This week’s menu plan is sort of half-retroactive and half-hopeful. We get our CSA box on Wednesday so we’ve been trying to make our menu plan then, but I didn’t make it to the store for the rest of the stuff we needed until Thursday, so the whole week’s plan got moved to Friday. So this is the ghost of menus past, present and future.
Tangy red lentils over salad greens
We have another menu that’s heavy on the beans and lentils. We just can’t get enough! So cheap, so filling, such good protein and nutrients. We’ll get bored soon with the recipes in our own repertoire, though, so I hope there will be some great recipes in the Steady Pulse beans & legume recipe round-up!
This week’s Gluten Free Menu Swap is hosted by the lovely Cheryl of Gluten-Free Goodness. The theme for the menu swap this week is apples, and I don’t have any in my dinner plans, but we’ve certainly been crunching along all week long on the delicious first-crop apples that arrived in our CSA box! For millions more menu plans, check out the giant Menu Plan Monday compendium over at Orgunkie.
I usually do a little “mash-up” photo of some of the food from the menu plan to act as a header, but this week, for fun and inspiration, I give you the full-size experience!
Friday:
Nasu dengaku (broiled eggplant with miso)
Steamed bok choy with pickled ginger
Sloppy sushi with avocado
Nasu Dengaku - Broiled Japanese Eggplant with Miso Sauce
Saturday:
GF Mac and cheese (or “cheeze”) with green beans, tomatoes, and kidney beans
Sunday:
Cumin-crusted potatoes (5 Spices, 50 Dishes)
Punjabi creamed greens with kale and chard (5 Spices, 50 Dishes) (made with soy yogurt)
Punjabi Creamed Greens (kale and chard)
Monday:
Lentil dal (5 Spices, 50 Dishes)
Home-cooked cranberry beans
Dandelion greens with walnuts and raisins
Quinoa
Chocolate pumpkin loaf (made without eggs)
Tuesday:
Sweet potato and kale soup with fennel seeds
Pamela’s drop biscuits
Sweet Potato and Kale Soup with Fennel Seed
Wednesday:
Tangy red lentils
Roasted broccoli with pine nuts and lemon zest
Brown rice
Thursday:
Tinkyada brown rice spirals with vegan pesto, roast zucchini, tomatoes
Gluten-free spirals with vegan pesto, zucchini, and tomato
Don’t forget to send in your favorite tried and true recipes for beans, lentils, and other legumes and pulses!
In My Box 
Your food pictures are lovely! I love the book Vegan with a vengeance! It just about convinced me to go vegan full time, but my husband didn’t quite go for it full time:) thanks for the appetizing pics!
The ghosts of menus past, present and future–love it and know exactly what you mean. If I didn’t have to feed three teenagers, your menus would be my menus. I keep moving them along the path gradually and preparing their palates for better things, but wishing I could eat like you do all the time.
Great menu! We could just save time and alternate creating menus and both use them ;). I do have a ton of bean/legume recipes, I’ll be happy to share them. It might take a few days, though, time is extremely limited. All these kids keep needing me!
That eggplant looks delicious. I am still a bit nervous about cooking Indian/East Asian foods, so your menu has me a bit in awe.
Lauralynne – Check out 5 Spices, 50 Dishes! It’s a very well-written Indian cookbook filled with beautiful photographs and clear instructions, and best of all every dish in it can be made with some combination of the same five common spices – turmeric, cayenne, cumin, coriander, and mustard seed. I get totally overwhelmed when I read Indian recipes online that call for curry leaves, fenugreek, dried mango powder, urad dal and the like. But with this cookbook we’ve been turning out delicious Indian food with ease!
[…] of In my box has a bean heavy week planned. I’d never heard of 5 spices, 50 dishes, but it sounds like a […]