Simple student solutions: Grain and Veggie bowls
To be perfectly clear, these are simple solutions, not necessarily for simple students!
As my kids have grown into adulthood with busy, independent schedules, we have found that our meals have shifted so that there are less sit down dinners where everyone is home at the same time. However, we still have a need for simple meals that can be put together when someone comes home at odd hours. This is one way of making sure something can be put together quickly, with the added bonus of having ingredients handy for making quick packed lunches.
This is a combination of some of our favorite salad bowl ingredients. Daughter #1 roasted cubed sweet potatoes:
dice 2 sweet potatoes into 3/4" squares
drizzle with vegetable oil of choice
sprinkle with smoked paprika, salt, and oregano, and toss till coated
spread on a sheet pan and roast at 400 F for about 30-35 minutes, stirring and flipping occasionally. They are done when a fork passes through them easily.
Cook quinoa according to packaged directions (usually 1:1 water to quinoa, simmered on low for 15 minutes, then taken off heat and steamed for 5, then fluffed with a fork).
The rest is easy: diced tomatoes and cucumbers, and opened cans of corn kernels and black beans. Yes, of course it would be better if you cut kernels off freshly steamed cobs, and cooked seasoned black beans in the instapot, but we are talking simple solutions in the middle of a Canadian winter here.
It is entirely possible that after getting all the ingredients ready, Stasha actually ate these as a meal. I don't know for sure, I was asleep. However, I was very pleased to find all these containers stored away in the fridge the next day, which made it easy for me to combine scoops of each ingredient into a lunch container, then add spinach, feta, green onions, and a bit of bottled salad dressing.
Voila, a nutritious and filling lunch salad!
There are endless variations on this theme - these just happen to be our favorite veggies and grains to use and ingredients we usually have on hand. It could be varied by substituting
Other grains: brown rice or barley ( although quinoa is by far the fastest to prepare)
Other greens: chopped romaine, arugula, kale, spring mix
Other veggies: thawed frozen peas, chopped snap pea pods
Other pulses: green lentils, kidney beans, white beans, chickpeas (for the record, I don't like any of those in the salad, and would never use them this way - but someone else might)
Other proteins: goat cheese, chopped chicken breast, hardboiled egg, edamame (Stasha actually used venison recently)
Dressings: oil and balsamic, raspberry vinaigrette, ginger soy, etc.
While it is still satisfying to sit down together to have a cooked meal, we have found it useful with our current schedule (which resembles that of four college roommates living together) to have ingredients like this around for fast, simple meals, even at 3 in the morning if needed.
As my kids have grown into adulthood with busy, independent schedules, we have found that our meals have shifted so that there are less sit down dinners where everyone is home at the same time. However, we still have a need for simple meals that can be put together when someone comes home at odd hours. This is one way of making sure something can be put together quickly, with the added bonus of having ingredients handy for making quick packed lunches.
This is a combination of some of our favorite salad bowl ingredients. Daughter #1 roasted cubed sweet potatoes:
dice 2 sweet potatoes into 3/4" squares
drizzle with vegetable oil of choice
sprinkle with smoked paprika, salt, and oregano, and toss till coated
spread on a sheet pan and roast at 400 F for about 30-35 minutes, stirring and flipping occasionally. They are done when a fork passes through them easily.
Cook quinoa according to packaged directions (usually 1:1 water to quinoa, simmered on low for 15 minutes, then taken off heat and steamed for 5, then fluffed with a fork).
The rest is easy: diced tomatoes and cucumbers, and opened cans of corn kernels and black beans. Yes, of course it would be better if you cut kernels off freshly steamed cobs, and cooked seasoned black beans in the instapot, but we are talking simple solutions in the middle of a Canadian winter here.
It is entirely possible that after getting all the ingredients ready, Stasha actually ate these as a meal. I don't know for sure, I was asleep. However, I was very pleased to find all these containers stored away in the fridge the next day, which made it easy for me to combine scoops of each ingredient into a lunch container, then add spinach, feta, green onions, and a bit of bottled salad dressing.
Voila, a nutritious and filling lunch salad!
There are endless variations on this theme - these just happen to be our favorite veggies and grains to use and ingredients we usually have on hand. It could be varied by substituting
Other grains: brown rice or barley ( although quinoa is by far the fastest to prepare)
Other greens: chopped romaine, arugula, kale, spring mix
Other veggies: thawed frozen peas, chopped snap pea pods
Other pulses: green lentils, kidney beans, white beans, chickpeas (for the record, I don't like any of those in the salad, and would never use them this way - but someone else might)
Other proteins: goat cheese, chopped chicken breast, hardboiled egg, edamame (Stasha actually used venison recently)
Dressings: oil and balsamic, raspberry vinaigrette, ginger soy, etc.
While it is still satisfying to sit down together to have a cooked meal, we have found it useful with our current schedule (which resembles that of four college roommates living together) to have ingredients like this around for fast, simple meals, even at 3 in the morning if needed.
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