Dinner Recipes, Winter Meal Plan #4

What to cook for dinner this week:

1.) Roast Chicken with Red Peppers, 2.) Enchiladas Verdes, 3.) Open Face Chicken Salad Sandwiches, 4.) Chicken Chopped Salad, 5.) Potato Corn Chowder, 6.) Cocktail: Sparkling Negroni

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.

Your Meal Plan for This Week:

Roast Chicken with Sautéed Red Peppers and other vegetables and bread
Enchiladas Verdes (Green Chili Enchiladas)
Open Face Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Chicken Chopped Salad
Potato Corn Chowder with Smoked Gouda and Bacon Jalapeño Biscuits (optional)

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: Roast Chicken with Sautéed Red Peppers and any other veggies you like, and Italian, multi-grain, or sourdough Bread

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 few 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:

*Note: The most important prep tasks for today is roasting the chickens, sautéing the vegetables, and making chicken broth. Everything else in the following list can be made throughout the week. But, if you do get everything on this list done today, the rest of this week’s meals will be super fast and easy.

Roast three chickens. The easiest way to roast all three at once is to put two chickens in a 9×13 baking dish and the third chicken in a square 9-inch baking dish. Please be aware that the single chicken will be finished roasting before the two that are roasting together in the 9×13 dish. Eat one for dinner tonight. Pick the meat from the bones of the other two chickens (plus any leftover meat from the first chicken). Reserve 2 cups roasted chicken meat in a freezer safe zip top bag or container and put in the freezer to keep fresh for Chicken Chopped Salad on Day 4. Reserve the remaining leftover roasted chicken meat in the refrigerator for Enchiladas Verdes (you’ll need about 4 1/2 cups) and Open Face Chicken Salad Sandwiches (you’ll need about 3 cups).
After picking the chicken meat from the bones, use the chicken bones to make ultra simple chicken broth, letting it simmer on the stovetop or in the slow cooker overnight.
Sauté red bell peppers and any other vegetables you’d like to eat tonight following this method for perfect sautéed vegetables. For a family of 4, sauté 6 red peppers; serve half of the peppers for dinner tonight and reserve the rest for Chicken Chopped Salad on Day #5.
Cut up some of the bread into small 1/2-inch cubes – about 2-4 cups of bread cubes – and use to make homemade croutons, for Chicken Chopped Salad on Day #5. Reserve remaining bread for Open Face Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Day 4.
Make the Green Chili Sauce for tomorrow’s Enchiladas Verdes. *NOTE: Broil a total of 6 poblano peppers and 2 yellow onions (step one in the recipe for Enchiladas Verdes), but reserve 3 of the peppers and 1 of the onions for Potato Corn Chowder on Day 3. Refrigerate the Green Chili Sauce in an airtight container. 3/4 cup of the sauce will be used in Potato Corn Chowder. The rest will be used for Enchiladas Verdes.
If making homemade tortillas (optional, packaged tortillas will work fine) for tomorrow’s Enchiladas Verdes, make them today. With the Green Chili Sauce and Tortillas made, tomorrow night’s meal will come together quickly.
If you really want to get a jump on the week:
- Slice 1 English cucumber and 12 radishes into paper thin slices. If you have a mandolin, now is the time to use it. Put the sliced vegetables in a zip top bag or other airtight container and reserve for Open Face Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Day #3.
- Sauté the bacon, hard boil the eggs, and chop all the vegetables except the avocado for Chicken Chopped Salad on Day #4.
- Dice 2 red bell peppers, storing them in a zip top bag or other airtight container in the refrigerator for Potato Corn Chowder on Day #5.

Day #2

What’s for Dinner Tonight: Enchiladas Verdes (Green Chili Enchiladas)

In the morning, remove the chicken broth from the stove, strain the bones from the broth, pour it into a covered container, and place in the refrigerator. You’ll use it on Day #5 to make Potato Corn Chowder.
If you prepared the green enchilada sauce and tortillas yesterday, tonight’s meal is more about assembly than cooking. Follow the Assemble and Bake instructions in the recipe, using approximately 4 1/2 cups of the leftover roast chicken, and you’ll have dinner in the oven in about 20 minutes.
Be sure to reserve 3/4 cup of the green enchilada sauce for Potato Corn Chowder on Day #5.

Day #3

What’s for Dinner Tonight: Open Face Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Use approximately 3 cups of the leftover roast chicken to make the chicken salad, and several slices of the leftover bread for the sandwiches. This is a quick, simple meal, especially if you chopped the cucumbers and radishes on day 1.

Day #4

What’s for Dinner Tonight: Chicken Chopped Salad

If you chopped the veggies, boiled the eggs, sautéed the bacon, and made the croutons for this salad earlier in the week, tonight’s dinner is simply a matter of defrosting the chicken you put in the freezer earlier this week, and assembling the salad.

Day #5

What’s for Dinner Tonight: Potato Corn Chowder with Smoked Gouda and Bacon Jalapeño Biscuits (optional)

Use the Chicken Broth You made earlier in the week, the roasted poblano peppers and onions, and 3/4 cup Green Chile Sauce that you reserved when making Enchiladas Verdes for this flavorful chowder.

This Week’s Featured Cocktail: Sparkling Negroni

Suggested Recipes for the Baker:

Useful Equipment:

For Potato Corn Chowder: A Dutch Oven
For Open Face Chicken Salad Sandwiches: Mandoline
For the Sparkling Negroni: Cocktail Shaker with strainer

Shopping List, Weekly Winter Meal Plan #4

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*Does not include ingredients for suggested baked goods.

6 large poblano peppers
36 oz. (about 22) tomatillos
2 large yellow onions
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes
1 large lemon
2 English cucumbers
20-24 radishes
8-10 cups Romain lettuce
9 red bell peppers
1 pound of any vegetables you like, to sauté and serve alongside Roast Chicken
2 avocados
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup minced fresh chives
1/4 cup minced fresh tarragon
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 bunch green onions, chopped
12 cloves of garlic
3 whole roasting chickens, 3-4 pounds each
2 lb. (16 oz) thick cut bacon
2 loaves of Italian, multi-grain, or sourdough bread
2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
6 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
dash of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp granulated sugar
9 flour tortillas (Only purchase if not planning to make homemade tortillas. Ingredients for homemade tortillas: Flour, baking powder, salt, and corn oil)
4 oz capers, drained
12 oz jar roasted red peppers
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
8 cups vegetable or chicken broth
Hot sauce (optional, to serve with potato corn chowder)
2 tbsp butter
1 ½ cups sour cream
32 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
4-6 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 lbs (24 oz) frozen corn

For this week’s featured cocktail, the Sparkling Negroni: gin, sweet vermouth, Campari, Prosecco