Menu plan

Monday


The Ingredients.
serves 4.
For the pesto:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
4 garlic cloves
2 cups fresh basil
2 tablespoons pinenuts, or walnuts, or sunflower seeds
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 chicken thighs, or breast halvessliced mozzarella cheese (I used string cheese!)
aluminum foil or parchment paper
4 small sweet potatoes, washed well, skin on
The Directions.
I used a 6 quart slow cooker. In a food processor or blender, combine the ingredients for your pesto. When liquidy, taste. If you need to add more citrus or salt or pepper, do so now.In the bottom of a large slow cooker, arrange your chicken pieces. Mine were still frozen. Layer on slices of mozzarella cheese. Pour pesto evenly on top. Cover with a layer of foil or parchment paper. Scrub sweet potatoes well, prick with a fork, and lay them on top of the paper or foil. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4-5. If your chicken is frozen it will take a bit longer. If you're using fresh chicken, and your sweet potatoes are quite large, you may choose to swap layers, and put the sweet potatoes on the bottom. Newer slow cookers cook from the sides as well as from the bottom, but some people swear the stuff on the bottom cooks faster. Carefully remove the sweet potatoes with tongs, and remove foil or parchment. The steam that comes out will be quite hot, keep small children away.



Tuesday

Eggplant Sandwiches
Photo By: Allrecipes
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Ready In: 30 Minutes
Servings: 2
"Roasted eggplant in a French roll with feta cheese, basil and garlic mayonnaise. This was my favorite sandwich of all time, adapted from a cafe at the University of California, Irvine."
Ingredients:
1 small eggplant, halved and sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (6 inch) French sandwich rolls
1 small tomato, sliced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Brush eggplant slices with olive oil, and place them on a baking sheet or broiling pan. Place the pan about 6 inches from the heat source. Cook under the broiler for 10 minutes, or until tender and toasted.
2. Split the French rolls lengthwise, and toast. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise and garlic. Spread this mixture on the toasted bread. Fill the rolls with eggplant slices, tomato, feta cheese and basil leaves.



Quinoa Salad with Dried Fruit and Nuts
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Ready In: 2 Hours
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons quinoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/3 cups and 1 tablespoon water
3/8 bunch green onions, chopped
1/4 cup and 2 teaspoons chopped celery
3 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon raisins
3/8 pinch cayenne pepper
1-1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1-1/4 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
2-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
2-1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup and 2 teaspoons chopped pecans
Directions:
1. Bring the quinoa, salt, and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Once done, scrape into a large bowl, and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Stir in the green onions, celery, raisins, cayenne pepper, vegetable oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and sesame oil. Allow to stand at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend. Stir in the cilantro and pecans before serving.

Wednesday
Tofu vegan stir fry
*use up frozen asian veggies along with the edamame. Serve with rice

Thursday
Gai Pad Graprow
Ingredients
1 lb boneless chicken thighs, coarsely chopped, or cut into small bite-size pieces
4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2-3 shallots, thinly sliced (or substitute with 1/2 cup sliced onion)
2-3 tbsp peanut oil for stir-frying
2 tsp black soy sauce (the semi-sweet kind, siew dohm)
1-2 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam bplah), to taste (Golden Boy brand is recommended)
1 cup fresh Thai holy basil (bai gka-prow), or substitute with: 1/4 cup dried holy basil, soaked to soften plus 1/2 to 1 cup fresh Thai sweet basil (bai horapa)
2 small kaffir lime leaves (bai ma-gkrood), very finely slivered (optional)
5-10 Thai chillies (prik kee noo), chopped and pounded with a mortar and pestle; or 2-3 fresh jalapeno or fresno peppers, cut into large slivers
Dash of ground white pepper
Preparation
Prepare the ingredients as indicated. Leave the fresh basil leaves whole; the flowers may also be used. The dried holy basil will soften when soaked in tap water for 10-15 minutes. Pull off and discard the hard stems. Drain.
Heat a wok until the surface is smoking hot. Swirl in the oil to coat the wok surface. Wait a few seconds for the oil to heat, then stir in the garlic, followed a few seconds later with shallots. Stir another few seconds before adding the chicken. Stir-fry a minute or two, or until most of the chicken has started to change color on the outside and is no longer pink.
Toss in the chillies, slivered kaffir lime leaves and reconstituted dried holy basil (if using). Sprinkle black soy sauce over the mixture and stir-fry another 15-20 seconds. Then add fresh basil leaves and fish sauce to taste. Stir and mix well. Stir-fry another half a minute, or until the basil is wilted and the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with white pepper. Stir and transfer to a serving dish, or spoon directly over individual plates of plain steamed rice.

Friday
Fish Tacos
Ingredients
1 lb of very fresh fish fillets - (Good fish for tacos are firm fish like swordfish or shark)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 doz corn tortillas (3 tortillas per person)
Vegetable oil or butter (optional, depending on how you heat your tortillas)
Salsa - (See Mango Salsa Recipe.)
1 ripe Avocado
Cabbage (or iceberg lettuce)
Cider vinegar
Salt
Method
1 Prepare the salsa. Either use store bought or make your own. (See above link for Mango Salsa, which is especially good with fish.)
2 Prepare the cabbage and avocado. Thinly slice cabbage. Put in a small serving bowl. Sprinkle with cider vinegar (about a Tbsp) and salt (about a tsp). Mix in the vinegar and salt. Peel avocado and remove seed. Chop and reserve for later.
3 Heat the tortillas. Unless you have made fresh tortillas from scratch, you will need to soften them somehow. One way to easily soften and heat a tortilla to simply heat it in the microwave for 20-25 seconds on high heat, on top of a napkin or paper towel to absorb the moisture that is released. We often will heat two tortillas at once in the microwave, heating them for a total of 40 seconds.
Another way is to heat a well seasoned (black) large cast iron skillet to medium heat. Add a teaspoon of oil to the pan or spread a half a teaspoon of butter on one side of one tortilla. Place tortilla in the pan (butter side down if you are using butter). As the tortilla sizzles, flip the tortilla with a spatula so that the other side gets some of the oil or butter from the pan. Continue to flip every 10-30 seconds until the tortillas begins to develop air pockets, about a minute. If the pan begins to smoke, lower the temperature. You can skip the butter or oil if you wish and just heat the tortillas up on the skillet without them. We have found that the flavor of packaged tortillas benefits from heating them with a bit of oil.
Remove the tortilla from the pan and place it folded on a plate. If the pan is large enough you can prepare two or more tortillas at once. Continue until all the tortillas (estimate 3 per person) are cooked. Set aside.
4 Cook the fish. Soak the fish fillets in cold water for at least one minute. Pat dry with a paper towel. Heat a large stick-free skillet to medium high heat. Add a couple of teaspoons of olive oil to the skillet. Place fish on skillet. Cooking time depends on the thickness of the fillets. A thin fillet may take only one minute on each side to cook. A thicker fillet may take a couple of minutes. Fish should be still barely translucent when cooked. Break off a piece and test if you are not sure. Do not overcook the fish. Remove from pan when done to a separate plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5 Assembly. I think tacos are best when you assemble them yourself. Place the plate of tortillas, the plate of fish, the salsa, the cabbage, and the avocados on the table and let everyone assemble their own.
Serves four.


Mango Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced (about 1 1/2 cup) (See: How to Cut a Mango)
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 Jalapeño chile, minced (include ribs and seeds for a hotter taste if desired)
1 small cucumber, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh lime juiceSalt and pepper to taste
Also good with diced red bell pepper and jicama.
Method
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the salsa ends up being a little too hot or acidic for your taste, you can temper it by adding some diced avocado.