Variety for Satiety

I like food (duh). Probably more than I should – to the point where my biggest food related struggle over the years is overeating.  Somehow I am physically capable of eating way more than I need to.  Mostly out of boredom, and not being satisfied with my meal.

While I love my simple meals (eggs and sweet potatoes, squash, salads, roasted veg, tofu & tempeh, grain bowls etc.), they often leave me wanting more.  Which often leads to more snacking to satisfy the mind.  Which is truly unnecessary.

Solution? Variety.

I’m not one of those people who can eat the same things day after day and be perfectly happy with it.  Believe me, there are many days when I with this could be the case.  It would certainly make my life simpler – but that’s just not me, and I’m not at a point in my life where I can work to re-train myself to live a certain way.  Plus, I hardly want to.

So here’s my little “goal” for myself: Make at least one more involved recipe per week.  Cook for real, don’t just grab meal bits here and there.  I’ve already started:

Pasta (I know, I’m so not a pasta person, but the craving for this recipe hit) with soysage (Trader Joe’s vegan italian sausage-less sausage.  I would have bought real turkey sausage, but my roommate keeps kosher so that was a no-go) and broccoli rabe or broccolini.

served with stomachache-free cheese. (these are not bad…)

I also used kamut spirals instead of semolina orecchiette for a little added nutrition.  The recipe made 4 servings, so I had plenty of leftovers for the week.

Which made for easy, tasty, quick lunches.  The fact that this dish is something I would hardly ever make for myself left me completely satisfied.

Next, I tried my hand at broiling some tilapia in my awful gas broiler.  FAIL.  The fire is way too hot and close to the food.  The fish still tasted delicious though.  Before roasting I spread some dijon mustard on the filets, and sprinkled with smoked paprika, salt and pepper.

Served with millet cooked in 1/2 water 1/2 veg broth (got that from Mom!), and simple side salad with lettuce and cucumbers.

Looks awful.  Tastes delicious.  Replacing half the water with broth when cooking grains makes them so much more flavorful without doing much.  Once again, variety = satiety.

I even made enough to re-heat and eat for dinner another night!  Certainly makes cooking a breeze.  Served with crispy kale.

The last recipe I tried was one I’ve wanted to try for ages: Angela’s Ultimate Vegan Lentil Loaf.  And BOY am I glad I did.  I made a few changes to the recipe to simplify it a bit, but I didn’t get it to my liking just yet.

Again, looks horrible.  I was also a little over-eager and didn’t let it cool long enough.

I tasted one thick slice for dinner, served with lightly steamed greens drizzled in tahini.  I sliced up the rest and stored it in the freezer for easy dinners somewhere down the line.  The loaf was SO tasty, although if you don’t like the texture of meatloaf-type things, I can imagine you may not like it so much.

Once again, the novelty of the recipe left me satisfied.

So, there you have it.  I’m hoping I can stay on this cooking train in the future, but I have a feeling that things are about to get very busy for me, and I may not want to make time for cooking. In that case, I’m going to also make an effort to cut down my grocery bill so I have a little room in the budget for take-out or a hot bar meal every now and then.

Are you satisfied eating the same foods over and over again?

What was your latest kitchen experiment?