Daily Meals #1

           Last week, a couple of people asked to see what my daily meals look like. What I eat seems to change quite a bit from day to day, but last week I managed to note down and take some pictures of what I ate over three weekdays. Here's a peek.

Breakfast: Half an avocado mashed with a few drops of hot sauce, with one boiled, sliced egg. Avocados and eggs are a match made in culinary heaven.

Lunch: Chana masala with spinach, eggplant with mustard greens (recipe from this post), with a couple of tablespoons of jeera rice.

Often, I find a middle ground between eating no rice at all, and eating vegetables/dal on a heaping bed of rice, by adding just a bit of rice to my meal. Somehow it gives me all the feel of eating a "proper" rice-dal-subzi meal while cutting down drastically on the carbs.

Snack: Three cookies with tea. Neighbor kid came around with Girl Scout cookies and we bought a couple of boxes to support her. These are the shortbread cookies (trefoils, I think they are called)- the only Girl Scout cookies I like. I kept 3 cookies for myself and put the rest in the office kitchenette- where they thankfully vanished before I had the chance to go grab some more.

Dinner: Taco salad with lettuce, pinto beans, mock chicken (quorn) and a side of guacamole with pickled green tomatoes.

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Breakfast: (not pictured) Eggplant-mustard greens curry and a bit of jeera rice and yogurt- I wanted to finish off some leftovers.

On this day, I had some minor drama. Went to the grocery store, and back in the parking lot, my car wouldn't start. V and a colleague had to come out and help me jump start the car, drive it to the body shop to get the battery replaced, yada yada. I was a bit frazzled :)

Lunch: So I finally stopped at the chain restaurant Chipotle at 2 PM to grab some lunch. Got the taco salad- bed of lettuce with black beans, fajita vegetables, tomato salsa, hot salsa, sour cream and cheese. The portion size is pretty huge.

Dinner: Vietnamese curry with green beans, sweet potato and oven baked tempeh. Served with sautéed broccoli slaw.

The curry was inspired by this recipe. I've enjoyed vegetable coconut curries for years in Vietnamese restaurants and finally realized how very simple they are to make at home. The secret is in buying Vietnamese curry powder which gives the dish all the flavor it needs. I found some at our local Asian store called Ca Ri Ni An Do Madras curry powder (oh the fusion of cuisines) which looks bright yellow with all that turmeric and comes in a glass jar. Once the curry powder and some coconut milk are stocked in the pantry, this curry is the easiest thing ever to put together. I did skip the lemongrass and it was still tasty.

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Breakfast: (not pictured) Egg and half an avocado.

Morning snack: Chia pudding.

I bought some chia seeds at Trader Joe's- one of my many impulse purchases in this particular store- and made chia seed pudding. It is the easiest thing: I use small plastic lidded containers (1/2 cup capacity) and make 3-4 containers at a time.

In each cup, add 1 heaped tablespoon chia seeds. Fill the container almost to the top with almond (or any other) milk. Add a drop of vanilla extract and a drizzle of maple syrup. Stir, close lids, store in fridge. Over a few hours, the seeds swell up and you have your pudding ready to eat.

Chia pudding has a wonderful refreshing taste, it reminds me very much of the basil seeds (sabja) used in falooda, the Persian/Indian ice cream sundae. I've been enjoying chia seed pudding a few times a week as a treat. Chia seeds are a very popular "superfood" these days, and like all superfoods, are reputed to be absolutely magical and cure everything. Regardless of the hype, I just like the taste and texture so I eat them.

Lunch: Broccoli slaw with Vietnamese tempeh curry (leftovers from the previous night's dinner).

Afternoon snack: A slice of apple cake. I often bake a treat for our weekly work meetings.

Dinner: Creamy lentils (inspired by this recipe), mushroom soup and a side roasted kale.

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Then came the weekend, and Saturday was a total free for all. I went out with my knitting friends to a pub for lunch, and had some hard cider and a veggie Reuben sandwich with a side of Belgian fries. Then we had friends over for dinner and I made some aloo tikki chana chaat, cauliflower coconut curry soup and tandoori tofu and peppers. A feast day for sure. But the point is, if I eat in a carb conscious, vegetable-heavy way about 80% of the time, I can eat whatever I like the other times and still stay on track. So far it has been working out that way.

Your turn: What have you been eating these days?