Meal Planner (w/c May 12, 2013)

I wanted quick and easy recipes this week so I could have enough time to write up the blog posts!  Last week, I didn’t get a chance to make the stir-fry.  Got home late from work and noodle soup at the local Vietnamese restaurant sounded like a much easier option.  So, I’ve put the stir-fry back on the menu for this week in order to finish the recipe.

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Baked Beans on Toast	Chicken, Spinach, Pea & Broccoli Risotto	Beef Stir-fry (w Asian greens, snow peas & baby corn)
Tuesday
Wednesday			Penne & Sausage
Thursday		Penne & Sausage (leftovers)	Crispy Skin Salmon (w mushrooms & broccoli)

Click here to view or print a copy of the plan with the shopping list.

For breakfast, I’m going to do baked beans on toast.  It’s getting colder in the mornings, so a hot breakfast is the best way to start the day.  The recipe for the baked beans is here.

For lunch, I’ve decided to try my first Thermomix risotto.  I’ve packed lots of vegetables into this, along with some chicken to make it more substantial.  Here’s the recipe.

I’ve got beef stir-fry for Monday and Tuesday’s dinner.  Wednesday dinner is a pasta dish – penne and sausage – with the leftovers for lunch on Thursday.  Draft recipes for the stir-fry and pasta are below.

Thursday’s dinner is a crispy skin salmon with mushrooms and broccoli.  The instructions for cooking the salmon is here.  The vegetables are fried in a pan with a clove of garlic.

Draft Recipes

Beef Stir-Fry

Serves 4

Ingredients

600g rump steak

1 large onion, cut into 0.5 cm slices

40 snow peas, trimmed

1 bunch Asian greens, cut into 1.5cm pieces

425g can baby corn cuts

Vegetable oil for frying

1 cup boiling water

Sesame oil for serving

Marinade

2 cloves of garlic

2 tsp grated ginger

2 tbsp cornflour

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (optional)

Instructions

1. Thinly slice beef and put into a glass mixing bowl

2. Put garlic, ginger, cornflour, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar into a mixing bowl and gently stir with meat to combine

3. Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok on medium-high heat and sauté onions for 2 minutes or until soft

4. Add meat and fry until just cooked through

5. Add water to meat and heat until boiling.  It will mix with the cornflour in the fish to make a sauce

5. Without putting the heat out, put the meat into a fresh mixing bowl

6. Add the vegetables into the frying pan and heat until just cooked through and still crisp, stirring occasionally

7. Add meat back into the frying pan and mix with vegetables until sauce is bubbling

8. Sprinkle with sesame oil to serve

Penne & Sausage

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 large red onion

2 cloves garlic

20g olive oil

2 cups wholemeal penne

2 x 400g can diced tomato

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp dried parsley

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil

500g thin sausages

150g grated tasty or cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. Cook pasta according to the package instructions

3. In the Thermomix, chop onion and garlic for 3 seconds/Speed 5

4. Add oil and sauté with the measuring cup (MC) off for 3 minutes/100C/Speed 1

5. Put sausages in lower tray of varoma and put the lid on

6. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste and herbs into the Thermomix bowl, close lid and put Varoma on top

7. Cook for 15 minutes/Varoma/Speed 4

8. Remove Varoma and leave sausages to cool slightly

9. Purée sauce for 20 seconds – slowly going from Speed 1 to Speed 7

10. Cut sausages into 1.5cm pieces and add to the sauce

11. Add butterfly to the Thermomix bowl and add drained pasta

12. Mix for 10 seconds/Reverse/Speed 1

13. Pour pasta and sauce into a square baking dish and sprinkle with cheese

14. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and slightly browned