Wonderful One Pot Meals For Spring
/Give yourself time to rest and rejuvenate.
Make a simple meal that can be re-heated in the oven and served at dinnertime with enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
During the time you would spend cooking in the evening, try doing one of these things.
Go for a walk. Sit in the sun. Talk with a loved one. Hold someone's hand. Breathe deeply, in and out, offering gratitude for another day on the planet.
Quinoa Casserole with Spiced Roots
You will need:
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons lime or lemon juice
1 teaspoon each: thyme and oregano
3 red potatoes, chopped into cubes
4 carrots, chopped into ½ inch rounds
2 sweet potatoes, chopped into ½ inch rounds
1 beet, chopped into cubes
1 bunch kale, spinach, or chard, chopped
Sea salt to taste
1 cup cooked quinoa
½ cup walnuts
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the spices, stir and sauté on low heat for 2 minutes.
Add chopped roots. Raise heat to high for 2 minutes.
Add lime or lemon juice, cover and reduce heat to low. Add spices. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Chop greens. Add to skillet. Add water if anything is sticking to the bottom.
Meanwhile, cook 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water.
Add nuts towards the end of cooking.
Grease a casserole dish with vegetable oil.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
When roots are soft, place in the contents of the skillet bottom of the casserole dish.
Once quinoa and nuts are cooked, spread it on top of the vegetables.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Enjoy! Serve with sesame lemon sauce if you like.
Sesame Lemon Sauce
In a bowl, whisk together:
2 Tablespoons tahini
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup water
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon tamari
Use as a salad dressing or garnish for casseroles.
Millet Leek Casserole with Tempeh
Start with the millet.
Soak 1 cup millet for 2 hours or so. Strain and rinse millet.
You can also cook without soaking. This process removes phytic acid, making millet more digestible.
Pour into a cooking pot with 3 cups water.
Bring to a boil; then reduce to simmer.
Simmer until millet begins to thicken (about 20 minutes). Stir occasionally, as though cooking oatmeal.
Add:
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 carrots, grated
½ teaspoon each: thyme and nutmeg
Cook on low heat and stir occasionally until millet thickens.
Meanwhile, chop 2 leeks.
Place in a deep skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Sauté for 5 minutes.
Chop 1 8-ounce package of tempeh into cubes.
Place tempeh in a bowl and add:
1 teaspoon tamari
1 teaspoon tahini
1 teaspoon brown mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon coriander
Mix well.
Pour contents of bowl into the skillet with leeks.
Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, until tempeh is browning slightly.
Meanwhile, chop kale – about 2 packed cups.
Add kale and ½ cup water to the skillet.
Cover and cook on medium low heat for 5 more minutes.
Set aside.
Grease a glass baking dish (9x9) with olive or sunflower oil.
Pour one third of the millet into the baking dish and flatten it evenly.
Cover with half of the vegetable mixture.
Add another layer of millet, followed by vegetables.
Finish with millet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until the top is turning golden.
Buckwheat Cauliflower Casserole
Place 1 cup dry kasha (buckwheat groats) and 2 ½ cups water in a stock pot.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes until kasha begins to thicken.
Add ½ teaspoon each: salt, coriander, nutmeg
Stir vigorously until grain reaches porridge-like consistency. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Chop 1 large head cauliflower into florets.Chop 3 large carrots into crescents.
Oil a rectangular baking dish.
Add carrots and cauliflower to the baking dish.
Season with ½ teaspoon each: salt, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon.
Toss well to coat.
Roast for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees.
Mix as many peas as you like with the cauliflower and carrots. Remove from baking dish and set aside in a bowl temporarily.
Cover the bottom of the baking dish with a thin layer of cooked kasha.
Cover kasha with the vegetables.
Cover vegetables with the rest of the cooked kasha.
Bake for 15 minutes, cool and enjoy!
