June Community Meal Prep!

We had a full house for June's Community Meal prep! Everyone so kindly brought their small list of ingredients, and together we created meals for the week that we all could take home! We loved our special guests from FTR's Capoeira class, too!

FTR Community Members love Meal prep!

Our star ingredients were:

Zucchini: This is SUCH a versatile vegetable that is packed with Vitamin C and fiber! It has 2.4 grams of protein per zucchini and lots of water to keep you hydrated. Tonight, we spiralized it and used it's shell as a tortilla!

Corn: One of the high-protein vegetables, corn provides our bodies with iron, magnesium, and phenomenal fiber! It's no wonder it's a staple of many diets around the world!

Garbanzo Beans (chickpeas): Chickpeas are beans that are a great source of protein, manganese, folate, and other phytonutrients to keep us healthy and thriving! They are delicious mashed, stewed, or roasted and can be a staple in a vegetarian's diet!

Quinoa: a repeat of a star ingredient from another meal prep, because, well, it's THAT much of a star! A high-protein grain, full of fiber (are we seeing a pattern yet with our ingredients?) and iron to keep us energized and feeling good!

Here's how we overlapped these ingredients to create delicious and nutritious meals for our week:

Falafel

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 19-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

4 scallions, trimmed and sliced

1 egg

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 tablespoon dried

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

 6- ½-inch whole-wheat pitas, halved and warmed, if desired

Tahini sauce

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

2 tablespoons tahini, (see Ingredient note)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Place chickpeas, scallions, egg, flour, oregano, cumin and salt in a food processor. Pulse, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides, until a coarse mixture forms that holds together when pressed. (The mixture will be moist.) Form into 4 patties.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add patties and cook until golden and beginning to crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip and cook until golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes more.

To prepare sauce & serve: Meanwhile, combine yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, parsley and salt in a medium bowl. Warm pitas, if desired. Divide the patties among the pita halves and serve with the sauce.

Zucchini and Corn frittata

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 ears sweet corn

2 large zucchini, spiralized

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 ounces shredded cheese (I used both Mozzarella and Swiss)

8 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. While the veggies saute, cut the corn kernels off the cob. Add them to the pan and continue to saute until the veggies are soft, 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Once the mixture has cooled for a few minutes, stir in the basil, oregano, salt, cheese, milk and the beaten egg. Line a pie pan (9-inch or larger) with parchment paper or just grease a pan with nonstick spray. Transfer the mixture to the pan. Arrange the top so the zucchini slices lay flat and look nice. Top with a little extra cheese for looks, cover with greased foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes to brown the top. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before cutting into slices.

Chicken Zucchini Boats

Serves 4-6

2 cups cooked and shredded chicken (from about 1 lb)

4 medium zucchini, sliced in half through length*

1.5 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion (be sure they are chopped fine or they won't cook through)

2 cloves garlic

1 (15 oz) tomato sauce

1 Tbsp ancho chili powder

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

2/3 cup water

1.5 tsp cornstarch

1 cobs corn, cut off cob

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a spoon, scoop centers from zucchini while leaving a 1/4-inch rim to create boats. Brush tops and bottoms with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil and place in two baking dishes (I used a 13 by 9 and a 9 by 9). Bake in preheated oven until zucchini is nearly tender, about 20 - 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once hot add onion and saute 3 - 4 minutes until soft. Add garlic and saute 10 seconds longer. Remove from heat, pour in tomato sauce, ancho chili powder, chili powder, cumin and paprika. In a liquid measuring cup whisk together the water and cornstarch until well blended then pour into tomato sauce mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a light boil, stirring frequently. Allow to gently boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in shredded chicken.

Remove zucchini from oven and spoon chicken mixture into zucchini. Sprinkle tops with corn and then cheese blend. Return to oven and bake 5 - 10 minutes longer until cheese has melted and zucchini is tender. Serve warm topped with diced tomatoes and cilantro, 

Caprese Quinoa Salad

Serves 4

1 cup quinoa

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

8 ounces mozzarella, diced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced

2 tablespoons walnuts

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, avocado and walnuts. Stir in balsamic vinegar and olive oil; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Zucchini “Zoodles” with Homemade Pesto

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Basil-pumpkin seed pesto

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves (arugula works, too)

1/4 cup kale or spinach

1/2  cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1/3 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Salt, to taste, about ½ tsp

Zucchini noodles

3 large zucchini

Salt

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

½ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Fresh basil leaves, for garnishing

Instructions:

To prepare the pesto:

1.     In a food processor, combine the garlic, basil, kale, toasted pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, lemon and red pepper flakes. Pulse to mix ingredients. Then, add olive oil as it blends until smooth and season with salt, to taste.

2.     To prepare the noodles: Spiralize the zucchini with a spiralizer, or turn the zucchini into noodles with a julienne peeler, or grate the zucchini the long way on a large box grater. Toss the zucchini with pesto until well coated, and season with salt.

Transfer the pesto noodles to a large platter and sprinkle with the cherry tomatoes. Tuck the fresh basil in to the corners to garnish.