Meal Planning (w/c June 10, 2013)

This week’s meal planner is slightly abbreviated as we went away for the long weekend and didn’t get home until late on the Monday night.  We also had something on Tuesday night too.  However, I still wanted to find some tasty things for us to eat.

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

For breakfast, I’m going for the easy, but tasty (and nutritious) option of porridge – mine are made with 1/4 cup quick oats, 2 tbsp wheat germ and 60g frozen berries (defrosted overnight in the fridge).

For Monday and Tuesday lunch, I made the Pasta é Fagioli in the Thermomix using the recipe from the Everyday Cookbook.  The modifications I made on the ingredients included using – only 20g of oil, 200g of wholewheat penne, a can of borlotti beans, a can of cannellini beans, a 400g can of diced tomato and 20g of tomato paste (instead of fresh tomatoes).  I also reduced the water to 500g and didn’t include celery (because I didn’t have any!)  The wholewheat pasta takes longer to cook so I added an extra 5 minutes to the clock.  In order to boost the vegetable content, I also put 1/2 cup of frozen peas to the lunch container to boost the vegetable content. I love this recipe because you can cook everything – including the pasta – in the one bowl.

For Wednesday’s dinner and Thursday’s lunch, I’m going with a beef stir-fry with broccoli, Asian greens and baby corn.  The stir-fry recipe is here.

For Thursday, dinner is for one, so I’ve decided to go for crispy skin salmon with mushroom and brussel sprouts cooked in a pan with garlic.  The draft version of the recipe can be found below.

Draft Recipe

Crispy Skin Salmon with Mushrooms and Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients

200g salmon fillet

500g water

Salt to season

Light olive oil for cooking

1 clove garlic, minced

4 mushrooms, halved

4 brussel sprouts, outer leaves removed and halved

Instructions

1. Season fish with salt and then place on the top tray of the Varoma – skin side up

2. Put water in the Thermomix bowl, close lid and assemble the Varoma on top

3. Steam fish for 10 mins/Varoma/Speed 1

4. Three minutes into cooking the salmon, heat oil in a small frying pan on medium-high heat

5. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds

6. Add brussel sprouts and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally

7. Add mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes until the brussel sprouts are browned; then remove to a serving plate

8. When the Thermomix finishes, check the fish and depending on the thickness, steam for another 1 to 2 minutes

9. Turn the heat on the frying back on to medium-high and place the salmon skin-side down on the pan

10. Cook until the skin is browned and crispy