Inspire My Weekly Dinner Menu !

April 9, 2009 3:51 PM

I need more quick, healthy, dinner suggestions, but I am Picky, Picky. I've perused many a thread here about this, and am hoping to catch something new with a smaller net. Spicy is the key here. If it tastes good with my rooster sauce it will be a keeper.

What I love:
SPICY !
Chipolte in Adobo Sauce
Rooster Sauce (Sriracha) ** This is Key.
Vegetables, (frozen or mixed bags)
Black Beans
Egg whites/Eggs
The occasional chicken breast

What I don't like:
Lentils
Peas
Water Chestnuts
Pork
Beef
Pasta

What I've been eating because it's FAST and Tasty:
Fried Brown Rice with Vegetables (and egg whites)
Chili - (with chips, cheddar and sour cream which I should probably stop doing because of the de-healthifying effects).
Some roasted vegetables with a Boca Burger mixed in a corn tortilla with Salsa.

What say you MeFi ?? Anything I can add to my weekly menu? What smack-in-the-forehead dish am I missing?

posted by duckus to food & drink (17 comments total)

What about a tasty, tasty chipotle black bean soup? You can definitely add in some sauteed veggies, too. Pureeing the veggies/black beans is optional.
posted by pecanpies at 3:53 PM on April 9, 2009

I eat the everliving shit out of Sriracha.

I like it on top of eggs, in tacos (choose your filling), in egg tacos, in egg tacos with potato. Mixed with catsup on potatoes or fries or chicken fingers or tater tots. Stir fries, fried rices, even just some noodles with hoisin or sesame flavoring and a squirt of the red stuff. It's also tasty on pizza, or on top of a Zucchini Frittata. Mmm.

Looking back though, those really aren't very healthy -- but you could fix that easily enough.
posted by nitsuj at 3:57 PM on April 9, 2009

Do you like tofu? It's much quicker to cook through than meat. I made tofu and cauliflower curry tonight (curry made by simmering a can of coconut milk with a teaspoon of store-bought curry paste.) My family doesn't like heat, but I topped my portion with a healthy dollop of rooster sauce. It took about 10 minutes to make, and 20 minutes to cook the rice that went with it.
posted by Daily Alice at 4:00 PM on April 9, 2009

Check "Everyday Mexican" and "How to Cook Everything".
posted by Dick Paris at 4:04 PM on April 9, 2009

I like short grain brown rice topped with cucumber kimchi, pickled ginger, and sriracha. You could add chicken breast or other vegetables. Very healthy, easy, tasty, and spicy.

For the cukes: Dice up a cucumber. Toss in a colander with a teaspoon of salt. Let sit for 30 minutes. Rinse, squeeze, put in jar. Add grated ginger (lots), a chopped serrano or jalapeno, some sambal or sriracha if you REALLY like it hot, and a slurp of vinegar. Shake. Let marinate. Keeps in fridge indefinitely.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:23 PM on April 9, 2009 [7 favorites]

Mixed veggie southwestern frittata:

Sauté onions and diced potatoes in olive oil on high heat in a sauce pan (1.5 inch lip). Add sliced fresh mushrooms, sliced frozen or fresh broccoli and a little more oil if you need it (or whatever veggies you like). Add previously cooked / leftover black beans (no more than 1/2 a cup).

In a separate bowl, whisk 4 eggs. Pour eggs into pan over veggies. Reduce heat to low. Cover. Cook for about 8 minutes. Shred your favorite cheese on top. Recover. Cook until the top cheese is melted.

Slice in half and slide onto a plate (For sharing) or eat as a whole. Pour your tasty Sriracha sauce on top.

Yummy!! This is one of my quick, easy, and healthy favorites. ;)
posted by whimsicalnymph at 4:33 PM on April 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

get some tom yum paste and add it to your fried rice. I'm eating some with siracha right now
mmmm
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:43 PM on April 9, 2009

This is awesome .. ! And now I'm starving.
posted by duckus at 5:03 PM on April 9, 2009

- Beat up 3 eggwhites. Add salt, pepper, a squirt of Sriracha and some chopped cilantro. Set aside. Chop up a couple of asparagus spears. Get a non-stick skillet hot on medium low heat. Add a splash of canola oil. Saute your asparagus until bright green and a little browned. Add your egg mixture and stir with a silicone or rubber spatula. Instant, tasty omelet.

- Pound a chicken breast flat in a Ziploc bag using a bottle of wine, a heavy skillet, or a large can of beans or tomatoes. Turn on your broiler. Line a sheet pan with foil and rub it with a little canola oil. Rub your chicken breast with the sauce from a can of chiles in adobo or Sriracha, salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil, place it on your sheet pan, and broil until done, about six or seven minutes. Take a handful of pre-washed baby spinach or arugula and put it on a plate. Squeeze it with lime juice and drizzle with olive oil. Slice your chicken breast into strips and lay it across your spinach. Throw a couple of baby carrots and cherry tomatoes on top, along with a few crushed peanuts and a few cilantro leaves. Instant chicken and spinach salad.

- Slice a clove of garlic. Chop up one chile in adobo. Make a pot of brown rice. In a sauce pot, heat a little olive oil. Add your garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add a can of black beans and your chopped chile to your garlic. Add a little water, stir, turn heat to low and allow to simmer for about ten minutes. Pile some pre-washed spinach, arugula or romaine on a plate. Squeeze with lime juice and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spoon a mound of brown rice into the center of your greens. Top with a generous portion of your black beans. Top with chopped green onion, some cheddar cheese, a bit of greek yogurt and salsa. Serve with warm tortillas or tortilla chips.

- Buy a can of light coconut milk. Make a pot of brown rice, preferably jasmine. Chop up a small yellow onion and saute in a skillet in canola oil until translucent and browned. Add to this add a bag of frozen vegetables and two tablespoons of tomato paste. Stir and allow to saute for about a minute. Add a squirt of Sriracha, a cup of water or chicken broth (broth is better) and about half your can of coconut milk, and a few fresh basil leaves, if you like. (Make sure you shake up your coconut milk beforehand.) Stir, cover and simmer until vegetables are done completely. Serve over rice.
posted by TryTheTilapia at 5:05 PM on April 9, 2009 [4 favorites]

Dude! Breakfast for dinner! Burritos with chorizo. Chorizo lasts forever in the fridge.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:37 PM on April 9, 2009

Stir-fries are endlessly variable and are very quick. The basic process for stir-fry:

1) Collect ingredients. You will want a) a protein, b) vegetables (go nuts!), c) garlic and ginger, d) ingredients for a sauce (again, be creative). The most basic sauce you can do for a stir fry is a mixture of soy sauce and rice vinegar. Keep some cornstarch on hand.

2) Chop everything. Ginger and garlic get minced, everything else turns into bite-sized pieces.

3) Prepare sauce. Mix all the liquids together. Make a separate mixture of cornstarch and water for thickening the sauce later.

4) Cook. Get out your wok and add things in this order: aromatics (until they smell flavorful, about 30 seconds), then protein (until done, 4-5 minutes), vegetables (2-3 minutes), then sauce. Bring sauce to a boil, then add cornstarch mixture, then continue to simmer until the sauce has thickened.

You can serve this over rice or noodles, or by itself. Noodles can be prepared in many different ways, too. My favorite is to get some Asian egg noodles, boil them until done, and then pan fry the mess into a big pancake. You get crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside!

If you want more spice than adding rooster sauce to your sauce mixture, then get some dried chiles from your local Asian grocer, cut them in half, and add them (with seeds) to the stir fry along with the aromatics.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:59 PM on April 9, 2009 [4 favorites]

You don't mention shrimp on either list, so here goes. My favorite spicy recipe is this spicy grilled shrimp. I use Tabasco for the hot sauce and Sriracha for the chile paste. You can vary the proportions to increase the heat. I use frozen shrimp from Trader Joes, thawing them under running water for awhile (10 min?) and then letting them marinate for 30 minutes or so. I know it's not as quick as some others, but it's a nice choice when you have a few more minutes to spend. You don't have to grill them, either...I've cooked them in a frying pan.
posted by cabingirl at 6:33 PM on April 9, 2009

You might like this bibimbap-inspired thing I like to make. It's all very tossed-together-from-leftovers, so feel free to substitute whatever you want.

You'll need (this is for one person, double the recipe for two)
About two cups of veggies (I like spinach and mushrooms for this, but bean sprouts, bok choy, or zucchini can work well too)
Some chopped-up cooked meat (optional)
A garlic clove
Sesame oil
Vegetable oil
Soy sauce
An egg
A cup of cooked rice

Place the rice in a wide, shallow bowl. Sautee the veggies separately in a pan with some vegetable oil. When each is done, sprinkle with sesame oil and place over the rice. Heat up the meat in the pan, sprinkling with sesame oil and soy sauce. Place that over the rice as well. Fry an egg so that the yolk is fairly runny and put that on top of the rice, veggies and meat. Finally, douse it all with the red rooster sauce.

Takes about 15 minutes.
posted by lunasol at 10:13 PM on April 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

You will love love love The Amazing Bibimbap.

You don't have to, but it is best made in a stone clay pot (I love it when the rice gets just a little burnt and crispy at the edges), you can definitely make it vegetarian (I do!) with any variety of tofu - and put in any vegetables that you want.

Delicious!
posted by archofatlas at 5:50 AM on April 10, 2009

I love Sam Zien's Thai Curried Chicken which starts with a basic sauce: coconut milk, cumin, curry, and lots of Sriracha sauce. Sam then uses part of the sauce to marinate chicken which is then grilled and part of the sauce is cooked down to spoon over the chicken and rice. However, I often leave out the chicken step and just use the cooked-down sauce over lightly steamed or stir-fried vegetables and rice. It is wonderful any way you use it. Hmmm I may have to have curried bok choy for dinner.

Another way I "use the rooster" is on broccoli with cheese sauce. I just love broccoli and Sriracha together and eat it cold or hot all the time. On special occasions I add some cheese to put this combo into the comfort food category.

Another quick and easy snack/lunch/dinner suggestion is roll-ups using rice paper wraps. These are softened up in hot water and then used to roll up vegetables splashed liberally with Sriracha. If you buy prepared broccoli slaw at the grocery store this makes a great roll-up as is or sprinkled with Sesame salad dressing. Other things that can go in wraps are match-stick sliced cucumber and carrots, sprouts, shrimp, thin slices of turkey breast, peanuts. You don't need to fry the wraps-- they are eaten as is.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:29 AM on April 10, 2009

China Forbes Quinoa with avocado. I often skip the avocado and always drown it in Siracha. So delicious.
posted by squeaky at 7:53 AM on April 10, 2009

I know you say you hate lentils, but what about chickpeas? When cooked enough, especially in a pressure cooker or boiled a long time, they get extremely creamy, unlike any other grain or legume type thing. Cook them in water with chili flakes then dump more sirracha on them and they will be spicy for sure. You can also add other things to their cooking water, like cinnamon, peppercorns, cloves, garlic, for different dimensions of spicy besides "hot." They're really good at soaking up whatever flavor you like.
posted by slow graffiti at 12:33 PM on April 10, 2009 [1 favorite]