Weekly Menu. January 25 – January 31, 2021

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Beebamom

Here we are at the end of January, a month that both crawled and sped by like so many months since COVID-19. This week has 3 vegan or vegetarian dinners, 3 seafood, and 1 chicken. For new dishes we are having Chicken Marsala and are trying to cobble together some sort of tuna casserole with some less fattening goo to hold it together. What are you planning this week? When you take the time to plan your week you will find that the shopping, cooking, and eating in healthy manner happen much more easily.

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LFD Chana dal with cauli-rice and kale. 1/23/21

Posted on January 23, 2021 by Beebamom

When we made our Chana dal on Meatless Monday we made extra because John said he wanted to have some for lunch during the week. Since he did not follow through on eating it for lunches, we had plenty of it and rice to have a very easy Leftovers For Dinner (LFD) Saturday.

Chana dal leftovers with cauliflower rice and kale

We added a little more broth to the pot since the split chickpeas had been busy sopping up the liquid in the dish while they waited for us to eat them. I think on Monday I had mixed greens and this time it was straight kale. I did cut the cauliflower rice with a little regular white rice to give it more chew. Once again I finished my bowl with sriracha for a spicy/sweet kick.

And guess what? We still have enough leftover for John to have a lunch or two out of the leftover leftovers!

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Salmon, butternut squash, green beans. 1/22/21

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Beebamom

Pan-roasted salmon, oven roasted butternut squash, and sautéed green beans

As the weekdays approach the weekend, the dinners get easier. As you know John and I cook relentlessly except when we are on vacation (remember vacations?!) By Fridays we are pretty much cooked out and are looking forward to some easy meals. Salmon takes about three minutes in a hot pan so when the vegetables are almost done I tell John “go!” And he quickly cooks the fish. Easy peasey.

I peeled and cubed the butternut squash, tossed it in some olive oil, salt, and nutmeg and roasted it in the oven at 400F for about 40 minutes. I think 35 minutes would have been perfect as some of the pieces came out a little crispy. I left the skin on the bulbous part for the first time and can report that it was fine. The skin is thicker than the surrounding flesh but totally edible.

My technique for the beans is to start them in a little water and a teaspoon or two of butter and some salt. Cover and let them cook for a few minutes until they are almost done. Uncover and the water evaporates and the beans fry a little bit in the butter. Yum!

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Whole grain penne with asparagus and mushrooms. 1/21/21

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Beebamom

Whole grain penne with asparagus and mushrooms

John and I have taken to ordering our groceries online and picking them up at the store in order to avoid the new more transmissible variant of the virus while we are awaiting our vaccines. (Monday!) Normally I would never pick out these very skinny asparagus spears because they are less flavorful than their fatter counterparts. Jacques Pepin has always harped upon the fact that some asparagus comes out of the ground fat and some skinny and it does not mean that the fat ones are less tender or tasty. But skinny asparagus is what I got so I put the whole pound into the pasta.

This is such an easy dinner! The whole thing takes less than one half hour. In the 10 minutes that the pasta is cooking I sautéed the mushrooms, onions, and garlic. When the pasta was al dente I put all my skinny asparagus in with the mushrooms and John poured the drained pasta on top. A little pasta water and a little olive oil, a few stirs over the heat and, presto, our dinner was done.

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Grilled steak Bourguignon. 1/20/21

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Beebamom

As a special treat since it was Inauguration Day we bought a steak that John grilled outside. We served it napped in the leftover mushroom Bourguignon from last week. It was quite spectacular.

Grilled steak mushroom Bourguignon, with roasted new potatoes, and green beans

For my part I made roasted new potatoes which only took about 10 minutes since I had heated a sheet pan up when pre-heating the oven to 450F. They were excellent with the sauce as well. Finally I started some green beans in a little water and a little butter. When the water had evaporated the beans finished themselves in the butter.

Great food, great dinner on a great day.

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Sous vide chicken with vegetables. 1/19/21

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Beebamom

Sous vide chicken breast with chicken mushroom gravy, Brussels sprouts, and green beans with shallots and mushrooms

A little different spin on our classic chicken dinner tonight. Instead of having a protein, a vegetable, and a starch, we opted for two vegetables with our sous vide chicken breast. Not to boast, but the Brussels sprouts were the real ace of the dinner. But it was all good. If your are looking to lose weight or up your vegetable ante, try making two vegetables instead of that higher calorie, carbohydrate laden starch. I admit to preparing a larger amount of vegetable so we would be filled up. if you are satisfied with protein and vegetables this is the dinner for you!

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Chana dal, mixed greens, rice. 1/18/21

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Beebamom

Chana dal (split chickpeas) with a combination of mustard, collard, and kale greens on a bed of white rice and cauliflower rice

Chana dal is a stew of spices, tomatoes, and split chickpeas that we make frequently in our Instant Pot. I posted the recipe in December for the way we make it. We served the Chana dal with a mix of hearty greens that come in a pre-washed combo pack. Rice, pita, or some other Indian bread are the usual accompaniments. For my plateful I used a combination of cauliflower rice and white rice. It is good for soaking up lots of the broth. I also gave my dish a squirt of sriracha for a little more spiciness. As usual this stew came out very yummy and no doubt you will be seeing it again sometime in February.

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BFD, Egg, kale, and refried beans tostada. 1/17/21

Posted on January 17, 2021 by Beebamom

Corn tortilla with refried beans, scrambled egg, wilted greens, salsa, and cherry tomatoes

Sunday’s Breakfast For Dinner was so enjoyable that after I cleaned my plate for the first time, I retooled and made a second tostada. I really enjoyed the contrasting flavors, spiciness from the salsa, bitterness from the wilted greens, and psuedo fatiness from the eggs and refried beans. I am definitely a fan of non-fat refried beans! My dinner also had variation in texture, temperature, and color.

John, who does not need as much excitement in food as I do, made his usual perfect omelet with ham, mushrooms, onions, and cheese.

When you cannot think of what to make for dinner, think eggs! They are so versatile!

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Weekly Menu. January 18 – January 24, 2021

Posted on January 17, 2021 by Beebamom

I would say that this coming week could be called a Classics Week what with classic chicken dinner, pan-roasted salmon, and beef/mushroom Bourguignon. But it is also a little French with the aforementioned Bourguignon and also a salade Niçoise on Saturday. Plus there’s an Indian dish, Chana dal, on meatless Monday. Enjoy!

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LFD – Pasta with mixed greens. 1/16/21

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Beebamom

Saturday’s LFD (Leftovers For Dinner) consisted of leftover pantry and refrigerator items. We used the other half of a box of orecchiette and part of a bag of mixed greens. I was really not sure how it was going to turn out because these greens were much more bitter and tougher than the ones I have used before. Sadly we were out of mushrooms so the greens were going to have to be the star with only onions in the supporting cast. Then I decided to cut up a couple of ounces of leftover turkey sausage and those little pieces of sausage really made a difference.

Orecchiette with mixed greens, onion, and turkey sausage

Since John was nom-nomming as he was eating, I could tell that our thrown together pasta dish was a hit. We used a little olive oil and pasta water to make the liquid part of the sauce (don’t forget to finish your pasta in your sauce!) and a sprinkling of Reggiano-Parmigiano and our best olive oil to gild the top of our dish.

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