Eat Well and Easy

Dallas Farmers Markets can help you get an A+ in meal prep this fall

Make one meal stretch this back-to-school season.

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Simplify mealtime: It can be harder than it sounds, especially if there are kids in the family. As back-to-school season ramps up, you want healthy food that’s low maintenance, delicious, and versatile enough for the whole family. This is possible, but the key to having it all starts with your grocery list — and where you shop.

Dallas Farmers Market is the go-to spot for fresh, in-season food, making it easy to incorporate a variety of colors, textures, and flavors into your lunch and dinner menus. Right now you'll find new potatoes, onion varieties, golden beets, fresh cilantro, and all varieties of watermelon and cantaloupe. But remember that the bounty is always changing based on local growing conditions and suppliers' availability, so check back often to find your favorite foods or discover new ones.

When you approach meal prep, think ahead for the next couple of days, and consider the ways your food can pull double or even triple duty. This makes weeknight meals and daily packed lunches faster and much less stressful. For example, you can have grilled chicken or fish with herb-roasted new potatoes for dinner on a Monday, and then portion out servings of the leftover potatoes to use for upcoming meals that week.

Need something for Tuesday’s lunch? Make potato tostadas on corn tortillas with avocados, fresh cilantro, and yellow onions — easy to pop in a Tupperware container and take to the office. This also works for kids’ sack lunches with a few modifications. Add grilled chicken, cheese, or scrambled eggs, and you’ve got a veggie and protein-packed lunch for kids and teens to enjoy. Bonus: They won’t even know how healthy it is.

Use the roasted potatoes again for Tuesday’s dinner by adding roasted beets, olives, fresh herbs, olive oil, lemon juice, goat cheese, and pine nuts over a bed of rotini pasta. Add in the protein of your choosing, and you’ve got a full meal.

If you think there's no way your kids will eat this, try swapping out their least favorite veggie for something they love — ditch the avocado and use sauteed bell peppers, for example

With a little forethought, one dish can get the whole family through multiple meals. Don't be afraid to get creative. Use your favorite cheeses, fruits, veggies, and proteins to change up a dish, or stop by and see what's just arrived at the Dallas Farmers Market that week.

Easy Vegan Potato Tostadas
Adapted from I Love Vegan
Yield 8-10 tostadas

Ingredients
1.5 lb. bag of any small potatoes
1.5 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 lime, juiced
8-10 corn tortillas
Canola oil or other neutral-tasting vegetable oil, for frying

Recommended toppings
Cholula or other Mexican hot sauce
Lettuce, shredded
Tomato, chopped
Avocado, sliced
Red onion, chopped
Cilantro
Lime wedges

Directions
Use already prepared potatoes, or add raw potatoes to a large pot of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat.

Chop the onion and mince the garlic for the potato filling. Then prepare toppings of your choice.

Once the pot of potatoes begins to boil, cook them for 15 minutes or until the largest potato is fork tender. Drain potatoes and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Cut potatoes into quarters.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the potatoes and salt, chili powder, paprika, and chili flakes. Mix well to season the potatoes evenly. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 12 minutes. Add lime juice and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning. Fill tortillas and enjoy!

For tips on frying tortillas, click here.

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Sip and savor

La Maison Bleue brings artful matcha drinks to new Carrollton cafe

Photo courtesy Le Maison Bleue

Saying Le Maison Bleue is "beverage focused" doesn't quite do the cafe justice.

A little cafe with a formidable fandom acquired during a six-year stint in Fairview is opening in Carrollton: La Maison Bleue, known for its Japanese teas, matcha drinks, and artful presentations, is preparing to open at 2700 Old Denton Rd., Ste. 112, in a mixed-use development with The View Carrollton condominiums.

Co-owner Jay Cho says he has not set the opening date but is “aiming to start a soft opening phase” in a week or two. At the moment, he's watching contractors coming in and out of the building, he says, and they're working hard — as are he and founder Anna Cho — to prepare the place for guests.

La Maison Bleue is primarily a beverage shop, but its drinks are often more like desserts or works of art. For example, a colorful layered azuki red bean matcha zenzai, topped with toasted mochi dango, looks and tastes like a bespoke creation by Anna, made with all-natural and thoughtfully sourced ingredients.

Her concoctions are almost too lovely to drink. Another standout that looks as good as it tastes is her Kuro Mitsu Hojicha with Japanese black sugar, matcha or roasted hojicha, and Le Maison’s signature cream.

The menu also includes:

The Sakura Cream Matcha, this year’s seasonal matcha, made with real sakura from Japan and a soft pink cream finish representative of the titular Sakura, the cherry blossom.
Strawberry Latte, made with fresh strawberries, milk, and their signature cream, soft and lightly sweet and very fruity.
Raspberry Yuzu Tea, made with tart raspberry and bright yuzu, refreshing and balanced.
Biscoff Cream Latte, heavy on the store’s signature cream, Biscoff crumble, with an espresso base.

When Anna Cho came to Dallas, she saw chic, high-quality coffee and boba or matcha tea shops at every turn, she told NBC5 in an interview.

What she didn’t see, she says, was a “quiet, intentional Japanese tea experience built on real ingredients.” So that's what she made.

The concept began as a Farmers Market stand, where she and co-founder Jay worked hard and steady, next opening a spot inside the Revolving Kitchen food hall in Fairview. That closed last month so they could prepare to open the Carrollton store.

Today, they are finalizing renovations, awaiting a health inspection, and interviewing baristas and bake staff. Jay says that they will post updates about the opening on the cafe's Instagram page.

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