Meal Plan March 24-March 30

Monday, March 24: SO last week I scheduled this lovely chicken dish for a Friday during Lent. SO that didn't work.  I rescheduled for this week...on Monday...when we can eat meat. hahaha.

Mediterranean stuffed Chicken Breasts serve with hummus and veggies

Ingredients

1 large red bell pepper

1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped pitted kalamata olives

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

8 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Preheat broiler or grill.

Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and finely chop.

Prepare grill to medium-high heat. Combine bell pepper, cheese, olives, and basil.

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff 2 tablespoons bell pepper mixture into each pocket; close opening with a wooden pick.

Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 6 minutes on each side or until done.

Remove from grill; cover loosely with foil, and let stand 10 minutes.

Mary Drennen Ankar, Cooking Light 
JUNE 2010

Tuesday, March 25- Leftovers

Wednesday, March 26

Lettuce Wraps (Eating Clean, Pg 227) with Steamed Broccoli

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Coconut oil

1.5 LBS Ground Turkey

1 Bunch scallions, trimmed down to the light green part, chopped

2 stalks of celery, trimmed and finely chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

1 Roma Tomato, peeled and chopped fine

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

2 Tbsp Fresh basil, chopped

Pinch Thyme

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1 Tbsp Sesame oil

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinger mixed with a pinch of salt and pinch of garlic powder
12  Leaves Romain Lettuce

Chives

1- Pour olive oil into Wok and heat over Medium-high heat.  Add Ground Turkey, Scallions and celery and cook until meat is no longer Pink.

2- Add Carrots, tomato, pepper, herbs and salt, and cook until scallions are translucent. (About 6 minutes) Remove from heat

3- Add Sesame oil and Tamari and mix well.

4- Using clean bare hands or a large spoon compact a ball of filling into a lettuce leaf and wrap securely with chives. repeat until filling has been used.

Thursday, March 27

Beef and Walnut Stir Fry (Eat clean, Pg 260)

Ingredients:

2 tsp coconut oil or sesame oil

1 lbs Lean beef tenderloin chopped into 1 inch pieces

1 bunch asparagus, washed, trimmed and chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsley chopped

1.5 cups green beans trimmed and chopped into 1 inch pieces

1 clove Garlic, minced

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

1 tsp sea salt

Ground black pepper

Juice of 1 freshly squeezed orange

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinger mixed with a pinch of salt and pinch of garlic powder

1- Heat Oil over med-high heat in skillet

2- Add beef and cook until well done on all sides. Add vegetables and garlic. Stir fry until tender

3- Add Walnuts and toss to heat through. Season with Salt and pepper. Makes 4 servings.  Place serving on serving of rice.

4- Deglaze Pan (this means to add liquid to a pan that food has been cooked in, to dissolve the remains of roasted or sautéed food that sticks to the bottom) with juice.  Add Balsamic mixture and stir well. cook over med-low until mixture is reduced by half. Pour over each plate and serve.

Friday, March 28

Fennel, Mustard & Lemon-Crusted Salmon with Avocado Salsa

Serves: 4 Hands-on time: 25 minutes
 Total time: 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

4 5-oz center-cut boneless, skin-on salmon fillets

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Zest of a lemon (Chef’s Tip: Chop your zest after grating it for a finer texture and more intense flavor!)

2 tsp fennel seeds or anise seeds

2 tsp mustard seeds

Pinch each sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

AVOCADO SALSA:

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 avocado, pitted, peeled and finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped tomato

¼ cup finely chopped fennel

2 tbsp finely chopped fennel fronds

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF. On a small baking sheet turned upside down, place a sheet of foil. Place salmon skin side down on foil. Drizzle oil over salmon and sprinkle with zest, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, salt and pepper. (MAKE AHEAD: Prepare salmon through Step One earlier the same day, then cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.)

2. Using the baking sheet to help you, slide foil with fish directly onto oven rack. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until opaque in center.

3. Meanwhile, prepare salsa: To a small bowl, add all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

4. Using the baking sheet, carefully slide salmon and foil out of oven. Remove and discard skin.

Saturday, March 29

Baked Buffalo Chicken tenders with Blue Cheese

Serves: 4 Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes (plus marinating time)

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 1/2-inch (1 oz) chunks

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp plus 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice, divided

2 Tbsp cup hot pepper sauce

Olive oil cooking spray

2 1/2 tbsp whole-wheat flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour

1 tsp ground cayenne pepper

1 3/4 cups corn flakes cereal, finely crushed in a food processor (TRY: Erewhon 100% Whole Grain Corn Flakes Cereal)

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 Tbsp minced scallions

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper

•   Preheat oven to 400F. Place chicken in a large resealable bag. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, 2 tbsp lemon juice and hot sauce. Pour into bag with chicken. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

•   Place a wire rack over a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with foil and mist with cooking spray. In a separate large resealable bag, combine flour and cayenne and shake to combine. Place cereal in a small bowl. Remove chicken from marinade, shaking off any excess, and transfer to bag with flour. Shake until chicken is well coated. Transfer to remaining marinade to a small bowl. Working in batches, remove chicken from bag, dip in marinade, then roll in cereal. Transfer to rack and mist chicken with cooking spray. Bake for about 22 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink in center.

•   Meanwhile, prepare yogurt sauce: In a small bowl, combine yogurt, remaining 1 tsp lemon juice, blue cheese, scallions, salt and black pepper and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve (MAKE AHEAD: Yogurt sauce can be prepared up to a day in advance; cover and refrigerate.)

Sunday, March 30

Dinner with the Lockes

ALSO: I will be making these Super YUMMY Nut bars to snack on throughout the week. SO GOOD! 

Ingredients:

½ cup Cashews

1 ½ Cup Pumpkin seeds

1 ¼ Almonds

1 Cup raisins or chopped dates

½ tsp salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

½ cup Honey

¼ cup Coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease (with coconut oil) a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Grind the following nuts into a coarse nut flour. Don’t let it turn into nut butter!

1/2 cup cashews

1 cup of pumpkin seeds

1 cup of almonds

Put into a medium size bowl and stir in the following.

1/2 cup of sunflower seeds

¼ Cup Almonds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup raisins or chopped dates

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Melt in a small saucepan:

1/2 cup of honey

1/4 cup high quality coconut oil

Pour honey/oil over the nut mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated with it. Press evenly into the prepared casserole dish and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until it is lightly browned on top.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes, then very gently cut and remove bars and allow to cool on a plate. They will be crumbly at this stage, but I found that if they started to fall apart, I could gently mold them back together (the honey acts like a glue). As they cool they will harden. Once cool, place in an airtight container and enjoy!

Check Your Kitchen:

Coconut oil

Sesame Oil

extra-virgin olive oil

1 Clove Garlic

 cayenne pepper

Cinnamon

Thyme

fennel seeds

mustard seeds

Garlic Powder

Ground black pepper

Sea Salt

Hot pepper sauce

Honey

Balsamic Vinegar

whole-wheat flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour

Humus

Grocery List:

2.5 large red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1.5 cups green beans 

fresh basil

Chives- Long

fennel

fennel fronds

1 Bunch scallions

Celery

Carrots

Brocoli 

2 Roma Tomato

12  Leaves Romain Lettuce

1 bunch asparagus

1 orange

2 lemon

1 avocado

1 Cup raisins or chopped dates

1/2 Cup Walnuts

½ cup Cashews

1 ½ Cup Pumpkin seeds

1 ¼ Almonds

Erewhon 100% Whole Grain Corn Flakes Cereal

1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped pitted kalamata olives

9 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1.5 LBS Ground Turkey

1 lbs Lean beef tenderloin 

4 5-oz center-cut boneless, skin-on salmon fillets

buttermilk

plain Greek yogurt

crumbled blue cheese