Welcome to the first installment of What to Make & Eat This Week, exclusively for paid subscribers to The Vegan Atlas newsletter. You’ll also continue to receive the regular weekly newsletter mid-week, with more tips and ideas for the plant-strong life.
In this special weekly mailing, I’ll be sending 4 full recipes that are just right for the season, helping to solve the age-old dilemma of what to make for dinner. Hitting your inbox on Sunday mornings, it will give you (and truth be told, me), solid ideas for your meal planning and grocery shopping for the week ahead. Let’s do this!
Gingery Bok Choy Fried Rice
Here’s an easy rice dish filled with colorful vegetables. Use whatever type of bok choy you prefer— the kind with the large white stalks and dark green leaves, or any size/variety of baby bok choy. For even more tips and the printable recipe card, the post on the website can be linked to here.
If you have your rice cooked ahead of time, this dish is super quick to make. Serve it with your favorite simple tofu, tempeh, or seitan dish.
Tip: Cook some extra rice for a dish coming up ahead (unless you’d prefer it with couscous, presented as an alternative.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup raw brown or brown Basmati rice (or see alternatives in Note)
1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 to 8 stalks large white bok choy, stalks sliced thinly, leaves chopped, or 4 medium baby bok choy, sliced thinly crosswise (either option well rinsed)
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into short narrow strips
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
15-ounce can baby corn, drained
3 to 4 scallions, white and green parts, sliced
2 to 3 teaspoons grated fresh or bottled ginger, to taste
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari, or more to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Dried hot red pepper flakes or gochugaru to taste, optional
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the rice with 2 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently until the water is absorbed, about 30 minutes. If the rice isn’t done to your liking, add 1/2 cup more water and cook until absorbed; repeat as needed.
About 10 minutes before the rice is done, heat the oil in a stir-fry pan. Add the garlic, bok choy, and bell pepper and stir-fry over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the peas, baby corn, and scallions, and continue to stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, just until heated through.
Stir in the cooked rice and ginger. Drizzle in the sesame oil and soy sauce, and stir well to combine. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes longer.
Season with pepper, hot red pepper flakes, and additional soy sauce if needed, then serve.
VARIATIONS AND SWAP-INS
Rice swap: If you prefer white rice (white Basmati or jasmine are nice), by all means. Use whatever cooking method you prefer; you’ll need about 3 cups cooked, a little more is fine.
Add more tender greens: Add a small amount of leafy greens to this dish in addition to the bok choy —tatsoi, mizuna, baby spinach, or baby arugula. Do so once the dish is done; just pile the greens on top, cover for a minute or so, then stir in once they’re wilted.
Corn kernels instead of baby corn: Use about 1 cup cooked or steamed corn kernels in place of baby corn.
Red Bean and Potato Salad with Artichoke Hearts
Satisfying enough to be a main dish, this red bean and potato salad is welcome as a side dish in smaller portions or packed into a container as a portable lunch. The yum factor is provided by marinated artichoke hearts, though you can substitute olives for those briny bursts of flavor.
Though potato salads are often favored in the summer, this variation that includes beans can be enjoyed any time of year. It's also a good choice for potlucks and picnics. For even more tips and the printable recipe card, the post on the website can be linked to here.
INGREDIENTS
4 large or 6 medium golden or red-skinned potatoes
1 small zucchini, sliced (or 1/2 medium zucchini,
halved lengthwise and thinly sliced)6-ounce jar marinated quartered artichoke hearts, drained, liquid reserved
(ot swap in 1/2 cup sliced pitted olives, any variety)
15-ounce can red, kidney, or pink beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup bottled or homemade vinaigrette (see link in Notes)
1 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Scrub the potatoes well and microwave them in their skins until done but still firm. Plunge into a bowl of cold water. Or, dice and cook them in just enough water to cover in a large saucepan until done yet firm. Drain and rinse with cold water until cooled.
Combine the zucchini in a serving bowl with the artichoke hearts, beans, parsley, and scallions.
If you’ve microwaved the potatoes, when cool enough to handle, cut them into bite-sized chunks. Either way, add the potatoes add to the serving bowl.
Add the vinaigrette, a little of the reserved liquid from the artichoke hearts, and tomatoes. Stir gently, season with salt and pepper, and serve.
NOTE
Making your own vinaigrette is easy; see our recipe for Basic Vinaigrette.
Complete the meal: For a summery dinner with no additional recipes to follow, this pairs perfectly with fresh corn and a midsummer vegetable like green beans. For a bigger meal, add a simple tofu or tempeh dish to the above suggestion. Consider Sautéed Tofu with Tomatoes and Basil or Sweet and Savory Tempeh Strips.
*** Taking a moment to shout-out my longtime photographer, Hannah Kaminsky. You can find her at BittersweetBlog and Instagram. ***
Persian-Style Spinach with Black-Eyed Peas, Leeks & Herbs
Sabzi is the Persian word that refers to greens and herbs, ingredients typical to thE Middle Eastern cuisine. It’s a great way to take advantage of spinach season to learn to love leeks. See more in our Guide to Leeks. For even more tips and the printable recipe card, the post on the website can be linked to here.
Complete the meal: This dish is customarily served over rice, but you can also serve over couscous for nice textural balance. Serve the meal with warm pita bread, if you’d like, plus a simple salad of diced tomatoes and cucumbers dressed in olive oil, lemon juice, and fresh dill.
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped leek (white part only), rings separated, very well rinsed
10 to 12 ounces fresh spinach (or two 5-ounce packages fresh baby spinach)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 scallions, sliced
3 to 3 ½ cups cooked or two 15-ounce cans black-eyed peas,
drained and rinsedJuice of 1/2 to 1 lemon, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Hot cooked rice or couscous
Plain vegan yogurt for topping, optional
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the oil in an extra-large skillet or a steep-sided stir-fry pan. Add the leek and sauté for 5 to 8 minutes, or until limp and tender.
If using a fresh bunch of spinach from your local farm market or CSA, trim large stems away and chop the leaves coarsely. Put in a large bowl filled with water and swish around to loosen any sand. Scoop the spinach up and rinse well in a colander. If using packaged fresh baby spinach, you can skip this step.
To the pan, add the spinach, parsley, scallions, and 1/4 cup water. Cover and steam just until the spinach starts to wilt, so you have more room in the pan.
Stir in the black-eyed peas, lemon juice, and spices. Cook until just heated through, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over hot grains, topping each serving with a small amount of vegan yogurt, if desired.
Asian Noodles with Green Beans & Walnuts
It seems that perfect green beans are available for only a couple of months in early summer. This recipe for Asian noodles with green beans and walnuts is a perfect light dish to make in that brief window. You can also use frozen green beans to make this all year round.
This recipe is great with soba (buckwheat noodles), udon, or Chinese wheat noodles. In a pinch, you can use ordinary or whole-grain linguine.
Pairing ideas: Here are a few salads that go well with this dish. With the first two choices, add a platter of baked tofu slices for a protein boost to the meal.
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
8 ounces soba, udon, or Chinese wheat noodles
8 to 10 ounces slender fresh green beans, trimmed (see Note)
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari, or more, to taste
2 teaspoons natural granulated sugar or agave nectar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 to 3 scallions, thinly sliced
Gochugaru or dried hot red pepper flakes, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet until golden and fragrant, stirring frequently. Remove to a bowl until needed.
Bring plenty of water to a boil in a small soup pot. Add the noodles and lower the heat. Cook at a steady simmer for two minutes, then add the green beans. Simmer steadily until the noodles are al dente and the green beans tender-crisp, about 3 to 5 minutes longer, then drain.
Meanwhile, combine the hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, agave nectar, and vinegar in a small bowl and stir together.
Combine the noodles and sauce in a serving container. Add the scallions and walnuts and toss together.
Season with gochugaru and toss again. Or, you can pass the hot seasoning around. Either way, serve at once.
Note: Use an equivalent amount of frozen whole green beans (organic whole baby green beans are the best for this recipe) when fresh seasonal green beans are unavailable.
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