salad

Not so long ago I couldn’t imagine being satisfied by and actually enjoying a meal that consisted of a salmon burger dressed with nothing but a grainy mustard and a robust salad on the side. These days, it seems that the things that I crave the most are the least complicated, which doesn’t always make for the most exciting food blogging, lol. Nonetheless, simple and mundane can also be tasty and picture-worthy.

Yesterday’s lunch: Salmon burger on these fabulous 100% stone-ground whole wheat rolls that I picked up at Shop Rite and a tossed salad in an obnoxiously large bowl.

I put some very stubborn avocado on top–it didn’t want to come out of its skin! As if parts of it weren’t ripe enough. Oops! I’m still alive, so no harm done. hehe

LOVE these rolls! Very simple ingredients: whole wheat flour, yeast, water–no preservatives, so I have to freeze them right away or they’ll be moldy within 24 hours. I learned that the hard way, lol. The nutritional facts say 100 calories for 1 unit, 6 units per bag, but I weighed them to verify the weight and each “unit” was actually 1 and a half servings. No big deal, but a little deceptive if you are going by volume and not weight. This is my favorite kind of lunch (or breakfast, or dinner–lol).

This morning I decided to open one of the three packages of tempeh I’ve had in the fridge since… forever, and use them up before they expired. The first time I tried tempeh, I didn’t like it–at all! But since then my taste buds have matured and become much more tolerant towards a variety of new tastes and textures. I think tempeh bacon really opened this door for me, LOL. So: I cut the block of 3 grain tempeh in 3 parts and used one for a sandwich.

This picture looks so… green! LOL

In a nonstick pan, I added 1 teaspoon EVOO, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, thinly sliced red onion, and green bell pepper and let it cook down a bit before adding in a chunk of tempeh. I browned the tempeh on each side, then placed it on a whole wheat roll with the peppers + onions. Before I ate it, I put some no salt added mustard on it. Along with a Granny Smith apple, this was a yummy yet unorthodox breakfast, per usual.

Tempeh (fermented soy bean “cake”) has a nutty, bland, and slightly bitter flavor on its own. And while I don’t have much experience eating or cooking it, I hear there are many ways to flavor it. Lots of people eat it straight up raw, but I think I prefer it heated. Who knows, maybe that preference will change in the future like so many other things, lol.

Question: Which foods do you like now that you never dreamed you would have liked 5-10 years ago?

Tagged as: no salt added mustard, salad, salmon burger, sandwiches, tempeh, whole wheat rolls

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