I wanted to concentrate on quick weeknight meals this week. The weather is so nice these days I've been wanting to maximize outdoor time in the evenings. Canadian Living and Chatelaine both have monthly quick & easy recipes so that’s where I started my hunt for meal ideas.
Recipe Quick Links
Monday
Lunch – No lunches. I had lunch plans and was out Sunday night for supper club with the girls (Brooklyn Warehouse – excellent!) so I passed on packing a lunch for Dave and took the night off. I finished off a bottle of wine and watched the season finale of Amazing Race instead.
Supper – Pork Chops with Hazelnut Green Beans. This meal was quick, on the table in under 30 minutes. It was also easy in that it didn’t require any advanced cooking skills. However, it did require a bit of chopping, measuring, tending to… and for me that coincided with Marin wanting a movie and snack and to tell me all kinds of important things. And to be honest I don’t think the sauce for the pork chops added much to the meal. The green beans were good, always nice to have a new way to dress them up. Marin found them too ‘spicy’ though (garlic).
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| Orange Glazed Pork Chops with Hazelnut Green Beans. Photo by Ryan Brook/TC Media via http://www.canadianliving.com |
Tuesday
Lunch – Tofu Noodle Stir-Fry. Again this meal was quick and easy to prepare but required constant hands on time. No biggie because I was making it in the evening when I was happy to be cooking but keep that in mind if you’re preparing it for a supper. I wouldn’t rant and rave about this dish, I’ve made Asian salads and stirfrys I prefer. But it was good. I typically use peanuts, the cashews were treat.
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| Tofu Noodle Salad Photo by Ryan Brook/TC Media via http://www.canadianliving.com |
Supper – Springtime Colorburst Chicken Salad. This was the winner this week. Dave and I both really loved it. This is another quick, yet hands on meal but at a more relaxed pace than the Pork Chops. I got the chicken on the grill and then Dave arrived home just in time to keep an eye on that. Then I poured a glass of wine and assembled the salad. It was a really nice light meal. Unfortunately Chatelaine appears to have started putting some recipes in a protected area on their website (you need an account to log in). So I’m copying out the recipe but unfortunately this might be one of the last Chatelaine featured recipes.
Springtime Colorburst Salad
· Pound the thickest part of 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts until they are even thickness. Brush with 1 tsp of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill on medium heat. Let stand for 5 minutes and then slice into strips.
· Dressing – whisk ¼ cup of olive oil with 3 Tbsp of lemon juice, 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard (I would start with 1 Tbsp and then adjust to taste), ¼ tsp sugar
· Arrange salad with arugula (I used spring mix), chicken, thin slices of beet, shallots (used green onion) and radish, segments of naval oranges, slices of avocado and sprinkle of pepitas (pumpkin seeds). Drizzle with dressing.
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| Springtime Colorburst Salad Photo by Roberto Caruso via http://www.chatelaine.com |
Wednesday
Lunch -- Asian Stir-Fry. Leftovers. Since I had no lunch to prepare Tuesday night I made a batch of Very Berry Muffins. They are "berry" good!
Supper – McHappy Day! Yup, you read that right. We went to McDonald’s for supper. It was beautiful outside, I was late getting home and it was McHappy Day… so I juggled the menu around and we headed over to support Ronald McDonald House. And I’ll gladly admit I enjoyed every bite!
Thursday
Lunch – Steak Salad. This was part of the juggle. Steak was on the menu for Wednesday night and I wanted to grill it while it was nice out because the forecast was calling for rain, rain, and more rain in the days ahead. So we grilled the steak and threw it on a salad for lunch.
Supper – Salmon Cakes and Zucchini Fingers. This is not the first time I’ve had these salmon cakes on the menu. I’ve tried a few salmon cake recipes and I keep coming back to this one. What I really love is that it’s easily prepared ahead of time so it makes for a great week night meal. For the zucchini – I sliced it into fingers, dipped each finger in egg (slightly whisked) and then panko and baked at 450 for about 20 minutes. I threw a few mushrooms on too – prepared the same way. The zucchini was good with the dip from the salmon cake recipe.
Friday
Lunch – Ham & Cheese “Lunchmate”. One of my all-time favorite lunches! Ham slices (I buy Maple Leaf Naturals), Havarti cheese, Triscuit's (low-sodium to offset at least a little bit of the sodium in the ham!) and lots of veggies and dip. This is a quick to prepare lunch and I just really enjoy it.
Supper – Fruity Creamy Crostini & Salad. I thought this looked like an easy supper that would fit the “Convenience Food Friday” bill. It was definately easy, took less than 20 minutes to throw together and I have to say it was pretty good too. For the salad I did mixed greens and herbs, beets, plums, pumpkin seeds and leftover dressing from the spring salad. The crostini would make a great appetizer for a dinner party or potluck.
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| Fruity, Creamy Crostini Photo by Roberto Caruso via http://www.chatelaine.com |
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