This is a week of tried and true recipes from my favorite Pampered Chef "29 Minutes to Dinner" cookbook. It's a pretty normal week for us with about three actual recipes, one cheap dinner (read: boxed) and one from the freezer on a busy night. My freezer stock is wearing thin so we'll have a freezer cooking week coming up soon. Safeway has had some good meat sales the past couple of weeks and I'm excited to try some new stuff soon but this week, busy-busy time before the holidays, will be simple. I have a sneaking suspicion the rest of life won't follow my lead! Here we go!
Monday - Shrimp Panzanilla Salad
From Pampered Chef "29 Minutes to Dinner"
What you need for the salad: 4 inch thick pieces of crusty Italian bread, 1 tbsp plus 1/4 cup Olive Oil (divided), 1 medium carrot, 1 stalk celery, 1 lb frozen medium or small cooked shrimp thawed
What you need for the dressing: 1 lemon (or a couple tbsp lemon juice), 2 tbsp fresh snipped parsley, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions: Heat a grill pan on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Lightly brush the bread slices with 1 tbsp of olive oil. With the pan still heating, peel the carrot, cut it in half lengthwise, then crosswise on a bias into thin slices. Thinly slice celery on the bias and set carrot and celery aside. Grill the bread slices for 1 - 2 minutes on each side until pretty grill marks appear and the bread is lightly toasted. Cut the bread into cubes with a bread knife (if you use another type of knife, you'll just squish the bread - I know this from experience!). Next, move on to the dressing. zest lemon to measure 1 tbsp zest (if you're not the "zester" type, you can buy little containers of it at the grocery store!) and juice the lemon to measure 2 tbsp juice. Snip parsley and whisk together zest, juice, parsley, pressed garlic, salt and black pepper. Slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and whisk until well blended. Add shrimp, carrot and celery to the dressing. Fold in bread cubes and serve right away (this one gets pretty soggy fast so you'll want to serve ASAP - leftovers aren't so yummy unless you like mush).
Tuesday - Almond Chicken Stir Fry (family fave!)
From Pampered Chef "29 Minutes to Dinner"
What you need for Chicken: 1 egg white, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 seasoning packet from chicken-flavored ramen noodles (you'll need the noodles later), 1 lb chicken tenders, 1 tbsp veggie oil
What you need for the Stir Fry: 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger, 2 pressed garlic cloves, 1/4 cup slivered almonds, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 8 oz snow peas, 1 can (12oz +/-) baby corn drained, 1 can (8 oz +/-) sliced water chestnuts drained, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
What you need for Pan-Fried Noodle Cake: 2 packages chicken ramen noodles (one noodle set from above and one complete package).
Instructions: Cook the noodles from both ramen packets until tender. While noodles cook, work on the chicken, whisking the egg white then add the seasoning packet and cornstarch and whisk again. Slice chicken tenders on the bias into 1/2 inch pieces. Toss chicken in egg white mixture and set aside. For the Stir Fry, grate gingerroot, add pressed garlic and set aside. Place almonds in your trusty wok (or skillet) and cook over medium high heat for 3 - 4 minutes until nice and toasted. Remove almonds from skillet and set aside. Now back to the noodles: lightly spray a saute pan (about 10 inch pan) with veggie oil and heat over medium heat until nice and hot (1 - 3 minutes), combine noodles with 1 tbsp oil and 1 seasoning packet. Add noodles to the pan and gently form into a round cake. Cook 3 -4 minutes on each side - you'll know it's done when it's golden and slightly crunchy on each side. Back to the Stir Fry: whisk together cornstarch and broth and add to your wok. Bring to a simmer remembering to stir and add the gingerroot-garlic mixture. Heat until "fragrant" (that's what the recipe says - it really does start to smell really good) being sure to stir a lot. Add veggies and chicken and simmer for 1 -2 minutes. Stir in half the toasted almonds. Cut the noodle cake into 4 wedges and then top each wedge with 1/4 of the chicken mixture and a dash of toasted almonds - you've got one amazing dinner! :)
Wednesday - Tuna Helper (this is the "cheap" dinner of the week - directions on your trusty box)
Thursday - Crunchy Whole Grain Chicken Bites
From Pampered Chef "29 Minutes to Dinner"
What you need for dressing and slaw: 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream (fat free doesn't work quite as well but is still an option), 2 tbsp reduced fat mayo, 1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix, 5 stalks celery, 2 carrots
What you need for chicken bites: 1 lb chicken tenders, remaining ranch dressing mix from above, 1 egg white, 6 cups (yes, you read six) whole grain chips (we use Sunchips), 1/4 tsp paprika, and hot sauce and/or blue cheese for garnish (we don't use blue cheese but the book suggests it - tastes like I'd imagine dirty feet taste -ick! Folks either love it or hate it!) Moving on...
Instructions: Preheat your oven to 400. For the dressing, whisk together sour cream, mayo and 1 tbsp of the dressing mix - set aside. For chicken: cut into 1 1/2 pieces. Whisk together egg white and reserved dressing mix. Crunch the chips in a ziploc (or any other offbrand works too!) bag. Add the rest of the dressing mix and the paprika and give it a good shake. Add chicken to the egg mixture and coat all the pieces well. Add half of the coated chicken to the crunched chip mixture and shake well. Put the chicken in a single layer on a baking sheet (we line ours with foil and lightly coat it with a spray to save on heavy scrubbing at washing time). Repeat with the of the chicken. Spray chicken generously with oil and then bake at 400 for about 15 minutes - make sure to check to make sure it's no longer pink. If your chunks are thick, it might take a few minutes longer. For the slaw, thinly slice the celery on the bias. Peel carrots and cut into julienne strips. Combine the carrots and celery with 1/4 cup of the dressing you made earlier and mix well. Split everything among four plates and use the leftover dressing as dipping sauce. Garnish with hot sauce and/or the stinky cheese should you choose. Enjoy!
Friday - Freezer Burrito Wonder Day
Always have to have a freezer stocked with made-ahead meals for crazy or busy weeks! Avoids unhealthy and expensive stops at MickeyDs.
Have a marvelous week my friends! Mine will be filled with addressing Christmas cards, wrapping gifts, shipping gifts, and getting ready for a holiday baking weekend extravaganza with my mom and sis. It's a crazy-busy season but I wouldn't change it for anything. Till next week....
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