Meal Plan for Jan 29 - Feb 4
Hello!
It’s fun to see so many new subscribers after Alex shared my newsletter on Hand-picked. Welcome! Her newsletter is such a fun source of inspiration and diversion every week.
I don’t know about you but my energy and enthusiasm is flagging as I’ve hit a mid-winter slump. Also our baby is on the verge of crawling and requiring a lot more vigilance and also somehow sleeping less. So I’m reaching for the easiest meals, a good book and also chocolate!
Quick Links:
pantry tomato soup // crispy black bean tacos // pineapple fried rice// mushroom chicken, mushroom galette // brownies
Weeknight meals
Tomato soup and grilled cheese
I love this easy pantry tomato soup. It still has a deep tomato flavor even in the middle of winter.
A basic grilled cheese is perfect but you can always doctor it up a little. Here are a few suggestions:
cook a piece of bacon and then cook the sandwich in the bacon fat
turkey and pesto with fontina cheese
caramelized onions with a little balsamic vinegar and emmentaler cheese
ham and dijon mustard with cheddar
fig jam and red pepper flakes, arugula and brie
Pineapple fried rice, teriyaki salmon
We marinated the salmon in Soyaki sauce from Trader Joe’s and then grilled it. Any store bought teriyaki sauce would work great and you could use the same method for chicken.
Since fried rice has egg in it, you really don’t need another protein source but I love to add more veggies to fill it out if I’m having it on its own, especially a side of roasted broccoli.
I usually make fried rice with Jasmine rice but I tried a shorter grain rice (Calrose) recently and I loved how it crisped up.
These are a weeknight SOS dinner when you have half an hour and very few ingredients in the house. But also they’re completely delicious and use some of the least expensive items. An all around win.
If I have a little more time, I like to add crispy potatoes to bulk up this meal since the recipe as written only makes 4 tacos. This will stretch it to make 8-10 and they’re a little more satisfying with the additional starch. I will cube potatoes and toss with olive oil and taco seasoning (I always make this blend) and roast in a 425 degree oven until they’re fork tender. Then add to each taco as you make them.
And we always have cotija cheese around so we use that instead of feta.
Weekend meal
Creamy mushroom chicken with mashed potatoes
Oh this is one of our favorites. The mushroom sauce is seriously delicious and so good on mashed potatoes. This is also quite easy to make.
A green salad or garlicky green beans on the side is a necessity.
For my vegetarian sub, I think a savory galette is a really fun. I haven’t made this one, but I’ve seen mushroom galettes on food instagram for a while and it looks delicious. I like that you can make this one with either blue cheese or goat’s cheese.
Treat of the week
My goal is to memorize this recipe and I’ve made them enough times that I’m almost there honestly. These are perfectly fudgy and just the right amount of sweet. Great for mid-winter chocolate cravings when the christmas chocolate has run out.
Something to listen to: I love getting into an audiobook while I’m cooking. The Libby app makes it really easy to get books from the library and my Airpods let me sink into the experience and maybe tune out Vampirina a little bit (IYKYK). A few audiobooks I’ve loved recently are The Anthropocene Reviewed, The Truly Devious series, Early Morning Riser, Here For It and The Day the World Came to Town. Right now, I’m listening to 11/22/63 and every minute is incredible.
Have a great week!
Emily