When it is cold, I would rather have something like this for lunch vs a salad.

I agree, when it is cold out, sometimes a salad is too cold to eat!

@sas95, you can ask for sushi grade, or even get the sashimi from a sushi place.

Thank you all for these great recipes! I purchased the ingredients for the french onion and white bean soup for Sunday and bookmarked several others to try.

These recipes are in my regular rotation. I make large pots of food, then freeze in single serving containers for work lunches. I usually add greens or spinach to the meals, even if the recipe doesn't call for it.

Chicken and quinoa casserole. I've recently started substituting carrots and cooked greens of some sort for the sweet potatoes. Plan to substitue beans for the the chicken for the next round.

https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/269815/chicken-quinoa-sweet-potato-casserole/

Senegalese soup

https://iowagirleats.com/senegalese-soup/

New to the rotation - Coconut braised chickpeas with greens. I substitute some of the sweet potatoes with carrots. This was really tasty but very brothy, so next time I'll start with 1 cup of broth instead of the two cups of water.

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/coconut-braised-chickpeas-with-sweet-potatoes-and-greens

Moroccan cauliflower almond soup. I don't have a slow cooker, so roast in the oven on 325 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/moroccan-cauliflower-and-almond-soup/

I'm planning to try this curried carrot soup in the next couple of weeks.

https://www.wellplated.com/curried-carrot-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-34784

@Sueb20 be careful of the directions on Rancho Gordo. Overcooked to mush if you follow their directions. I read their comment sections under their different beans and it is a very common response from a huge number of people that even presoak will cause the beans to fall apart, I found that to be true. I only got one type that didn’t disintegrate out of 6 different bags / types that I ordered. I don’t remember which it was but I will never buy their beans again.

I was amazed at how many reviews and how old they were and still the company doesn’t change the directions .

I hope I am wrong so yours turn out well . 🙏 ( Trailrunner)

Tofu - get extra firm. NYT (and lots of other places) have recipes to cube, toss with spices, oil (olive or sesame) maybe soy sauce or mpale syrup and cornstarch. Convect or airfry until crisp. Terrific as part of a bowl supper.

I was recently super happy with tofu tacos from NYT. Due to alpha gal I made some cashew cream faux sour cream. I loved them! :)

We have been buying their beans for years and have had no problems. But we don't follow (or read) their directions, either. There has only been one type of bean that we have had issues with (giant coronas), in terms of them not cooking evenly. We presoak usually for 3 or 4 hours.

Tofu - get extra firm. NYT (and lots of other places) have recipes to cube, toss with spices, oil (olive or sesame) maybe soy sauce or mpale syrup and cornstarch. Convect or airfry until crisp. Terrific as part of a bowl supper.

We just did this for the first time last night, as part of a bowl, and it was very good!

This is another NYT preparation that we did for the first time a few weeks ago, and it was also good. I like the concept of the grated, crispy tofu, and think it will work with a lot of different flavor profiles.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1027269-i-cant-believe-its-not-chicken-super-savory-grated-tofu?unlocked_article_code=1.DVA.C12c.DqpFY-ooe3c0&smid=share-url

Have not yet read every post, but have bookmarked and will try to print out and save all these delicious and healthful sounding recipes. Fortunately, we are not fussy eaters and enjoy most foods,

bbstx, some people make a very smooth hummus by removing the husks of the chickpeas, adding good tahini, garlic, olive oil.

For tofu or bean curd recipes, if you enjoy some spice, there is the Chinese Mapo Tofu and others.

Search Tofu Chinese

Mapo Tofu https://redhousespice.com/mapo-tofu-authentic-way/

@petalique we do the husk removal and its incredible how smooth the hummus becomes. We had it for lunch with veggies , fresh baked whole wheat Pullman loaf sliced and broiled and Cara Cara oranges.

the other thing that greatly improves hummus is to make your own tahini. it only takes a few minutes and the reward is simply outstanding. Toast very very lightly hulled sesame seeds. Very lightly. Let cool a few minutes then place in food processor and process on high 10 minutes. Do not do less time. Stop and scrape as needed. Suddenly at 10 minutes it becomes tahini ( oil is warmed and released by the seeds) don’t add anything to them they get creamy on their own. make a large amount it keeps in the fridge for months. ( Trailrunner)

Thanks, Trailrunner. Your bread looks wonderful.

How do you partially or gently hull the sesame seeds? The seeds should be removed before lightly toasting then grinding for 10 minutes?

PS I have never bothered to remove the chickpea husks. I may try it sometime. I have not done so bc lazy and have been of the mind that the husks are beneficial for fiber and nutrients.

Your pullman loaf looks fantastic!

@petalique I buy hulled sesame seeds, they are the very light colored ones and will say they are hulled on the bag.

Its important to put them in a large dry skillet so they are a single layer. Low heat. Also if they ” show ” brownish color its too late 😳. Barely toast them my DH does them for me because I get sidetracked and they go too far. Cool a few minutes then process. That’s it. once you do this it’s so easy. I usually do 2-3 batches making a big jar . I am out at present so I will try and get some made this week and take pictures.

Thank you , the Pullman is a favorite pan. USA with lid. This is the 14” . They make a 9” also. Its so easy . This is all whole wheat with my sourdough levain and what I call my Trinity ( EVOO, homemade yogurt , honey) in equal amounts . Stir it all together no kneading rest , folds in bowl , rise in the pan and bake. Its a fast moving dough and extremely reliable and easy for sandwiches and toast.

I will tag you about the tahini this week. 🙏

Eating a colorful diet here!

@Sueb20 looks delicious . I can identify the beans so the slow cooker is the way to go evidently. I don’t have one . Glad the beans worked out.

We like this tofu a lot. The recipe is vegan, but you can use regular milk, etc.

Try freezing the block of tofu first. It makes it meatier and not slimy.

Almond Rosemary Lemon Crusted Tofu

That tofu looks interesting! I will try it.

@hhireno, we made the Moroccan quinoa salad to go with some grilled salmon last night, and it was delicious.

Trail, The directions said to cook the beans for 4-6 hours, and I turned them off at 4 hours. I think they probably would have been mush at 6 hours!

@Sueb20 - did you presoak or just put in slow cooker? I have some arriving this week and I'm very excited to try them. I love all kinds of beans and add them to lots of recipes, so I'm eager to see if these taste different enough for me to go beyond the ease of the can.

Not a recipe, but a tip for those of us who are trying to get more berries in our diets. Serious Eats did a comparison of various ways to clean strawberries. LINK

Cleaning and Storing Strawberries: Step-by-Step Instructions

• Fill a large bowl with hot water (roughly 110ºF to 130ºF or 43ºC to 54ºC)
• Add strawberries and submerge them, swooshing them gently to wash for 30 seconds.
• Drain, picking out any berries showing damage.
• Transfer to a salad spinner lined with paper towels or place them in an even layer on a tray lined with paper towels. Dry the berries by spinning them in the salad spinner or by letting them air-dry on the tray.
• Transfer to a breathable container, like the one they came in, or a deli container with holes punched in it.
• Refrigerate.

I do mine this way now and I can confirm they last much longer. DD washes tons of strawberries every week and she agrees.

btw, the same method is not good for blueberries. Serious Eats found that blueberries should be washed just before using/eating. LINK

Lego mom, I rinsed the beans, then:

I made the whole bag, so now I need to figure out what to do with the rest of the beans I didn’t use for the chili. I might make a tex-mex bowl with beans, veggies, and rice.

Thank you @Sueb20!

For easy lunches with black beans, I like a baked sweet potato stuffed with black beans and some salsa. Or I’ll add them to a mexican or southwestern type bagged salad.

Let’s have some recipes WITHOUT beans.

Ever since Sue said her DH has avocado toast every day, I am on a kick

@Sueb20 glad theyvturned out. I am very conscientious about reading reviews… usually. I ordered 6 bags a couple years ago when the cooking forum was going crazy over Rancho Gordo beans. I always quick soak boiling 1° or slow soak overnight. Both caused over ooked beans , in at least one case after 1 hr cooking after presoak! Yikes. I tried several methods , read reviews and discovered I was not alone. Old school cooks who soak/ cook are likely to have mush.

I don’t need the aggravation for $6-7.50#. I get great local dried beans now so I’m not tempted by RG. Your dinner looked wonderful. c

I got inspired by Sueb’s DH’s avocado toast too. I bought smoked salmon to go on mine.

We have avocado toast with smoked salmon for breakfast quite frequently (probably too often!). So good.

I never presoak or one hour soak dry beans. Cover with water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook incovered until done. Check and add water if needed, stirring occasionally. I prefer my beans on the stovetop, not a in Crock Pot.

The newer the package of dry beans, the quicker they will cook.

I ike avocado toast with an egg, or pumpkin seeds. Never cared for lox etc

One thing that surprises is me is that most discussions I see about the MIND diet still include red wine daily! Yeah, no.

Tonight I am going to make roasted carrots with labneh and dukkah, a new recipe for me but something I have had out a few times.

For your next roasted carrot recipe, try Dorie Greenspan’s Sweet & Smoky Roasted Carrots. LINK One of the women in our cookbook club made them when we cooked from Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie. Everyone loved them!!

@bbstx where do you get smoked salmon? what brand? We looked at online places for sockeye as it has highest omega 3 but always mixed reviews. would love a reliable source.🙏

I just pick it up at the grocery. It isn’t fancy, but it is adequate. I live in a tiny rural town, so almost no choices. I got a store brand, but it is the upscale division of the store brand. 😁

It's hard to find good smoked salmon at the grocery stores. We aren't big on the sockeye. I grew up on nova scotia (lox type) salmon, so that's what I like. And packaged, it's so uneven. Strangely, we've had the best luck at Costco, with their house brand. But even that's inconsistent, too.

We eat the sliced, not the canned smoked salmon. But for Christmas I got my husband a gift box of different tinned fish, and included is this:

It will either be great, or horrid, I think. We are working through the tins, and haven't gotten to it yet.

I keep seeing that company. I'm tempted.

@bbstx, I really wanted to make the Dukkah, in part for the nuts. But I think I will follow your recipe and add pistachios on top. Yum!

@bbstx i just got some honey smokedsalmon at the grocery 8 oz filet hot smoked so has firmer texture . will report back

@sas95, I first heard about Fishwife on a How I Built This (Guy Raz) podcast. It is very interesting listening. None of the groceries here carry that brand. I just checked my smoked salmon. You would turn your nose up. 😁 It is sockeye. Wild caught, cold smoked.

@mtnrdredux_gw adding the pistachios sounds good.

@Sueb20, apparently you are not the only one who thinks tomatoes are sweet! 😂

they're in the oven!

The wedding of the woman who founded Fishwife was featured in the NYT fairly recently and the story of the brand is pretty interesting. From what I've read, the rap on this company seems to be that it is expensive for what it is, and that you're paying for marketing/packaging. Well, the packaging is pretty! The thing that really sold me on the gift was that I could also buy these special tinned fish tongs from Japan from the site. So practical!

Today’s lunch, which I threw together in a microwaveable bowl right after breakfast and will heat up for lunch, mostly culled from various leftovers: rice, black beans, a little bit of chicken, broccoli, and a little corn.

Sas, Coco Larkin, a cook on Instagram, uses tongs/tweezers like that for almost everything. I have a serious case of tweezer envy!

Oh that is my kind of lunch, Sue ... yum! (I havent eaten yet today so it sparked me to get up and go make lunch!)

Also, Smitten Kitchen shared a number of bean recipes today in her newsletter -- do you still have blackbeans? There is a bb taco recipe and also a bb-vegetable bake. I didnt look too closely but I do find her recipes pretty reliable!

Love Smitten Kitchen!

The carrots were a tad spicier than id like, but yummy all the same! I also had grilled chicken breast and green beans, that nutritionally poor black sheep of the bean family.

Interesting about the carrots being spicy. I am a total weenie when it comes to spice and I do not recall them being spicy. Did you use sweet or hot paprika? Was it fresh?

AHA! I just re-looked at the recipe. I’ll bet it was the cayenne. I always cut cayenne in half in a recipe. I’ll bet the woman in our club who made them did the same.

Green beans are about the only bean that I will eat consistently.

Did y’all get the NYT Well newletter today? The topic was ”How to Eat Healthy in 2026”

Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen and Kenji Lopez-Alt started a podcast called The Recipe. I really really enjoyed it. I don’t know how many episodes there were, but IIRC there haven’t been any new ones since the summer. I keep hoping they will revive it.

Love them both, will have to look for that podcast!

I used the suggested amount of cayenne, and smoked paprika. Between those two seasonings, it reminded me of the taco seasoning mix i make, Alton Brown's Love Potion #9 (its actually Taco Potion #19 but we call it Love Potion #9).

Green beans are my favorite vegetable. They're pretty mediocre on the nutrition chain as vegetables go, but at least they're healthy. The carrots look great!

@Funkyart, did you make your paella over the holidays, and if so, how did it turn out?

I did! It was a hit ... not as pretty as I had hoped but it was good. Even better the second day. Our guest especially loved it. I will try another recipe next time but really, I think what I was missing was a sunny day and freshest summer veggies.

I also love green beans -- while not a nutritional powerhouse, they do have fiber and I loooove them with lemon, oregano and a touch of parm.

I also love roasted carrots and cayenne on any sweet veggie. I will give the recipe above a try too.

Ever have roasted green beans? I love them, and I am usually meh about green beans.

Roasted green beans are great. Our favorite ways to do them are:

1. Roasted

2. Braised in tomato sauce

3. The NYT Cacio e Pepe Green Beans recipe

Dinner tonight : Green lentil curry with vegetables, basmati rice , homemade yogurt and fresh tomato cilantro salsa. ( a mix of ethinic dishes ) Trailrunner

For dinner tonight, I am making the first recipe posted above - French Onion White Bean Soup. I decided to caramelize my onions ahead of time. Did you know that if you forget your onions but the stove is on low enough that they will caramelize and then they will dehydrate? 🙄

I made the spicy black bean soup recipe last night and it was really good and so easy. My salsa verde was a little too salty, so I’ll have to check that next time. It would also be really easy to cut in 1/2 which I wish I would have done since it’s just me and DH.

My rancho gordo beans get delivered today 🎉

@legomom23, I bought enough to make a half-recipe. Haven’t gotten around to it yet. Thanks for the tip on tasting the salsa verde for saltiness.

I follow this person on Insta and his recipes always look delicious. I love minestrone so I’m going to try this.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTh8DhojaC_/?igsh=MTByZHo0OWlkdWJpaA==

I had some leftover spicy black bean soup over a baked sweet potato and it was delicious!