Weekly Meal Plan // September 25-29

Dinners!

Here’s what I plan to make for dinner this week. We didn’t have school Monday and I traveled to visit my oldest daughter this weekend, so you’ll notice there’s not a recipe for Sunday night. Scroll down for a dinner party menu you can use when the spirit moves you. Have a great week, friends!

MONDAY

Today is Yom Kippur and if you’re spending time with family, I hope you enjoy a delicious dinner. If you want a baking project this week, figs are available so don’t miss the opportunity to make a fig galette. Or if you can’t find figs, make my strawberry almond galette. You can follow my strawberry galette recipe and replace the strawberries with figs if you’d like. For dinner, we’ll have a frittata and a simple salad. The ingredients are supremely changeable. Use prosciutto, chorizo or pancetta instead of bacon. Use kale or Swiss chard instead of spinach. Or omit the meat and add some creamy goat cheese, fontina or gruyere.

TUESDAY

It’s one of those days where I’m running kids to appointments and getting caught up after a three-day weekend. For dinner, I’m making a recipe I’m teaching on Thursday for my online cooking school membership. It’s a baked spaghetti squash casserole that I’m trying to make a little more savory and satisfying. The version I’m making is vegetarian, but here’s a meaty version if you’re interested.

WEDNESDAY

Today I have my in-person basics group and we’re focusing on Italian fundamentals. We’re making pizza, risotto, meatballs, parmesan polenta and chicken piccata. YUM. If that recipe list is making you crave Italian, make my no-boil lasagna or weeknight meatballs with spaghetti and Rao’s.

THURSDAY

I’m making my simple chicken piccata recipe for my family. I’ve posted it in a meal plan before, but here it is again. Serve this with something “carby” to soak up the lemony sauce and a green vegetable, like broccolini or sauteed spinach.

Shortcut Chicken Piccata

I like to serve this over steamed cauliflower florets or steamed spinach – the vegetables soak up the sauce and add veggies to your plate. Serves 2-3. Leftover chicken is perfect for a chicken sandwich the next day.

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise (or use cutlets)
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour or arrowroot powder for a gluten-free option
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 ½ – 2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (omit for a dairy-free version)
• 1 heaping tablespoon capers
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

1. Mix the flour, 1 teaspoon salt and freshly ground pepper in a shallow plate. Dip both sides of the chicken breasts in the flour, shake off the excess, and set aside on a plate.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes per side, until browned. Transfer to a plate and set aside. (Don’t crowd the pan, cook in batches if need be, adding more olive oil to the pan as necessary.)
3. For the sauce, wipe out any burned spots in the sauté pan with a damp paper towel. If you have black spots, it will make your sauce taste bitter.  Over medium heat, deglaze the pan with the chicken stock, scraping up any brown bits. Add the lemon juice, a sprinkle of kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon or less) and some freshly ground pepper. Simmer over medium heat until reduced, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the butter and capers and whisk or stir to combine. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices back to the pan, making sure each piece of chicken registers 165 degrees on an instant read meat thermometer.
4. To serve, spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with fresh parsley.

Weekend Plans

I’m cooking for my son and some of his friends this weekend. This menu could easily be adapted as a dinner party menu, so here you go. I’m linking the recipes below so you can recreate the menu down the road.

Main Dish

The boys have requested herb-crusted beef tender. But the other options I gave them were tri-tip or a grilled flank steak. I’ll make lemon horseradish creme fraiche and chimichurri on the side. I need to post the horseradish sauce. It’s just a cup or so of creme fraiche or sour cream, 5 tablespoons prepared horseradish (or more or less to taste), a tablespoon of heavy cream or milk, some lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice, plus kosher salt to taste. Stir together to combine. You can make that sauce a day or two ahead of time.

Salad

I’m purchasing a Costco salad mix and tweaking it a tiny bit. I’ll use my own salad dressing because the one that comes with the salad mix is too sweet. You can add more dried cranberries, chopped spicy pecans (I’m leaving them out this time) or even fresh blueberries or chopped apple or pear. I love blue cheese in this, but I’m leaving it out for the teenagers.

Sides

Simple mashed potatoes. Elevate this dish by warming the milk or cream with some sage and smashed garlic. Strain out the herbs and garlic before mixing the milk with the potatoes. Roasted potatoes would also be a delicious side or potatoes au gratin.

Add the broccolini recipe from my book or a platter of roasted mixed vegetables.

Dessert

We’re having cookies from a favorite local bakery, but you could make the galette recipe I linked at the top of this post!