Low Lift Spring Meals

a week's worth of piggybacking ingredients

I keep evolving in real time as a writer//creator here and everywhere. I’m constantly thinking of new things to offer y’all while keeping budget, accessibility, time, energy//spoons, and even desire in mind. I went back to the time when I was a newly single parent and a brand new micro-bakery owner. My kids were home with me full-time when they were 4 & 4 months for 5 months before they were in care outside of me and our home. I would care for them during the day and prep for the bakery after they had gone to sleep. When farmers market season arrived I would wake at 2 am and be home again around 2 or 3 pm, shattered and starving. This is largely what I fed myself and my kids during that time. Minimal prep, ingredients that piggybacked off one another, meals that could be stretched and turned into something new. You get the idea.

Below you will find a week of meals with no label of breakfast//lunch//dinner because Western ideas of when we eat what are dumb at best. Eat them whenever you like, I say. I hope this helps if you need some sturdy go-to’s and if it does, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. These recipe/non-recipes haven’t been shared to food//and in the past and I have decided to keep these seasonal offerings as free-posts as I believe we all deserve accessible food that tastes good.

To prep at the beginning of your week-

No Knead Bread

Before you panic, please don’t. This bread is fool-proof, the bread that I tell all beginner bakers to start with. Ingredients are minimal, labor is low, and the recipe below is a faster version that uses more yeast in case you don’t have time to think too far in advance.

375 grams all purpose flour

1 tsp instant yeast (if you use active-dry you will need to bloom it in a bit of warm, not hot, water with a few pinches of sugar for 15 minutes to activate the yeast)

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 (ish) cups of hot water, not boiling, that you can still stick your finger in without burning yourself. If it’s too hot you’ll kill the yeast. Also, if you live in a humid climate you may need less water so err on the side of less to start.

A bit, few Tablespoons at most, for shaping the dough

Combine all the ingredients minus the water in a large bowl, stir with a fork until well combined.

Add the water, stir again with a spatula until it comes together. It will be a shaggy mess.

Cover with plastic wrap and set inside an open microwave (so that the light is on) if it’s chilly in your house/outside, otherwise on the counter at room temp will do just fine.

Leave it be for three hours.

After three hours it should be puffy. Sprinkle a bit of flour on your work surface and empty out the bowl.

Using a bench scraper, begin by sliding it underneath the dough and folding it on top of itself.

Rotate the dough in a circle after each scoop//fold, and continue this process about 15 times until it begins to resemble somewhat of a structured boule.

Place a piece of parchment paper in the bowl you were using before and sprinkle a bit of flour.

Add the dough to the bowl lined with parchment paper and cover again with plastic wrap. I like to spray the side that is facing the dough with a bit of cooking spray.

Leave it be for about 30-45 minutes until it has risen a bit again.

While the dough is on its second “rise”, place a dutch oven with the lid on inside a cold oven and set the temp to 450 degrees.

After 30-45 minutes or so, carefully remove the dutch oven, remove the lid, and place the parchment with the dough inside.

Cover the pot with the lid again and allow to bake for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes, remove the lid and allow the bread to continue baking for another 10-15 minutes. Check it to see how dark it’s getting at the 10 minute mark.

Once it’s finished baking, grab the sides of the parchment and lift the bread out, setting it on a wire rack to cool. The longer you can resist cutting into it, the better it will be, but please wait at least 30 minutes.

Tada, you made bread.

Jammy Eggs

Jammy eggs are wildly underused and under-appreciated. I’ll spare you my soapbox but seriously, you can eat these with//put them on everything. Don’t like them or can’t eat runny yolks? That’s cool, too. Hard boil them, the sentiment remains. If you choose this route consider slicing them when using them in the ways offered below. Make as many as you and your family like. When I’m using them for multiple meals//people it isn’t unheard of for me to do a dozen at a time.

Fill a large pot halfway with water and set to boil. Add a couple splashes of white vinegar and a couple splashes of vegetable or olive oil to help with peeling.

Once the water is at a rolling boil, knock the heat down to medium/medium high. You want the pot to be boiling while being slightly more gentle as to not crack the eggs.

Using a slotted spoon or a spider (a big ass, flat, wide “spoon” with holes//mesh generally used for frying but comes in clutch so you can lower in several eggs at a time) gently lower the eggs in. Fit in as many as you can/like, but they shouldn’t be resting on top of one another.

Timing-

Super jammy/runny 5 min

A little less 6 min

Jammy-starting-to-harden 7 minutes

Choose your own adventure.

While the eggs are boiling fill a large bowl with water and ice cubes in the sink.

Once you’ve timed them to your preferred doneness, immediately place them into their ice bath and leave them for 5 minutes.

Peel them, and store them in an airtight container. Or don’t peel them all at once if you want to take them on the-go.

Make a Big Ass Pot of Rice

White rice, as you wish. Brown rice if that’s your thing. Just make a pot of it, let it cool, and whack it in the fridge.

Vinaigrette

Just make this and keep it on hand all the time. Its glorious on the salad below, green salads, as a pasta salad addition, or drizzled over a bunch of random veg you’ve cleaned out of your fridge. In fact, while you’re at it, why don’t you just double it now.

6 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Half of a large shallot, minced

1 Tbsp dijon or whole grain mustard

Salt

Fresh cracked pepper

Put it into a glass jar or bowl that has a tightly sealed lid and shake your life away. Season with salt and pepper.

Meal 1: Bean & Roasted Spring Veg Salad

I love this salad that is inspired by/adapted from Samin Nosrat because you can tweak it to suit the seasons. Carrots, some root vegetables such as cauliflower or Brussels sprouts, and this time I used zucchini which is more summer but you get the idea. You could add potato varieties to beef it up more, different squash in the fall, and chopped fresh tomato at the end in the summer. If you want to think long game, consider what will work well in your rice bowls later in the week, and keep the seasoning neutral (olive oil, salt, pepper) so that you can add different/more seasoning when repurposing.

For the veg-

I don’t know how many people you’re feeding so that’s something to consider which is why I am also a fan of non-recipe type recipes. If you know you want to also save some of the roasted vegetables for later in the week factor that in, too. Regardless, consider cook times for each vegetable, that’s about as fussy as this recipe gets. A few handfuls of each? Carrots cook faster than Brussels sprouts, almost by half the time. You see where I’m going here.

Preheat oven to 425

In a big bowl, add your prepared veggies one at a time and consider what shape and size you would like. Bite sized pieces work best. Drizzle liberally with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then transfer them to their own cooking sheet, repeat with the rest of the veg you’re using. Do Not crowd the pan as you want to roast, not steam, your veggies. B sprouts usually take 25 minutes, carrots about 10-15 depending on size, cauliflower or broccoli about 15-20 minutes (I usually let my cauliflower go a little longer) and zucchini takes no time at all, really. 10 minutes, tops. You want them cooked but still have some bite. Consider the fact that you also may be reheating them later.

For the rest of the salad-

Vinaigrette from recipe above

2 cans of white beans or chickpeas, drained (save the bean liquid)

A couple handfuls of cheese that you like. I used feta this time but you could use parm, goat cheese, or mozzarella pearls. As you wish.

A couple handfuls of chopped, fresh herbs such as parsley, dill, mint, cilantro, basil. For this variation I used dill and parsley.

* Consider whether or not you wish to set aside some of the roasted veggies for repurposing prior to assembling your salad

Put the drained beans in the same big bowl you started with. Drizzle with a bit of the vinaigrette and taste for seasoning. Add the veggies and once again, drizzle with some of the vinaigrette until nicely coated, taste for seasoning or if it needs more salt or a squeeze of lemon and if you like it a little saucy, add a bit of the reserved bean liquid.

Add the herbs and cheese if you’re using, taste again not see if it needs a splash more vinaigrette and/or salt and pepper.

Whack it in a bowl or arrange it on a platter if you’re fancy.

You know that bread you baked? It makes a fanatic vehicle for this salad.

Those jammy eggs? Slice one or two and put them right on top, sprinkling them with salt and pepper.

Meal 2: Basil Beef

That pot of rice you made? Bless.

If you don’t eat beef you can easily swap for chicken or shrimp or even sliced extra-firm tofu that you pressed all the moisture out of and pan fried. Make it yours.

This serves 6, so scale it to yourself/home

2 lbs beef tenderloin, thinly sliced about 1/4 inch thick and about 2 inches long (or whatever other protein you’re using)

2 red bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise

2 Tbsp light soy sauce

2 tsp fish sauce

2 Tbsp oyster sauce

1/3 cup chicken/veg stock

2 tsp (packed) brown sugar or coconut sugar

8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 Thai chiles (optional) thinly sliced (omg, wear gloves!)

1 big handful of Thai basil (regular basil works fine if you can’t get Thai or holy basil)

1 handful chopped cilantro for serving if that’s your thing

Rice! From the big ass pot you made!

Combine soy sauce through sugar in a bowl, set aside.

Set a large pan on the stove

Add a splash of vegetable oil and the garlic and chiles while the pan is still cold and set it to medium high. Just when the garlic starts to sizzle (do not let it brown/burn), add the peppers in an even layer, coating with the garlic/chiles and oil.

Let the peppers cook undisturbed for two minutes.

Add the beef/protein and stir well to combine.

Make sure the beef is in an even layer and let it cook for 2 minutes undisturbed before adding the sauce that you made.

Stir and then cook for another 5 minutes until no more pink remains in the beef.

Add the basil, turn the heat to medium low, and allow the basil to wilt.

Serve over rice and with cilantro if using.

* When I don’t feel like having a semi-smokey kitchen or if it’s too damn hot, I will grill steaks until they’re rare, leave them to rest for 15 minutes, thinly slice, and then proceed with adding them to the sauce/pepper mixture.

Meal 3: Avocado (or whatever) toast

The bread you made again! The jammy eggs! Is is breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Who cares. Make yourself some fancy toast. Some of my favorite variations are as follows

• Mashed avocado with a bit of lemon, salt and pepper spread over the toast then piled with greens of some sort (remember that vinaigrette you have?!), layers of tomato especially in the summer, a jammy egg, and then drizzled with chili crisp

• Hummus spread across the toast with sliced of cucumber, tomato, red onion, greens and more jammy egg

• Make an open-faced BEC (bacon//egg/cheese) situation by broiling a slice of cheese on the toast, adding a couple slices of bacon, and then the jammy eggs

Meal 4: Kimchi//Veg Rice Bowls

When the kids went back to their bio dad’s house this is what I ate on repeat throughout the week. No, seriously. It was either this, bagged salad, or cheddar Nut Thins//hummus. In all the ways I cook and love to cook, I have yet to find a consistent desire to really cook for just myself. Plus, back then I was just flat out exhausted. You have a pot of rice, you might’ve saved some of those roasted vegetables that can be tossed in just a bit of sesame oil, and hopefully you have kimchi. If you don’t or if it’s not your thing, you can always skip it or make a cucumber salad with rice vinegar for some freshness-pickle adjacent type thing. I usually assemble mine by adding the rice plus a drizzle of sesame oil and soy sauce then adding my veggies and kimchi. I always, and I mean always, eat it with chili crisp. Maybe you have some basil beef leftover, too…

Meal 5: Pasta e Ceci

Maybe you’re like, “this isn’t very spring of you” which is fair but I live in Denver which means it will snow a couple more times before actual spring is here. Besides, it’s pasta and beans, C’mon.

This is perhaps the only time I actually add the pasta to the dish itself as opposed to cooking it separately which I mention in this post that is all about Kitchen Tips to prevent the pasta from getting soggy. There are exceptions to every rule.

Makes about 6 servings

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely diced

1 medium carrot, peeled and finely diced

1 celery stalk, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 15 oz cans chickpeas

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp tomato paste

Red pepper flake (optional)

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary or 1 Tbsp dried

6 cups broth

Salt

Fresh cracked pepper

2 cups ditalini or other small pasta

Bonus points if you’ve got a parm rind lying around somewhere

A handful of chopped, fresh parsley

In a large pot or dutch oven, add the olive oil and set the temp to medium. Once the oil is shimmering add the onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste, red pepper flake and a pinch of salt.

Allow to cook until the veg begins to sweat then add the garlic.

Toss in the rosemary and reduce the heat to medium low and cook until the veg becomes soft about 10 minutes.

Add the chickpeas including the bean liquid as well as the tomatoes and their liquid.

Simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat until the sauce begins to reduce and thicken.

Add the stock, bring to a low boil, and then knock the heat down again to a simmer, adding the parm rind if using.

Let it simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered, and then add the pasta.

Turn the heat back up so that it’s boiling just a bit but not, like, a full on aggressive boil.

Depending on the pasta shape and size, as well as package instructions, keep an eye on it and start testing for doneness around the 7-8 minute mark.

You want the pasta to be al dente as it will continue to soften in the stew and then even more when it comes to leftovers.

Remove the rosemary sprigs if you used them, and the parm rind if you used that.

Check for seasoning (it’s tomato-y which means you already know I’m adding a splash or two of red wine vinaigrette) adding salt and fresh cracked pepper to your liking.

Serve with grated parm, fresh cracked pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, a bit of parsley, and alongside that bread you still have. Maybe you’ll make a little green salad dressed with the vinaigrette you made.

* I like to stretch this one even further later in the week by adding more broth, chopped greens, and sliced (fully cooked) Italian sausages that I pan fried, to make it more of a soup.

Other notes + ways to utilize these ingredients

The recipe for the bread makes a smaller boule so if you’re feeding more people or want extra, consider doubling the recipe and then baking it for 45 min with the lid on first.

Leftover bread? Make a panzanella or croutons to serve this week or cube and freeze for either at a later time.

Leftover eggs? Egg salad (which gets a bad wrap but I actually love) you can even do a non-mayo//lighter version using the vinaigrette you made and some fresh, chopped dill, and a bit of minced shallot or green onion.

Extra rice? Cook some bacon and reserve some of the fat to fry the rice in. Add some veg and//or chopped greens, and either a fried egg//jammy egg on top, chopped green onion, and chili crisp.

This was a labor of love, and honestly, fun as hell. I hope it serves you and at the very least, gives you some inspiration on ways you can still eat well and balanced when it isn’t fancy. Let’s do this again come summer, hey?

Biggest love,

AR