Monday, November 30, 2009

This Week's Meal Plan

Monday and Tuesday: Moroccan-style stuffed squash
Wednesday: Pasta with broccoli, sun dried tomatoes and feta
Friday: Pizza (using whatever dough from the Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day is currently in the fridge)
Weekend: Going out!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Pasta with Sweet Potato, Chickpeas and Feta

This is the kind of dish that pleases me at several levels. It has lots of flavor, is kid friendly, inexpensive and seasonally appropriate. And it's pretty. But you can't see that because everyone was so hungry that we ate everything before I could get a picture.

Pasta with sweet potato, chickpeas and feta
1 lb pasta (I like bigger shapes for this, like rotini or penne)
1-2 T. butter or olive oil, or a combination
1 large sweet potato, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

  1. Heat water to a boil. Salt generously and add pasta
  2. Melt butter/oil in pan. Saute onion and sweet potato until caramelized a bit and potato is just soft all the way through (8-10 minutes). I put the lid on the pan for part of the early cooking, then take it off for the last few minutes.
  3. Add garlic and stir until fragrant (30 seconds)
  4. Add chickpeas and cook until heated through.
  5. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 c up cooking water.
  6. Mix pasta with vegetable mix, add feta and as much of the hot pasta water as you need to make it all creamy.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Pork roast: three ways

One morning last week, I was running out the door and remembered at the last minute to toss the pork roast into the crock pot. In my coat and hat, with the baby in one arm, I grabbed the pork roast from the fridge, unwrapped it, flicked some salt and pepper on, hit the switch and left for the day. Two minute meal prep is the best. We had dinner for three nights from that 2 minutes of prep work.

Night one: barbecue pork sandwiches
Night two: pork burritos
Night three: provencal pork stew

Here are the recipes:

Barbecue Pork Sandwiches
Pork butt or shoulder roast
1 bottle of barbecue sauce
Hamburger buns or hard rolls

  1. Place pork in a crock pot. Lightly salt and pepper and cook for 8 hours on low
  2. Take a portion of roast pork and break it apart with a fork. Mix in sauce to taste.
  3. Serve on bun/roll with more sauce if desired.
This meal goes particularly well with a simple coleslaw.

Pork Burritos
left-over pork roast
tortilla shells
rice (cooked)
shredded cheese
avocado
cilantro
lime
red onions
sour cream
whatever else you like on your burritos

  1. Heat tortillas either individually over open gas flame (use tongs...your fingers will thank you) or wrap several tortillas in tin foil and heat for 15 minutes in the over at 300F.
  2. have each person determine their topping preference.

Provencal Pork Stew
left-over pork roast
1-2 large cans whole tomatoes
1 can white beans, drained (or cook your own ahead of time)
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 small onion, diced
chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or crushed and finely minced
wine (preferably a dry white, but red wine works too)
herbs d'Provence
Salt and pepper

  1. Saute the onion, carrots and celery until onions become slightly translucent, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, until fragrant, then add the wine. You could also replace wine with broth, if you prefer.
  2. Crush the tomatoes lightly with your hands or the back of a spoon as you add them to the other sautéed vegetables. Add beans and 1 tsp. herbs d'provence or to taste. Cook until slightly thickened but carrots and celery are still slightly crisp, about 15-20 minutes.
  3. Add salt and pepper to taste and add pork and heat through.