Staple: Shakshuka Shakshuka Shakshuka!

Sooooo, this was delicious and easy and cheap and healthy. (And if you leave out the sugar- which I did-- meets the Whole 30 requirements, which I'm not doing, but a friend is)

I can already tell that it's going to be a staple recipe. It takes like no effort, it's real hard to screw up --like a soup is. And it's hearty and delicious.

I didn't really spice it much because I wanted to leave it up to my friend to make it to her level.

http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2010/07/summer-2010-travel-blog-shakshuka/

I also think it'd be interesting to try it with some spinach or some mushrooms.

This time I served it over pasta because it was what I had, but next time that crusty crunchy bread would be amazing.

I think next time I might try this variety:

https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/04/smoky-white-bean-shakshuka/

I have now tried the budget bytes variety and I actually liked the first version better! The beans make it more feeling, but I like the more veggies more.

Own Recipe: Instant Brussel Sprouts Upgrade

Take a bag of microwavable steamed brussel sprouts. Cook 'em.
Poured cooked sprouts into a bowl.
Add dashes of parmesan cheese, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and a splash of lime juice.

Delicious!

Keeper: Asparagus

So, this was super simple, but soooo good. It's also mostly from budget bytes.

Take the trimmed asparagus and put it in a skillet with some water (so it's like half covered). Put heat on high and leave it on there until the asparagus is soft and a happy bright green. Then drain off water and add a tiny pat of butter, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmh

Vegetables: Vegetarian Southern Style Collard Greens

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/vegetarian-southern-style-collard-greens-recipe.html

I had tons of leftover collard greens from the African peanut stew this week, so I made this. It's delicious and easy. I didn't have an onion to spare, so I used dried onion flakes.

My Own Recipe: Easy Hoisin Cabbage

I have no idea what someone else would think of this dish that I just made, but it's making me happy. It's very in your face with the flavors, but I'm liking it.

Situation: I had nearly a whole head of extra green cabbage from last week that I didn't know what to do with. I didn't want to eat the whole thing raw because I would like my stomach to still be talking to me politely by the end of the week. So, it needed to be cooked.

But recipes take effort. I looked up a few and then shrugged, chopped it into small bites, put a couple tbsp of water and the cabbage in the pyrex, and shoved it into the microwave until it got a little softer. (I meant to cook it until it was totally soft, but this cabbage was more persistent than I was.)

This is a success, but not a huge one.Now I had half-steamed cabbage that I didn't want to eat. How to give it some flavor?

Nothing sounded good (except maybe like apple and lime or vinegar, but that would take more chopping), but I want to use up my hoisin sauce, so I decided to see what I could do with that.

This is what I did with that:

 Hoisin sauce + Sriracha sauce + roasted sesame seeds + optional bit of cilantro (I liked the color the cilantro added, but I wasn't entirely sold on the flavor addition)

I couldn't tell you how much of each component because I just squirted the sauces in the bottom of a bowl and stirred them together, added the cabbage, and then liberally sprinkled on the sesame seeds.

And mmmmh it's got some kick and some weird depth of flavor and I am a happy girl. The sesame seeds are definitely essential.

Later: Hmmmm Well. It is delicious, but it's more of a small doses kind of delicious. I got that big bowl of it and I happily ate about half of the bowl. Picked at the next 1/4 and then threw out hte last 1/4. I think it had a chance of being much better if the cabbage was thoroughly cooked and therefore blander. I may shove it back in the microwave and try again.

Keeper Recipe: Baked Acorn Squash

So, I started with this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/baked-acorn-squash-with-brown-sugar-and-butter-recipe.html

But that wasn't going to do it for me and my desire to not get diabetes. So, I did a dash of salt, dash of pepper, maybe 1/3 tbsp of butter, and 1/2  tbsp of brown sugar and no maple syrup.  Next time, I'd give more butter and brown sugar for a much richer flavor, but it doesn't really matter.

Recipe:
- slice it open (and slice a little bit of the bottom if it won't stay upright)
-scoop out insides and throw in trash (unless you have creative powers and can use it)
- put some stuff on it, preferably brown sugar and butter-- add a bit of salt and pepper too
-put it in the oven at 400F for 1 hour and stab it with a fork to be sure it's good to go

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
delicious

Cost: Whatever the cost of acorn squash is, currently it's real cheap.
Convenience: Could hardly be easier to make, but it does take time to cook. 
Delicious: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmh
Freeze: Dunno. Doesn't sound like a great idea.
Uses: Side dish, quick healthy dinner, warming and filling, eat your veggies
Notes: -could be interesting to try some other toppings on it--lots of variety possible
-life is much better if you put it on aluminum foil so you can destroy the environment but not have to wash dishes.

Keeper Recipe: Microwave-Steamed Zucchini

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmh this is such a keeper. It could not be easier, healthier, or more delicious. I was just looking for a way to use up a zucchini that was going to go bad, but I will be doing this over and over.



http://www.food.com/recipe/microwave-steamed-zucchini-323310
"

DIRECTIONS

1. Slice zucchini lenth-wise, not cutting all the way to the bottom.
2. Open slightly and spray interior with butter.
3. Sprinkle interior with salt and pepper (and parmesan)
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in microwave. Microwave for 5 minutes on high power.
5. Let stand for two minutes, remove, and cut in wedges.
6. Voila."
7. 
   

Keeper Recipe 2: Summer Vegetable Tian

http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/08/summer-vegetable-tian/

Cost: It's the cost of veggies and cheese pretty much. Not the cheapest ever, but definitely not expensive.
Convenience: This is super easy to make. It takes at least an hour to make, but most of that is unattended cooking. It's mostly lots of chopping and cramming for the work part. It is a little annoying that it uses up the dish to saute too-- so it might be nice to find other recipes to pair it with.
Delicious: So good. Soooo good. Mmmmmmh.
Freeze: Probably a no. Haven't tried yet.
Uses: We'll see how it holds up this week as one of my major meal options. It's not the most filling thing on the planet because it's mostly just watery veggies, but it was sooooo good. This makes a great side dish, a great snack food for my tastes. 
Notes: It came out watery in the bottom this time, I just drained it off and it wasn't a big deal, but there were some recommendations to take the seeds out of the tomato, salt the veggies first, or cook it for longer. ALSO, I used sweet potato instead of potato and cooked the potatoes for 3-4 mintues before I chopped them up, that seemed to work well. Also, the cheese was delicious melted, but not evenly distributed and not really toasted brown (I burned my hand, so I was over it)-- so that could be better next time too. Also, I basically doubled the recipe and used a larger pan because I didn't have an 8x8..There's definitely room for modification on this recipe to make it more stellar, but I'd eat it any day of the week.