Dinner Recipes, Winter Meal Plan #8

What to Cook for Dinner this Week:

1.) Slow Cooker Tri-Tip Steak with Gravy, Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes and Glazed Carrots, 2.) Roast chicken with Roasted Shiitake and Citrus Salad, 3.) Beef and Barley Soup, 4.) 20-Minute Garlic Chipotle Pasta, 5.) Chicken Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette and Sesame Crunch, 6.) Cocktail: Cherry Citrus Prosecco Spritz

3 of this week's meals can easily be made vegetarian:

Roasted Shiitake Mushroom and Citrus Salad (Day #2), Garlic Chipotle Pasta (Day #4), and Chicken Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette and Sesame Crunch (Day #5) can all be served without the chicken if you wish.

If you’d rather cook two or three meals instead of five

Five home cooked meals in one week is not feasible or desirable for everyone. If two or three is more your style this week, Days #1, and #3 – OR Days #2, #4, and #5 work well together, with one meal building from the next. Please note that the grocery list below is for all 5 meals.

If you’re not familiar with this blog, here’s the basic idea:

Using ingredients in multiple dishes throughout the week is the key to getting delicious, wholesome, good for you, home cooked meals on the table several nights of the week. The recipes in each 5-day meal plan include some planned leftovers. Each meal is designed to build on the previous night’s efforts by using these leftover ingredients. A little = a lot.

Meal Prep, Day by Day

*This meal plan is based on a family of 4 with a couple of meals making more than 4 servings so that you have some leftovers for lunches, etc. At the start of the week, take a quick glance through each day's "PLAN AHEAD" notes and plan accordingly.

Day #1

*PLAN AHEAD: Slow cooker tri-tip steak will need to cook for 8-9 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high. Either plan to get the meat in the slow cooker in the morning or the night before, letting it cook overnight and putting it in the refrigerator in the morning.

[sg_popup id="3914" event="click"]Slow Cooker Tri-Tip Steak with Fennel and Coriander Gravy[/sg_popup]
[sg_popup id="3922" event="click"]Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes[/sg_popup]
[sg_popup id="3926" event="click"]Glazed Carrots[/sg_popup]

Day #2

*PLAN AHEAD: If you’ve never made Ponzu there are a couple of ingredients that you may need to order if your local market doesn't cary them: Dried Kombu and Bonito Flakes. (More information about these ingredients in the recipe below.)

Ponzu - the dressing in tonight's salad - needs to sit for at least 3 hours, longer if that works better in your schedule. You can get the ponzu started in the morning (it will take about 5 minutes), and let it soak in the refrigerator all day. Or, get it started the night before, let it soak in the refrigerator overnight, then strain the sauce in the morning.

[sg_popup id="3930" event="click"]Simple Roast Chicken[/sg_popup]
[sg_popup id="3934" event="click"]Roasted Shiitake Salad with Oranges, Almonds, and Citrus Ponzu[/sg_popup]

Day #3

*PLAN AHEAD: There are 2 different kinds of early - Pearl Barley and Hulled Barley. Hulled barley has been minimally process and is considered a whole grain. Pearl barley has been processed to remove the bran and endosperm layers and is not considered a whole grain. A third option is Bob’s Red Mill Hull-less Barley. Hull-less barley cooks as quickly as pearl barley, but has been developed so that the entire grain can be used without peeling the bran layers away.

If you have time, consider making this super simple homemade bread to go with the soup tonight.

[sg_popup id="3952" event="click"]Beef and Barley Soup[/sg_popup]

Day #4

PLAN AHEAD: If you like, consider making homemade pasta for tonight's dinner.

[sg_popup id="3957" event="click"]20-minute Garlic Chipotle Pasta with Roast Chicken[/sg_popup]

Day #5

[sg_popup id="3961" event="click"]Chicken Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette and Sesame Crunch[/sg_popup]

This Week’s Featured Cocktail:

Cherry Citrus Prosecco Spritzer

Useful Equipment for this week's meal plan:

Suggestions for the Baker:

Shopping List, Winter Meal Plan #8

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*Does not include ingredients for suggested baked goods.

4 lb Tri-tip steak
Three 2-4 lb whole roasting chickens
2 lbs thick sliced bacon
About 6 cups baby greens
6-8 cups chopped romain lettuce
30 ounces shiitake mushrooms
6 large lemons
3 limes
2 tart apples
4 or 5 fresh oranges + an additional 4-5 fresh oranges (enough for ¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice)
3 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes
2 large yellow onions
1 large shallot
10-12 whole carrots
6 celery stalks
1 lb radishes
8 cloves fresh garlic
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
½ cup chopped fresh basil
4 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon dried thyme
a dash of cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
¾ cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoon honey
4 anchovy fillets
36 ounces chicken broth
⅔ cup Hulled Barley, Pearl Barley, or Hull-less Barley
1 tablespoon cornstarch
One 6-inch piece dried kombu
1 ¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup dried bonito flakes
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
7 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 ¾ cups roasted, salted almonds
2 tablespoon tomato paste
14 ounce package dried spaghetti noodles
6 ounces cream cheese
8 tablespoons salted butter,
½ cup whole milk, half-and-half, or buttermilk (for the mashed potatoes)
4 tbs vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup toasted sesame oil
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoon brown sugar
½ cup dry red wine (for beef and barley soup)
12 ounces frozen green beans
1 large egg