Meal Planner (w/c May 5, 2013)

It’s been a busy weekend, so the meal plan for this week aims to keep the make-ahead cooking as quick and easy as possible.  For dinner, I’ve got a few non-Thermomix recipes which I’ve done loads of times and as a result I don’t measure out all of my ingredients.  So, before I post the recipes (and take some pictures too), I’m going check the measurements when I cook the dishes this week. I’ve put some draft recipes below with my estimated amounts in case you’re feeling adventurous!  Also, I’ve now put up a recipe for the Steamed Chicken and Sausage Rice from last week’s meal plan.

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

For breakfasts, I’ve got Mini Zucchini and Haloumi Frittatas.  The recipe makes 12, so I’ll take 3 to work each day.

Lunch is a Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup.  You can find the recipe here.  As the recipe really only makes 4 serves and I want to stretch it out to 6 serves, I’m including a slice of hummus on wholemeal toast.  The hummus recipe is from the Everyday Cookbook.

Dinner on Monday and Tuesday is what I call a Tofu, Eggplant and Pork Mince Stirfry.  I will serve it with steamed rice (done on the stove or the Thermomix, depending on what I feel like doing on Monday) and dry fried green beans.  These beans are trimmed and heated over low heat until they shrivel up.  The draft recipe for both of these is at the bottom of this post.

Wednesday dinner and Thursday’s lunch is a chicken stirfry.  I have a basic stirfry recipe that I use and I just mix the vegetables and proteins up depending on what I feel like and what is available.  To make sure the vegetables are crisp for lunch, don’t cook the vegetables and only put half of the meat mixture back into the pan.  The vegetables will cook when you heat the food up in the microwave the next day.  The draft recipe is as the bottom of this post

Thursday is a crispy skinned salmon.  I steam the salmon in the Thermomix and then crisp up the skin in the frying pan.  I will serve this with a sauté of cabbage, onion and garlic.  The salmon is simple – steamed in the Varoma of the Thermomix for about 11 to 12 minutes with 500g of water.  I then heat some olive oil in a frying pan and put the salmon skin side down until it is nice and crisp. The draft recipe for the cabbage side dish is at the bottom of this post.

Draft Recipes

Tofu, Eggplant and Pork Mince Stirfry
Serves 4
Ingredients
Marinade
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice wine vinegar (optional)
2 tsp vegetable oil

200g lean minced pork
4 Chinese eggplants (skinny ones)
Vegetable oil for frying
½ cup boiling water
600g silken firm tofu, diced into 2cm pieces

Garnish
2 stalks spring onion, thinly sliced
Sesame oil
Chili flakes

Instructions
1. In a glass mixing bowl, combine pork with marinade ingredients
2. Slice eggplant into 1.5 cm pieces
3. Heat oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat and cook eggplant until translucent.  Remove from heat
4. Without turning off the heat, add the pork mixture and cook through, stirring occasionally; making sure the mince does not clump together (think bolognaise)
5. Add water, tofu and eggplant and cook until the sauce thickens
6. Garnish with spring onions, drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle with chili flakes

Dry Fried Green Beans
Serves 4
Ingredients
500g green beans, trimmed
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt to season

Instructions
1. Heat oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat
2. Add beans and sprinkle with salt
3. Spread the beans around the pan to make a single layer
4. Turn the heat down to low and cook until the beans shrivel up, turning occasionally.  This can take 20 minutes or more

Chicken Stir Fry
Serves 4
Ingredients
Marinade
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp grated ginger (mine comes from a jar)
2 tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (optional)

600g chicken breast
1 large onion, cut into 0.5 cm slices
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
4 handfuls sugar snap peas, trimmed
400g cabbage, diced into 2.5 cm dice
Vegetable oil for frying
1/2 cup boiling water
Sesame oil for serving

Instructions
1. Thinly slice chicken and put it into a glass mixing bowl
2. Add marinade ingredients into the mixing bowl and stir with chicken 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 chicken and fry until just cooked through
5. Add water to meat and heat until boiling.  It will mix with the cornflour in the chicken to make a sauce
6. Without putting the heat out, put the chicken into a fresh mixing bowl
7. Add the vegetables into the frying pan and heat until just cooked through and still crisp, stirring occasionally
8. Add meat back into the frying pan and mix with vegetables until sauce is bubbling
9. Sprinkle with sesame oil to serve

Sauteed Cabbage and Onion
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 large onion, peeled, halved and sliced into 0.5cm pieces
400g cabbage, sliced in 0.5cm pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
Light olive oil for frying

Instructions
1. Heat a large frying pan with oil on medium heat
2. Add onions and garlic and fry for 2 minutes
3. Add in cabbage and fry until the cabbage is soft