Menu Monday

I’m actually going to plan this week’s menu as I type…

Monday – Salmon, green pepper couscous (recipe to follow), green salad

Tuesday – Oatmeal pancakes, scrambled eggs, link sausages, fresh fruit cup

Wednesday – Fagioli soup, homemade bread

Thursday – Baked creamy chicken taquitos, black beans w/ cilantro, green salad

Friday – Homemade pizza, green salad

Salmon with couscous is one of my favorite meals. When I can’t grill it, I cook the salmon in the grill pan on the stove. Just dab with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt and pepper, then cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side. (I like my salmon cooked all the way through, thank you.)

Usually I just make plain couscous, using chicken broth instead of water. Tonight I wanted to add a little something to it, change up the flavor a bit, and a quick Google search brought me to this:

Green Pepper Couscous
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 medium onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
2 medium green bell peppers, diced (about 2 cups)
4 medium cloves garlic, crushed through a press
1-1/2 cups water
1 cup precooked couscous
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions:
Melt butter in a nonstick saucepan and add onion. Sauté gently for about 10
minutes, or until onion is golden. Add green peppers and garlic and sauté
for another 5 minutes. Add water and bring to a boil. Stir in couscous,
cover, and remove from the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork
and add salt and pepper to taste.

Note: I only used half a bell pepper and two cloves of garlic, because Greg would like that better. Didn’t get a photo, but it was a pretty supper plate!

Eating Well on Menu Monday

Eating Well magazine is one of my favorites, and I spent some time last week thumbing through a few old issues. I was looking for a specific recipe, but came across a few others to try this week.

Monday - Chicken and Asparagus w/ Melted Gruyere, whole grain medly
Tuesday - Grilled tuna, cucumber and black-eyed pea salad, focaccia
Wednesday - Stuffed turkey burgers, sweet corn, green salad
Thursday - Loaded Twice-baked potatoes, Ceaser salad
Friday - Jessi's choice - she'll be home by suppertime (yea!)


So tonight I made the chicken recipe and it was so good! If my table manners hadn't been refined by years of maturity, I might have licked my plate. Now I didn't have fresh tarragon, and I checked around town to no avail. I always recommend using fresh if possible.

Chicken & Asparagus with Melted Gruyere
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces


⅔ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth


2 teaspoons plus ¼ cup all-purpose flour, divided


4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1-1 ¼ pounds), trimmed


¼ teaspoon salt


½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper


1 tablespoon canola oil


1 shallot, thinly sliced


½ cup white wine (I buy those 4-packs of tiny bottles of white wine to use in my cooking. There is just a tad more than half a cup in those, and it's pretty decent wine.)


⅓ cup reduced-fat sour cream


1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or 1 teaspoon dried


2 teaspoons lemon juice


⅔ cup shredded Gruyère cheese (This costs about a zillion dollars a pound, so I think a Swiss or Parmesan would be an acceptable substitute.)

1. Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add asparagus; cover and steam for 3 minutes. Uncover, remove from the heat and set aside.


2. Whisk broth and 2 teaspoons flour in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.


3. Place the remaining 1/4 cup flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour, shaking off any excess.


4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side, adjusting heat as needed to prevent scorching. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.


5. Add shallot, wine and the reserved broth mixture to the pan; cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in sour cream, tarragon, lemon juice and the reserved asparagus until combined.
Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover and continue cooking until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.


Nutrition Information
Per serving: 306 calories; 15 g fat (6 g sat, 6 g mono); 91 mg cholesterol; 7 g carbohydrate; 31 g protein; 1 g fiber; 298 mg sodium; 343 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Selenium (36% daily value), Calcium (25% dv).
1/2 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 4 lean meat, 1/2 fat

Menu Monday & recipes

While planning menus this morning, I kept in mind some things in the frig that needed to be used up, and which meats I already have in the freezer. Grocery shopping will be minimal this week, and that's always a good thing.
Monday: Green salad w/ warm goat cheese and stuffed mushrooms (recipes at the end of this post). I meant to make bread this afternoon to go with this, but got busy around the house and forgot until it was too late.

Tuesday: chicken piccata, angel hair pasta, steamed broccoli, focaccia bread

Wednesday: grilled steak and shrimp kabobs, couscous, grilled veggies

Thursday: grilled burgers, baked beans, fresh veggies w/ dip

Friday: crock pot pot roast w/ veggies, homemade artisan bread

Recipes for tonight's supper:

Salad w/ Warm Goat Cheese

(adapted from Ina Garten)

1 (11 oz.) log plain or herbed Montrachet (I used plain goat cheese)
2 extra large egg whites, beaten w/ 1 TBS water

fresh white bread crumbs (I don't buy white bread, so mine were wheat bread crumbs - no big deal)

Slice the Montrachet into 12 (1/2" thick) slices (use dental floss). Dip each slice into the beaten egg whites, then the bread crumbs, being sure the cheese is thoroughly coated. Place the slices on a rack and chill them for at least 15 minutes.

Melt 1 TBS oil and 1 TBS butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat and just under smoking. Cook the goat cheese rounds quickly on both sides until browned on the outside, but not melted inside. Top each salad with 2 warm rounds and serve. (I used only one round per salad.)

I used a combination of romaine lettuce and mixed baby greens, tossed with a low-cal balsamic vinaigrette.

Stuffed Mushrooms

(Allrecipes "Andie's Stuffed Mushrooms")

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
2 pounds fresh mushrooms-stems removed,
chopped and reserved
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup soft bread crumbs
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

(I add a little salt and pepper, too)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Place ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the margarine and stir in the mushroom stems, green bell peppers, garlic, parsley and basil.

In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, mushroom stem mixture, dry bread crumbs, soft bread crumbs and Cheddar cheese.

Place the mushroom caps, upside down, on a large baking pan. Generously stuff each cap with the mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until the filling is golden brown.

Menu Monday

This morning I prepped everything for supper tonight, so all I had to do was grill the chicken, saute the veggies, and warm the tortillas.
Monday - chicken fajitas, homemade refried beans
Fajita marinade (printed from Allrecipes in 2001):
1/4 Cup lime juice
1/3 Cup water
2 TBS. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 dashes liquid smoke
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (this time I used a dried chipotle pepper instead)
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
Mix all ingredients in a zipper bag. Add meat and store in refrigerator overnight, or at least 2 hours. I've used this with beef, chicken, and shrimp.

Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) - whole grain pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage patties
Wednesday - Cube steaks w/ onion gravy, baked potato, green salad, ciabatta buns
Thursday - Spaghetti w/ meat sauce, steamed broccoli, mandarin oranges, garlic bread
Friday - Homemade mac 'n cheese, grilled chicken, green beans, pears