Weekly Meals Round-Up

Now that a new week is beginning, I have a few thoughts about the weekly meal plans and a round up of last week's meal plans (if you know me, you know I love a good bullet point list):

• I still need to post a few recipes.  I'll take care of that below, for the most part.
• I think I'm going to start posting the weekly meal plan the week after I make it.  It's hard to do it "real-time" because I think of things along the way.  I'd like to include those little thoughts at the beginning of the week.
• I enjoy posting the recipes and pictures, but I don't want this to become a food blog.  The plan will be to still post the recipes and pictures but have them more scattered with other posts.
• It sure was nice not having to ask once "what do you want to do for dinner!"
• Any other thoughts?  Let me know!

Moving on.  Thursday night, I made Turkey Meatballs served over Pea Pesto and Pasta.  It actually turned out pretty delicious!

A while ago, Stacy made Giada's Pea Pesto Crostini, and I've been craving them ever since.  When I saw a recipe for Turkey Meatballs with Mint Pesto and Fava, as I was flipping through Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home, I thought Giada's Pea Pesto would be a great substitute for the Mint and Fava Bean Pesto.  Done. 

 

Remember that bread from the Eggs Diablo?  Well, it's probably stale by now so throw it in the food processor and make some bread crumbs!  Or just use breadcrumbs from the store.  Whatever you like.  

Is there a way to take a good picture of raw turkey?  Gross.  I tried at least.

Turkey and Pancetta Meatballs
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home

1 pound ground turkey
1 ounce thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped - I used bacon because I already had some
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup fresh fine bread crumbs
Course salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large whole egg + 1 large egg yolk
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh sage - I used basil because that's what I had... see a theme?
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
Olive oil, for frying

Combine all of the ingredients except the olive oil.  Can you tell from my picture above that I forgot the lemon zest?  I did but it was still delicious.  Form the mixture into meatballs.  Martha says 1" in diameter.  Mine were a little bigger.  At this point, I put them into the fridge until I was ready to cook.  I also put 1/2 of them in the freezer to save for later.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet, cast iron works great for this.  Fry the meatballs until browned and cooked through. 

Does this look unappetizing?  I couldn't decide whether or not to post this picture, because the meal was so tasty and I just don't think the picture does it any justice!

Turkey Meatballs with Pea Pesto and Pasta

After you've got the turkey meatballs in the skillet, bring a pot of water up to a boil.  If it's anything like our apartment stove, it will take a while.  When the turkey meatballs are finished, keep them warm in the oven set on the lowest temperature.  While the pasta is cooking, make the pea pesto according to Giada's recipe (just the pesto, no crostinis this time).  I did thin out the pesto with some of the pasta water.  After the pesto is the desired consistency, you might have to warm it up a bit if the pasta water wasn't enough.

Moving on to the next meal.  We saved the Herb Marinated Chicken and Summer Salad for Saturday, so Andy could grill the chicken.  We only have a charcoal grill at the apartment, and it's unlikely that we'll fire that up on a school night.  I can tell, this meal is going into the summer rotation. It's fresh, seasonal and most importantly delicious.

Herb-Marinated Chicken
Adapted from Fresh Every Day Sara Foster with Carolynn Carreno

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/2 lbs)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs chopped fresh herbs (such as parsley, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, sage, marjoram, oregano, basil, chives) - I used oregano, tarragon and basil.
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix together all of the ingredients except the chicken and lemon.  Pour mixture over chicken breasts and the top with lemon slices.  Marinate for a few hours or overnight.  I marinated this early in the week, so I skipped the lemons planning to add them later.  I don't think you're supposed to keep a high acidic marinade on meat for a while.  I froze the marinated meat until the night before we grilled.

Summer Herb Vinaigrette
Adapted from Fresh Every Day Sara Foster with Carolynn Carreno
Makes 1 1/4 cups

1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 - 3 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
2 Tbs chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 Tbs chopped fresh flat leaf parsley - I used tarragon
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix together the ingredients in a jar until ready to dress the salad.  I halved the recipe since I only wanted to make enough for the salad below.  I still had a bit leftover, but it will be delicious on a green salad this week.

Fresh Mozzarella Salad with Avocado, Roasted Corn, and Grape Tomatoes
Adapted from Fresh Every Day Sara Foster with Carolynn Carreno

4 ears sweet corn
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella
2 ripe avocados
1/2 pint grape tomatoes - I used a pint
8 - 10 basil leaves, cut into thin slices
1/2 cup Summer Herb Vinaigrette

While I assembled the salad, Andy grilled the corn.  In the summer, I love grilled corn!  We remove the husks, coat it in a little olive oil and then stick it right on the grill.  It doesn't take long to cook.  If you don't want to grill it, you can roast it in the oven.  Dice the mozzarella, cube the avocados and half the grape tomatoes.  Mix in the corn and basil leaves, toss with the vinaigrette and enjoy!