Welcome! This is “Staying In,” a Sunday newsletter with recipe ideas for your week ahead. Every other Thursday I also publish a “Going Out” edition where I review a restaurant, bar, or activity here in Portland. Know someone who might like Riley’s Recs? Get your share link here! And don’t forget to check out pdxrecs.com for even more recommendations and follow RR on Instagram at @rileysrecs. Enjoy!
I threw out my back this week. So life has been filled with heating pads, muscle relaxers, and lots of cat cows. Not saying this to garner pity (who doesn’t have back pain these days?) but just to set expectations: I am doing the absolute bare minimum in the kitchen this week.
Meals will be quick. Dishes? Never heard of ‘em. And hello, microwave.
To visualize the goal: My favorite late-night food in college was bean dip. You basically heat refried beans on the stove and add grated cheese and diced avocado. Then use chips to scoop directly from the pot. That’s the kind of energy I’m looking for this week. Maybe it’s the kind of energy you need, too? If not, the RR archive has plenty of recipes worth repeating.
✨ Inspo for the week: beans, avocado, cucumber, and peanut butter ✨
DINNERS
Dumpling and Smashed Cucumber Salad with Peanut Sauce
Chili | Cornbread
Loaded Nachos | Simple Arugula Salad
Silken Tofu with Chili Oil and Soy Sauce | Rice
BREAKFASTS
Queen Green Smoothies
Yogurt and Lemon Curd
DESSERT
10-Minute Microwave Apple Crisp
Notes:
A lot of the recipes use the same ingredients this week. So make sure to double up on beans, avocados, and cucumber.
I might make double the peanut sauce and buy double the tofu and then make a peanut tofu dish for lunch with the leftovers.
Thinking about putting leftover chili on top of the nachos. So crazy….it just might work.
Here’s the recipe for the silken tofu dish, which I’ve featured on RR before. It takes 5 minutes max to make. But if I’m even lazier, I’ll skip this recipe and just douse the tofu in Nong’s Khao Man Gai sauce.
For the arugula salad, make a simple vinaigrette that’s one part champagne vinegar, one part dijon, and two parts olive oil.
Never buy flavored yogurt. Just make your own using Greek yogurt and jelly, curd, or honey. Here’s why.
Dumpling and Smashed Cucumber Salad with Peanut Sauce
Hetty Lui McKinnon | New York Times (Gifted Link)
Since first writing about this recipe, I’ve probably made it ten times. It is SO EASY. Steam frozen dumplings (I prefer Ling Ling), slice and smash cucumbers, make a simple peanut sauce, and you have a filling and tasty meal. It’s so fast that I often make it for lunch in the middle of the work day. If I wanted to make it even easier (which I probably will this week)…I could microwave the dumplings. It’s not preferred, but it’s a Kenji Lopez Alt approved method!
Chili & Cornbread
Chili is not an exact science (but here’s a recipe!). Brown some meat (or not), cook onion and peppers, add tomatoes, spices, beans, and then serve with diced avocado and sour cream. It’s a very forgiving meal, always one pot, and full of protein. Plus, it makes lots of leftovers that can be eaten over the course of a week, frozen for another time, or maybe even dumped on top of nachos.
Also…did you know how cheap Jiffy cornbread is? 59 cents a box. I normally make this Melissa Clark skillet cornbread recipe, but how can I say no to 59-cent boxed cornbread? The ingredients are pretty basic—wheat flour, yellow corn meal, sugar, and lard—and, again, it’s 59 cents. I won’t eat this all the time, but feels like the short-cut I need this week.
Loaded Nachos
I know nachos don’t really need a recipe, but here’s how I’m going to make them:
Heat oven to 425.
Layer (in order): tortilla chips, beans, diced onion, diced Roma tomatoes, and cheese. Repeat with a second layer.
Bake until cheese is melted. About 7-10 minutes. For the rare person, like me, who doesn’t like super stringy cheese, 5 minutes will probably do.
Top with sour cream and guacamole.
Green Smoothie
This is inspired by Kure’s smoothie “Queen Green.” Makes 1-2 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 avocado
Handful of kale
1/2 cucumber, cut into pieces
Two pitted dates
1/2-inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
10-Minute Microwave Apple Crisp
Leah Colins | Serious Eats
Remember when microwave cakes were all the rage? Just put all of the ingredients into a mug and heat? This is a similar concept, but for apple crisp. I have everything I need at home to make this, and it’s better than eating leftover Milk Duds from when I went to see Wicked.
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Hope your back is better ASAP!
I've added ingredients like eggs, sour cream, milk, honey or sometime cheese to the Jiffy corn bread mix to elevate the muffin!