Stocking up for meatless meals

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I spent $68 today on my weekly run to Costco in Hackensack -- all of it on produce, fish and non-meat items that will help us keep our pledge to eat meatless meals. (See earlier post, "We take the pledge at Wondee's")


I brought home a 13-pound carton of California navel oranges ($8.99), wild-caught Canadian flounder fillets ($8.49 a pound), all-vegetable patties ($10.89 for 14), organic edamame ($4.99 for 24 ounces), gourmet fingerling potatoes ($6.99 for five pounds), organic salad mix ($4.49), herbicide-free tomatoes ($4.99), strawberries ($4.99 for two pounds), lemons ($6.49 for five pounds) and bananas ($1.32 for three pounds).

I saw Glatt kosher, vegan falafel for about $7 (two pounds), but thought that was overkill. Falafel is made of chickpeas (photo) and spices. Who needs it both kosher and vegan? I could probably do better on the soybeans at H Mart.

Last night, we sauteed two pounds of wild-caught shrimp that had been marinated in red wine, garlic, red-pepper flakes and salt, and served it with yellow rice and organic black beans, which I heated up and seasoned with lots of spices. I also had a salad of organic greens. Very satisfying.

Tonight, we are having a vegetarian meal imported from India by Target, with rice, bread and salad. But Costco was out of Asian Indian bread, so we'll eat Syrian bread. Tomorrow night, we'll fry the flounder I bought today.

Tossing the guacamole

In preparing dinner last night, I had second thoughts about serving guacamole from 2005 I found in the back of the freezer. See post, "What's in your freezer?"

I just now tossed the package into the garbage.

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But I did serve two other side dishes with antibiotic-free Australian shoulder lamb chops that were quick, easy and nutritious -- Middle Eastern fingerling potato salad and collard greens with garlic.

The multicolored potatoes came in a 5-pound bag from Costco. The salad is quick to prepare, but boiling  about three cups of potatoes, which I cut up, took about 20 to 25 minutes. You could do that while the chops are roasting in the oven. After draining the potatoes and running cold water over them, I added:
 
Juice of one big lemon
Two to three ounces of extra-virgin olive oil
Cumin, allspice, Aleppo pepper and salt to taste
Toss and serve

I washed and cut up the collard greens (from H Mart), then blanched them for a few minutes in boiling, salted water. (I have found that if you don't first blanch fresh greens, spinach and similar items, they turn brown.) Using tongs, I transferred the greens to a pan in which I had heated heated extra-virgin olive oil and dehydrated garlic chips, sauteeing them for another four or five minutes. Then I turned off the fire and covered the pan to let the greens steam until I served them.

The only problem, my wife said, is that I didn't make enough. My son thought they needed salt.