Kicking off the New Year with a plan for the week!

Phew!  The holidays are finally over and it's time to get back on track and back on budget (both financial and caloric) and plan all of our meals for the week.  We plan lunches and dinners for Sunday night through Friday lunch. As a two-person household it's relatively easy for us to cook a dinner that serves 4, eat 2 portions for dinner and save the other two portions for lunch the next day.  We usually go out on Friday nights (boxing-n-beer for example) and Saturdays can be up in the air and hard to plan around as weekends are full of adventures.

We picked our recipes based on three variables:

• How busy our week will be?  Do we have after work meetings, practices, events, visitors, or other engagements that will take up cooking time? 
• Is there something we're craving?  Is there a new recipe that we tried out recently that we would love to try again?  Do those asparagus at the market look amazing?  
• Is there something we have to use up/eat soon?  Is there a bag of chicken or veggies in the freezer that looks like it may lose the battle to freezer burn?  That head of lettuce starting to wilt?  That remaining cauliflower from a recipe last week... can it find a new home in a delicious dish?

If we're going to have a busy week, we will allow ourselves to pick out only one new recipe.  Too many new recipes will be overwhelming and discouraging.  Pay attention to the prep time listed with the recipe.  And though there is nothing inherently wrong with making the "things you know how to make" all of the time, we all need to remember that variety is the spice of life and you don't know what you're missing until you try something new.  (Lara was reluctant to try this Winter Dal recipe - and it's now one of her absolute favorites.)

This week we decided to go heavy on the vegetarian. Here's what we came up with:

January 4th - January 9th

We recently received a new issue of Clean Eating Magazine and were excited to try a bunch of them:

Thai Chick Curry (Clean Eating Mag)

Chickpea Tagine (Clean Eating Mag - see bottom of post for the recipe.)

Warm Quinoa Salad w/Clinatro & Black Beans (from the book: Melissa's 50 Best Plants on the Planet - see bottom of post for the recipe.)

Indian Lentil Burgers with Mango Chutney (Clean Eating Mag)

Butternut Squash Risotto (Clean Eating Mag)


Once we choose our recipes, we make a grocery list.  To make it a team effort - one of us reads out the ingredients and the other one looks to see if we have that item. (This could be something you could do with kids.) You can sort your list based on "spices, veggies, meats, snack, misc" or whatever works for you.  You can also type it into your phone. We hang our notepad on the refrigerator door so that if we run out of things during the week, we can jot a quick note on the pad and our list for the next weekend is already started.  

Now you have a fridge full of food and enough meals for 5 lunches and dinners during the week.  YUMMY!  Here we go 2015!


Warm Quinoa Salad with Cilantro & Black Beans
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium- large red onion, coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper diced 
1 C dry white quinoa
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 - 15 oz can black beans, rinsed, drained well or 1 1/2 cups cooked beans 
1/2 C chopped cilantro
4 C baby spinach
1/4 C crumbled feta cheese

Garnish (optional) 1 papaya, seeded, peeled, cut into lengthwise slices, 6 lime wedges.

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil on medium heat.  Add the onion and bell peppers.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the quinoa, paprika, cumin, chili powder, and salt; stir to combine.

2. Add 1 1/2 cups water and increase the heat to high.  Bring it to a boil.  Cover and reduce the head to medium-low. Simmer, covered, until the quinoa is almost softened and most of the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.  Add the beans and half the cilantro; cook until they are heated through, uncovered, and no water remains, about 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Place the spinach on a platter or divide it between six plates. Top it with the quinoa mixture.  Scatter the feta on top.  Garnish with the papaya, reserved cilantro, and lime wedges.


Clean Eating Chickpea Tagine with Couscous

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion
3 gloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp unsalted tomato paste
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground tumeric
1//2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces on an angle
1/2 small head cauliflower, cut into 2-inch florets
1/2 lb butternut or Hubbard squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed - or  1 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
3/4 cup whole-grain couscous
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil on medium.  Add onion and saute, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic and ginger and saute for 30 seconds.  Add tomato paste, paprika, cumin, tumeric and cinnamon and saute, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds.

2. Add broth, sweet potato, carrot, cauliflower, squash, salt, black pepper and cayenne.  Partially cover, bring to a simmer and cook until squash and sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add chickpeas and simmer for 5 more minutes.

3. In a small, heat-proof bowl, add couscous. Remove 1 1/4 cups cooking liquid from chickpea mixture and pour over couscous.  Cover with a plate and let stand for 5 minutes.  Add cliantro and fluff with a fork.  Serve tagine with or over couscous.

Serves 4.  Hands-On Time: 20 minutes.  Total time: 45 minutes.