Dinner Recipes, Summer Meal Plan #1

What to cook for dinner this week:

1.) Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken with Indian Rice 2.) Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing 3.) Shrimp, Rice, and Shiitake Mushroom Soup 4.) Open-Face Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Sandwiches 5.) French Cheese Omelettes with Grilled Veggie Salad 6.) Cocktail: Pomegranate Ginger Spritzer

On this page, you’ll find a meal plan for the week. Each meal is designed to build on the previous night’s efforts by using leftover ingredients. A little = a lot. You’ll also find a preparation schedule and grocery list.

Individual Recipes:

(A shopping list for this week’s meals is at the bottom of this page)

Meal Prep, Day by Day

Day #1

What’s for Dinner Tonight: Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken with Indian Style Rice and Naan

For me, “Day #1” is usually a Sunday, and it’s the day with the most heavy lifting when it comes to meal prep for the rest of the week. I am always so grateful to myself for taking a couple of hours on Sunday to make getting dinner on the table that much easier the rest of the week.

Whatever day of the week you choose as your “Day #1”, here’s your meal prep task list:

Leftover Butter Chicken will be used on Day #2 in Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing, and leftover sauce will be used in Shrimp, Rice, and Shiitake Mushroom Soup on Day #3. If you also want to make enough of this yummy Indian dish to freeze for a rainy day (highly recommended!), cook 6 pounds of chicken and double the amount of sauce in the recipe. This will take full advantage of a 6-quart slow cooker, filling it to the brim.
After tonight’s meal, reserve 1 cup of the butter chicken sauce in a covered container in your refrigerator for Shrimp, Rice, and Shiitake Mushroom Soup on Day #3. Reserve 2 – 3 cups of the leftover chicken in a covered container in the refrigerator for Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing on Day #2. The remaining butter chicken and sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months and is a welcome addition to your Take-Out Freezer.
If you also want to freeze some Indian Rice, double the amount in the recipe. Reserve 3 cups of cooked Indian Rice for Shrimp, Rice, and Shiitake Mushroom Soup on Day #3. Freeze the remaining leftover rice.
Naan is a delicious accompaniment for tonight’s meal. If you have the time and inclination, Homemade Garlic Naan is one of the easiest homemade breads you can make and SO tasty. If you’re not feeling the homemade-bread-vibe tonight, simply pick up a package of naan at your local market. Wrap it in foil and warm it in your oven. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter and add a small handful of chopped, fresh parsley. Brush the parsley butter over the warm naan just before serving.

If you want to get an even bigger jump on the week:

Chop the vegetables and make the mango dressing for Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing on Day #2.
Make Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and put in a covered container in the refrigerator for Open-Face Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Sandwiches on Day #4. (You can also use prepared red pepper hummus instead of homemade.)

Day #2

What’s for Dinner Tonight: Chicken Salad with Mango Dressing

Leftover Butter Chicken combined with fresh, crunchy vegetables, and creamy mango dressing make a delicious salad that tastes like summer on a plate. The recipe suggests topping greens with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, red bell peppers, and carrots. But, you should use whatever fresh vegetables sound good to you.

Day #3

What’s for Dinner Tonight: Shrimp, Rice, and Shiitake Mushroom Soup

Thanks to the leftover butter chicken sauce and Indian rice you reserved from Day #1, this flavorful soup will be on the table in under 30 minutes.
If you want to save yourself some time tomorrow morning, chop the vegetables and put them in the marinade for Open-Face Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Sandwiches.
If you didn’t make Roasted Red Pepper Hummus on Day #1, make it either tonight or tomorrow morning so that it will have time to set-up in the refrigerator before slathering it on Open-Face Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Sandwiches. (You can also use prepared red pepper hummus instead of homemade.)

Day #4

What’s for Dinner Tonight: Open-Face Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Sandwiches

If you haven’t already done so, chop the vegetables for tonight’s sandwiches and get them in the marinade in the morning so they have plenty of time to soak up the marinade’s flavor.
The Roasted Red Pepper Hummus benefits from sitting in the refrigerator for a few hours so that it can thicken and set-up, making it more spreadable. So, if you haven’t made it yet, consider making it in the morning. Put the hummus into a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use. (You can also use prepared red pepper hummus instead of homemade.)
Reserve leftover grilled vegetables to serve alongside Cheese Omelettes on Day #5.
Reserve leftover bread to toast and serve with Cheese Omelettes on Day #5.

Day #5

What’s for Dinner Tonight: French Cheese Omelettes with Grilled Veggie Salad

If you think of omelettes as exclusive breakfast and brunch food, I beg you to reconsider. French omelettes make a delicious, simple, elegant dinner, that whip up in a flash.
Serve tonight’s omelettes with leftover grilled vegetables, reserved from Day #2, simply heated in the microwave until warm. Or, use them to make a quick salad: Mix up a simple vinaigrette and toss with some greens. Add some room temperature grilled vegetables over the dressed greens and sprinkle with a small handful of dried cranberries or cherries and almonds or pistachios.
If you have any bread leftover from Day #4, toast a few slices to serve with these omelettes.

This Week’s Featured Cocktail: Pomegranate Ginger Spritzer

Suggested Recipes for the Baker:

Useful Equipment:

Shopping List, Weekly Summer Meal Plan #1

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*Does not include ingredients for suggested baked goods.

4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb fresh or frozen shrimp, peeled and deveined
12 to 14 oz link Kielbasa Sausage (optional for Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Sandwiches)
3 large yellow onion
2 medium red onions
2 mangos
8 limes
5 large lemons (if not making homemade hummus, you’ll only need 3)
8 cups salad greens
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 English cucumber
4 large red bell peppers
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 lb fresh green beans
2 heaping cups cherry tomatoes
4-6 carrots
10 oz shiitake mushrooms
12 to 16 oz mushrooms (any variety)
1 bunch of green onions (to garnish shrimp and rice soup)
Micro greens or sprouts (to garnish shrimp and rice soup)
13 cloves garlic
Fresh ginger – enough for 3 tbsp grated or minced
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh oregano
2 tsp chopped chives (optional, to top omelettes on Day #5)
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp curry powder
3 1/2 tsp chili powder
4 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp paprika
1 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp coriander
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
Salt
Black pepper
White pepper
2 cups basmati rice
1/4 cup tahini (for homemade hummus)
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth – OR water to cook rice
1 jar roasted red peppers – enough for 1 cup chopped peppers (for homemade hummus)
One 15-oz can chickpeas, drained (for homemade hummus)
3 cups (22oz) tomato sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup dry roasted almonds
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 large eggs – per omelette on Day #5
5 oz garlic & herb or shallot & chive Boursin Cheese
16 (2 sticks) tbsp butter
4 tbsp plain, unsweetened yogurt
2 cups (16 oz) frozen peas
1 cup dry white wine (for shrimp and rice soup)
French, Italian, or Sourdough Bread, sliced and toasted (Enough for sandwiches on Day #4 plus toast to go with omelettes on Day #5)
1 cup Roasted Red Pepper Hummus – IF not making homemade hummus

If making a salad to go with omelettes on Day #5:

Salad greens
1 cup dried cranberries or cherries
1 cup pistachios or almonds
3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
½ cup olive oil

If making homemade Garlic Naan:

2¼ tsp active dry yeast
¼ cup + 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
⅓ cup plain, unsweetened yogurt (preferably greek)
4 tbsp granulated sugar
5-6 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2½ tsp salt
1 tsp minced garlic
8 tbsp butter
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley

For this week’s featured cocktail, the Pomegranate Ginger Spritzer (per drink):

2 oz Gin
1 oz orange liquor
1/4 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
4 or 5 thinly sliced pieces of ginger
2 oz Rose’s lime juice
Club soda