The challenge of knowing what's for dinner before 5:00

The challenge of knowing what's for dinner before 5:00.
Join me for this culinary adventure. Taste the successes and avoid the failures! Eat for your own pleasure!

Monday, February 28, 2011

Scrumptious Saturday and Menu for Week

It's hard to believe that my visit is over. Today is being spent doing cleaning, laundry, and other household activities that I GLADLY ignored for the past week while I was out of town and then had company. I am not at all ashamed to admit that it is 11:16 and we are still in our jammies! It has been raining so hard for the past 12 hours that I am thinking I might need to start building an ark. Unfortunately, building supplies didn't make the grocery list last week.

I need to do a little make up here. Today I am going to post the recipes I made Saturday night as well as my rough menu for last week. I always make a menu, but life happens, and it never goes exactly to plan. On this week's menu you'll notice a couple meals that were on last week's menu that never got made. That makes things easy since I already have the ingredients.

Also, by request, I will soon be posting a delicious zucchini pancake recipe that you can freeze (I didn't forget Amy :-)

Eggplant Bolognese
Yield: 6 servings (1 cup sauce, about 3/4 cup pasta, and 2 tsp basil);
323 calories per serving

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/4 cups chopped onion
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound ground sirloin
8 cups chopped eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 Tablespoons minced garlic (about 3 to 4 cloves depending on size)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
10 ounces uncooked whole wheat fettuccine*
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup small fresh basil leaves

1. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and beef (I do this on the side since I don't prefer to eat it); cook 10 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble beef. Add eggplant, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 20 minutes or until eggplant is very tender, stirring occasionally. Add tomato paste; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add wine; cook 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned buts. Add tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes as necessary. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and red wine vinegar.

2. Cook pasta according to directions, adding 1 tablespoon salt to cooking water. Drain. Toss pasta with sauce, sprinkle with basil leaves.

*I had pasta for lunch the day I made this, so I made whole wheat cous cous instead of pasta. It worked great. I served the cous cous first and topped it with the sauce.


Buttered Green Beans and Mushrooms
Yield: 8 (1/2) cup servings; 44 calories per serving

3/4 pound (12 oz) green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons butter (I personally thought 1 was enough)
6 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 ounces shitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, divided
1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves depending on size)

1. Steam green beans, covered, 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Plunge green beans into ice water, drain. Pat dry with a towel; set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; saute 8 minutes or until mushroom liquid evaporates. Stir in garlic, saute 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and green beans; cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated, tossing to combine.

Rough menu for the week:

Monday:
Lunch- Grilled cheese with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic, and Eggplant spread from Trader Joes. Side of fresh cantaloupe and carrots
Dinner- Black Bean Soup and Southwest Turkey Burgers

Tuesday:
Lunch- Tomato Basil Soup with Ricotta Dumplings and bulgur pilaf
Dinner- Quinoa and Parsley Salad and Butternut Squash Soup

Wednesday:
Lunch- Leftovers
Dinner: Baked pasta with spinach, lemon, and cheese served with a side of citrus green beans

Thursday:
Lunch: Prosciotto, Pear, and Blue Cheese Sandwich
Dinner: Tuscan Baked Chicken and Beans

Friday:
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Mushroom and root vegetable pot pie, steamed broccoli






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