Well, my streak of being boring and lazy continues, even as the weather has somewhat improved in my part of the world. For whatever reason, I still cannot find the motivation or inspiration to get out my knives and pans and actually cook something. At times like these, I essentially have three options.
1) Requiring the barest minimum of effort, I can go out and buy something to eat:
…which is tasty, though not the healthiest or cheapest option. Btw this is a close-up of yucca fries from the Whole Foods hot bar–SO AMAZINGLY GOOD. Like a cross between a french fry and a donut.
2) Also requiring little to no effort, I can have something pre-packaged that I only have to heat and serve:
…also not the healthiest or most economical way to eat.
3) Or I can muster enough gumption to at least assemble something decent to eat! Lately I’ve been trying to shame myself into trying to put something together most days. Some recent examples:
Breakfast
Of course, the ultimate exercise in food assembly is a smoothie. Even on my most apathetic mornings, I can usually find it in me to put things in cup and hit a button.
This one was a lovely cherry-chocolate concoction. I gave myself bonus points for color-coordinating it with my outfit.
Assembly: blend stuff.
This morning I assembled what I am taking the extreme liberty of calling a Breakfast Quesadilla. There is no semblance of queso in this and so the name is based only on its appearance and the fact that a corn tortilla has a vague connection to Mexican food.
Assembly: simply spread on PB&J, add half a sliced banana, then fold over and go.
Lunch
The laziest tofu sandwich of all time, using pre-baked SoyBoy Tofu-Lin tofu (because God knows I’m not baking my own tofu these days), reduced-fat Veganaise (which I am in LOVE with btw), and romaine lettuce, on an Arnold’s whole wheat flax sandwich thin.
Assembly: spread Veganaise on one half of sandwich thin and cover with romaine. Slice one block of Tofu-Lin in half, then in half again, and place it on the romaine. Cover it with the other half of the sandwich thin. Done.
Dinner
Lazy pizza. Everything is storebought except the cheese sauce (I used Jackie’s, which I now just keep on-hand in the fridge at all times).
Assembly: Preheat oven. Spread some sauce around the crust then toss on some toppings (I used jarred roasted red peppers and manzanilla olives). Bake it and then pour cheese sauce on top. Not gonna lie, this was tasty as hell.
Ten-minute (or less) taco salad.
Assembly: Warm up a meatless taco filling (I used Meatless Select…review coming next week). While it’s warming, chop and rinse some romaine. Once it’s warm, put the romaine in a bowl, add taco filling, salsa, sliced avocado or guacamole (I used this two-ingredient one—avocado + NW Elixirs Verde Hott), and cheesy sauce (Jackie’s again). Add taco sauce for dressing and some tortilla strips if desired.
You could use lentils cooked with taco spices as the meatless filling but again, that would require cooking. In the interest of full disclosure, I did actually *make* the tortilla strips in the salad above. This grand culinary endeavor consisted of brushing a corn tortilla with olive oil, sprinkling it with cumin and salt, and sticking it in the oven until I was ready to break it apart and eat it.
I really can’t tell you how I became this lazy. For now I’m just rolling with it, in the hope that once our farmer’s markets open up again, I will be reinvigorated and find some fresh cooking inspiration. Cross your fingers for me!!
A.Cook in the Making 