Today is Good Friday, the last Friday of Lent – which means it’s time to wrap up this year’s Lenten Friday series. I hope you’ve enjoyed the vegan meal ideas I’ve shared over the last six weeks! I’m closing out this year’s posts with a great recipe for the meal I struggle with most on Lenten Fridays – lunch.
For me, breakfast is always easy. Dinner is always well planned. Lunch, though? Lunch is always just grabbing whatever – and not usually plant based in this house so vegan lunches have been lackluster at best.
This salad, though, was the best lunch I had during Lent this year hands-down. It doesn’t take long to make, but the elements are also perfectly meal-prep friendly if you want to make it ahead. The warm, bbq chickpeas paired with all my favorite barbecue-inspired flavors (including dill pickles!) was such a satisfying mid-day meal.
You’d think the fact that we’re all home with no real schedule would make lunch easier, but we’re finding that is so not the case. By the time lunch rolls around, I’m always scrambling and, of course, going out to grab something just isn’t an option right now.
To remedy the chaos, I’m trying to prep my lunches ahead. Salad jars are my favorite lunch prep – and these buffalo chicken ones are my current obsession.
We have a few more weeks of summer here, so I haven’t quite wrapped my head around back-to-school. We’re entering a brave new world this year – Kindergarten! – and I’m not ready to give up our relaxed summer schedule.
I know a lot of our friends are starting to head back, though, and I’ve gotten quite a few requests for easy back-to-school dinners. This dinner is perfect – easy, but still full of the fresh flavors of the season.
This dump-and-bake pasta couldn’t be easier – you don’t even have to pre-cook the pasta! We used leftover grilled chicken, but you could use a rotisserie chicken too. This is also easily made vegetarian by skipping the chicken and using vegetable broth instead.
A few minutes to chop and assemble and then your hands are free to help with homework or spend some quality time with the little ones who have been at school all day!
One of the things I love about being part of a CSA farm is that I’m learning a lot about how to prepare food. Like, last year I got schooled in sweet corn. Do you cook it? Then you’re doing it wrong!
Fresh from the field corn is so, so good raw. One day when we were there, they taught the kids how to pick and husk the corn in the field, and told them to try it raw. It’s even sweeter raw, and the kids gobbled it up. For the rest of the summer, it was their snack of choice and I didn’t get a chance to cook another ear!
This easy salsa uses farm-fresh sweet corn. If you have a local source, that’s your best option. We love this with chips, but it’s also great tucked in burritos and to top tacos.
Fresh Corn Salsa (a Kate’s Recipe Box original) Makes about 2 cups
3 large ears of sweet corn, cleaned and cut off the cob
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. lime juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Stir together the corn, pepper, onion and cilantro.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Pour over the corn and toss to coat.
Looking for more #farmersmarketweek inspiration? Here is what my fellow bloggers are cooking up today!
