Menu of the Week #6

The menu of the week turned out to be delicious. This week we had Salmon with a Salad of Green Beans and Bok Choy, Chicken Tacos with Refried Beans and a Garden Salad, Pork Chops with Roasted Beets and Oranges, Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken Sausage, and Sheet Pan Pasta Bake with Chicken and Kale.

Monday: Salmon with a Salad of Green Beans and Bok Choy
I am always looking for new ways to eat Salmon on Monday. I usually never marinade our salmon, but I decided to go off script from the recipe and put the Salmon in a ziptop bag with whatever sauces I could get my hands on. I used soy sauce and mirin, spicy garlic sauce and ginger. I let the fish marinade for about 20 minutes before I cooked it in the oven like I usually do, at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. I followed the rest of the recipe pretty closely. Jim loved the veggies, and I thought they were just okay. I really liked the subtle Asian flavors on the salmon.

Tuesday: Chicken Tacos with Refried Beans and a Garden Salad
By far the most repeated chicken dinner in my house is this easy-peasy crockpot recipe where you take frozen chicken breasts and top with a jar of salsa and sprinkle with a packet of taco seasoning and set to low heat all day. When we get home, I shred the chicken with two forks and make quesadillas for the kids and Jim and I wrap a warm flour tortilla around the shredded meat and eat alongside some black beans and a garden salad. Voila, dinner!

When I make this, I make a lot of it so that I can repurpose the leftovers for one or two more meals.

Wednesday: Pork Chops with Roasted Beets and Oranges
Jim flipped over this dinner. I loved the roasted beets and the wilted arugula salad. I thought the rest was just okay. I found the recipe on Real Simple, and it was in fact pretty simple to assemble. I would make this again just because Jim loved it so much. Next time, I would leave out the orange segments but squeeze the juice to mix with some olive oil and seasoning to make a dressing for the beets and arugula.

Thursday: Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken Sausage
If I had known how awesome this dinner was going to be, I would have made it last week instead of carrying it over. Delicious! The best part is how easy and quick this meal comes together. Read the full recipe here.

Friday: Sheet Pan Pasta Bake with Chicken and Kale
I referenced this recipe from Epicurious for dinner, but I repurposed four cups of leftover shredded chicken from Tuesday and left out the cherry tomatoes. The kids did not like the pieces of kale sprinkled throughout, but it was mine and Jim's favorite part.