Random Meals #9

This set of random meals takes you through quite a span of time, I think--from deep summer to early fall--and in many cases may look a bit redundant. But here we are! Five breakfasts, five lunches, and five dinners with what I had on hand, made with sometimes more energy and sometimes a lot less.

Breakfast

This may not seem random, but it was; I had no clear plan to have this and yet it was glorious. I have here a sliced banana (at the perfect phase of ripeness), multigrain toast with margarine and strawberry preserves, orange juice, breakfast potatoes with bell peppers and onions, a frozen veggie sausage patty, and a few slices of tomato. Though this was more food than I probably would want to eat for breakfast most of the time (and it did make me feel very full), it all went together beautifully.

Here's a similar breakfast: Multigrain toast with margarine, a cheesy JUST Egg omelet with spinach, leftover potatoes with onions and peppers, and sliced tomato. This was a little more my speed in terms of the amount of food it was, and a great, savory start to the day.

Although I very much look forward to the season I get to bake again, I'm loving the freezer muffin stash! Here, I have a carrot apple zucchini muffin, some non-dairy lemon Greek yogurt, and clementine segments--a lighter breakfast for a lower appetite day.

I plan my meals, but sometimes, I have a craving that needs answering, and I go in another direction. This was one of those mornings. I had a sweet breakfast planned, but I for some reason was desperate for something savory. I also had the ends of several things that needed using, and this was perfect for using them up: A chickpea flour scramble with peppers and zucchini, served with a hash brown patty and some multigrain toast. I loved this, but I knew I would; I always love chickpea flour scrambles!

A frequent favorite around here: A bowl of farina cooked in soy milk with some melted vegan butter and a bit of salt, served alongside a raid-the-freezer smoothie. If I'd been a better food stylist I would have gotten the photo before the butter melted. This smoothie used up the ends of a bag of pomegranate arils and raspberries and also had a little banana and strawberry in it, along with a splash of orange-pineapple juice and soy milk and a bit of vanilla. This was perfect.

Lunch

I had splurged on some good multigrain bread and had bananas at the perfect stage of ripeness, so I packed the most basic of lunches: A peanut butter, banana, and strawberry jam sandwich with some potato chips. There is a reason this is a classic sandwich. When bananas are at the perfect stage, they beg to be the major focus. So here we are!

Not-very-exciting leftovers: Mashed potatoes and some spiced chickpeas and spinach with seasoned salt. This did the job perfectly well, though.

Slightly redundant if you've been paying close attention (I doubt you have paid that close attention) but delicious: Segments of a wrap with hummus, spinach, red pepper, red onion, and shredded carrots; the end of some baba ganoush; a plumcot, sliced; and some wheat crackers. Excellent, but you've already seen this in a very similar format, so here it is with randomness.

Leftovers, mixed differently and fancied up with interesting condiments: Rice with shiso furikake, rotisserie chicken-style soy curls, sriracha mayo, sweet chili sauce, pickled daikon radishes, pickled onions (I promise they're under there), and sesame green bean salad. I preferred the sriracha mayo to the sweet chili sauce, but they both made great dipping sauces for the soy curls. And hey, if they never make sriracha again, I'll have options! (I'm still feeling weird about the disappearance of sriracha.)

A delightful, lazy lunch at home: A veggie burger topped with Daiya American cheese and sauteed mushrooms, onions, and peppers, all on a bun spread with vegan mayo, plus some sweet potato tots and a little cup of spicy garlic sriracha ketchup.

Dinner

It would not be a random meal compilation without some ramen--this one is gochujang peanut butter ramen, a variation on my usual basic spicy peanut butter ramen, given that there is a shortage of chili garlic sauce. This was fine, and I enjoyed it--but I like my usual peanut butter ramen more! Fingers crossed for Huy Fong Foods.

I had some leftover polenta and tomatoes, so I tried frying the polenta in little cakes. It mostly worked, although not perfectly. I piled the cakes up, topped the with the warmed leftover tomatoes, and then added some non-dairy Parmesan and some basil from my window. I enjoyed this meal more than I thought I would--I think my polenta was not quite firm enough for frying, but it was still delicious, and that's what matters.

Just some basic leftovers: Rice pilaf, garlic sauteed mushrooms, and beet braised lentils. The lentils got a little more pink as they sat in the beet-infused broth, and they were delicious.

More beet braised lentils, this time with more of the broth (and look how pink it is!), served with some mushroom kibbeh I found in the freezer and some vegan tzatziki for dipping. It was a bit unconventional, but it worked!

Still more braised lentils (fortunately I wasn't getting tired of them, or I would have frozen some), some boxed macaroni in a vegan creamy sauce (this is the Annie's sweet potato and pumpkin sauce one--not cheesy, just creamy and slightly sweet), and some zucchini cooked in some vegan butter with garlic and scallions.

I hope this wasn't too much lentil content for you!