Fruit and Veggie Surplus?

I always have fruits and vegetables on hand, always! Sometimes I overbuy because everything just looks SO fresh and SO yummy. I love color in my dishes and fruits and veggies always seem to do the trick for that. What’s pleasing to the eye, is pleasing to the tastebuds. Again, to reiterate, you can always freeze these items at their peak of freshness for later on. Breakfasts, lunch, dinner, juices, snacks, soups, sauces, what you can do with your extra or scraps of fruits and veggies are endless, literally.

What’s at Stake?
Cabbage Steaks….

Another quarantine dish made was some roasted cabbage steaks. This dish did not make us miss protein at all. We go in waves of meat and no meat, not sure why…but we do. This is a new fav vegetarian meal for us. This was easy, delicious, quick, and beautiful! All I did was roast the cabbage and tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper at 400 ° for 15-25 mins depending on thickness of your cuts until they are tender and tomatoes are slightly bursting. I topped the cabbage with caramelized onions (olive oil, salt, and balsamic vinegar, added water while they simmered so they did not burn) that I prepared while the vegetables were roasting, and then served my veggies with a side of VEGGIES! Sauteed green beans with garlic made this feel like a faux steak dinner dish. Loved every single bite of this pretty, pretty plate.

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Next up…

Remember when I said we go in waves of meat and no meat? Here we had some sirloin steak from the freezer that was defrosted to make this quick and easy cleanup dish. I like to marinade defrosted steaks for taste purposes, this one was just a store-bought marinade that I enjoy. I defrosted the steak, then marinaded for 30 mins or so. While I preheated my oven for the vegetables (again my veggie surplus clean out) I kept the marinating steak on the counter to come to room temperature before I cooked them.

I roasted broccoli, cabbage, bell pepper, zucchini, and onions. After they were roasted, I put pepper jack cheese on the broccoli and broiled to get nice and crispy. Then after browning the sirloin on all sides until cooked through, I just topped the steak with fresh tomatoes and served the dish over an avocado crema that was out of this world. For the avocado crema, I used the food processor to blend get this, avocado…champagne vinegar, garlic, olive oil, salt, and some filtered water to thin it out. I love champagne vinegar…That’s it! I used one cast-iron skillet, my food processor, and a baking sheet. Easy peasy!

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Still on the Extra Veggie Phase…

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Some more ideas when you don’t know what to do with all the vegetables you bought?? Make guac ( my husband makes the best guac, I don’t even try) or other dips…dip your veggies into said guac and dips.

I also love to make soups. My husband likes chunky soups. So I chop everything up in larger pieces and either crock-pot or simmer on the stove. I prefer more creamy soups so I roast anything with olive oil, salt, and pepper then throw it in a blender with stock. I like the creamy consistency but I will also add hunks of avocado or other veggies, rice, beans, crunchy tortillas, and other items like that to make it more of a MEAL vs a great side dish to a veggie sandwich which is also pictured.

Everything tastes delicious between two slices of bread. I like to layer my veggie sandwiches with honey mustard, avocado, onion, tomato, jalapenos, arugula, cucumber, whatever I have! So good! It’s a perfect lunch for me, OR breakfast with an egg on avocado toast.

Are you tired of me yet?

Wow, I have tried to keep this from getting too long so I guess I will quit while I am ahead.
These dishes have been great while being in quarantine. Cooking is a great way to get up and moving around instead of binge-watching shows and procrastinating on household chores and projects. That being said…go ahead and binge-watch and procrastinate on household chores while your meal is in the slow-cooker 😉 Enjoy the time you’re having either alone or with the ones you love over a good meal, you deserve it!