seafoods (including shrimps and fish) - clams is a lean source of protein, rich in minerals, vitamins, and Omega- 3 fatty acids. Today, the protein feature on veggie bowl is this visually striking Arctic Surf Clam.
These clams will be great in cool/cold-weather shabu-shabu style hotpot but for now, a warm bowl-meal of clams with veggies
Frozen does not mean subpar quality. Instead, this Clearwater brand, the Arctic Surf Clams are blanched and individually-quick-frozen on-board vessels in less than an hour of harvesting that they are fit to be sushi-grade. I am glad to find Clearwater Arctic Surf Clams in Weee! (one of my go-to online grocery site for fresh, quality, value-for money groceries, especially for items not easily available in brick-and-mortar grocery stores).
I was never quite into online groceries shopping and always prefer to buy groceries in the stores but the pandemic lingered on for almost 2 years (pandemic fatigue!), so it was great to have another shopping option especially when Weee! online produce is fresh, reasonably-priced (sometimes even cheaper than in the physical stores), and convenient delivery right to the door. If you are interested to try Weee! out, sign up to get $20 off $35 purchase - this deal itself is already worth the sign-up. Almost 40% off your first grocery basket and free delivery).
It is oven-baked shrimps veggie bowl day because shrimps veggie bowl is one of the easiest, fuss-free delicious bowl-meal to prepare - zero to hero, in less than 30 minutes.
Oven-baked shrimps and zucchini with steamed broccoli, carrot, cabbage, greens
There are also other less than 30-minute meals such as Broccoli, Sweet Potato Chicken Salad and Salmon Veggie Bowl.
In our family, recipes are typically for referencing, seldom followed to a T. For example, when cooking a small portion of fried rice (serving 2), vs a batch of fried rice (serving 4 or more), the how-to can be tweaked. The reason to adapt, sometimes just because we are limited by size/ type of pan, wok, or pot. You will understand what this means if you cook regularly.
For example, there are several ways how egg can be incorporated into the fried rice when cooking egg fried rice. Sometimes, raw egg is mixed with cold rice (leftover rice that has been chilled in fridge or stored in freezer) to coat the rice grain prior to frying; or other times, eggs can be cooked (scrambled) first, removed and set aside, rice added to same pan and fried, then scrambled eggs added back to the pan, fried with rice. Occasionally, especially when cooking a small portion of fried rice, the egg is added directly to the rice in the pan - create an "empty" center in the rice so the egg hits the surface of the pan/pot to be cooked partially, then mixed/fried together with rice. Ahhhh, so many ways.
The fried rice outcome may be different taste-wise but still delicious in its own way.
Fuss-free preparation, clean-eating yet a flavor-packed one-dish meal that you can happily enjoy in the warm summer months. This Oven Roasted Shrimps Veggies Bowl is loaded with healthy steamed broccoli, bean sprouts, carrots, celery, cabbage and topped with delicious oven-roasted shrimps.
Other variations of Shrimps Veggies Bowls:Shrimps Veggies Bowls with Avocado, TofuShrimps Veggies Bowls with Avocado, Radish
It was a dark rainy day and that called for a bowl of warm congee/ rice porridge, soupy comfort yet able to fill us up.
This bowl of congee/ rice porridge is flavorful with salmon, complemented by soft-tender mountain yam and crisp-tender celery. It is not just a mass of sticky soft gruel but one which offers textures and layered flavors. The mixture and blend of grains also helps in that perfect congee consistency.
This home-style "Mee Goreng" or Stir-Fry Noodles has been customized to my preferences. It's not glossed in dark sauce and has more vegetables in proportion to noodles. It also does not use the typical yellow noodles usually found in Mee Goreng. More accurately, this should be called Udon Goreng.
That is home-style, and home-cooking at its roots, with the perks to cater for your personal preferences and to be able to create a healthier and more nutritious dish without losing traditional flavors.
In Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia, Mee means noodles, Goreng means Fried. This "Mee Goreng" or Fried Noodles, is a deviation from the authentic hawker classic without the use tomato ketchup and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce).
To create my own quick tomato ketchup, I have used fresh tomatoes, a little sugar and soy sauce. To simulate the flavors of kecap manis, I have also used dark soy sauce and brown sugar.
It is one of those hot-hotter-hottest days in summer when "one-dish-has-everything" salad comes to mind. Vegetables and beans (legumes) all in one. Protein, fiber and carbs well-taken care of.
Moreover, no one wants to spend long hours behind the stove (heat!) in the hot summer days, so this minimal-cooking salad-as-a-meal (e.g. Falafel Salad Bowl, Tempeh Salad Bowl, Tandoori Chicken Salad) is a savior. You can also try this Vegetable and Tofu Platter with Cheese Dip.
Ever thought of a soupy grain bowl?
This wacky idea came to me during winter - anything I could do for a bowl of piping hot food, I will; yet staying true to the routine (of salad grain bowls). I make warm salad grain bowls quite regularly but there are still times especially when the temperature hit the low 40Fs; when warm food does not suffice and hot food is desperately desired.
Under normal circumstances, the leftover rice and rotisserie chicken would be re-heated and served with steamed vegetables to prepare grain bowls such as Asparagus Chicken Quinoa Bowl or Broccoli, Cauliflower Chicken Quinoa Bowls.
But, what if Chicken Rice Soup can be prepared instantly, in less than 10 mins? What next?
One of the taboos during Chinese New Year is not to eat porridge /congee on the first day of Chinese New Year because porridge (seen as food for the poor) brings poverty. It is now way past the fifth day of Chinese New Year, so no more food taboos! Besides, it is unseasonably cold here in California almost the middle of February, so a bowl of piping hot porridge instantly delivers warmth and comfort in the chilly nights of winter.
As natural as how the body works, when we grow older, we should revert back to eating like a growing baby? Exaggeration, you might say. The point is, consuming easily digestible food like this Shirasu Millet Porridge, especially during the night does not overload our digestive system and works better for the body.
A one-pot millet porridge/ congee, cooked with high-in-calcium shirasu (sardine whitebait), zinc-rich organic ground chicken, iron-packed watercress and beta-carotene-loaded carrots, is nutritious, wholesome yet light and comforting. For vegetarian, omit the chicken and fish in this recipe, and try this Kabocha Squash Millet Congee.
