Week 4

This week I'm actually organizing what we eat when because I need to use up certain things first. Also, I've just started getting organic produce delivered on Thursdays, so I'm taking that into account. Luckily I can go online and see what I'm getting delivered on Thursday. I'm getting apples, leeks and potatoes, and coincidentally, I just happened upon a recipe for those exact items last week when looking through a magazine. How weird is that?!

Mon - Slow Cooker Bulgur Pilaf with Broccoli and Carrots (vegetarian, 6-8 servings), adapted from Betty Crocker's Slow Cooker Cookbook
2 cups uncooked bulgur (cracked wheat)
1 Tbs butter
1 tsp salt
4 med carrots, shredded
1 large onion, chopped
30 oz vegetable broth
4 cups chopped fresh broccoli
1 cup shredded cheese (the recipe called for Colby but I'm using cheddar)

Mix all ingredients except broccoli and cheese in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hrs or until bulgur is tender. Stir in broccoli and sprinkle with cheese. Cover and turn heat to high for about 15 more mins.


Tue - White Fish with Chickpea Ragu (from Woman's Day magazine, 4 servings), serve with baked sweet potatoes
1 Tbs EVOO
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (or regular if you don't want to buy smoked just for this recipe)
1 (15oz) can garbanzo beans, rinsed (or about 1 cup dried garbanzos, soaked and cooked)
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes
4 pieces cod, halibut or other mild white fish (about 1 1/4 lbs total)
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Sautee onion in EVOO, add garlic and salt and pepper and cook until onion softens. Add paprika and saute another min. Add chickpeas and tomatoes and bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer, stirring occasionally for 4-5 mins. Season fish w/S&P, place on top of chickpea mixture in pan. Cover and simmer until fish is cooked through, about 8-10 mins. Stir in parsley before serving. (For the baked sweet potatoes, treat them like you would russet potatoes - scrub well, dry off, pierce with fork, and bake at 400 degrees F for about 30-45 mins, depending on size of potatoes. Serve with salt and butter.)


Wed - Meatballs with Spaghetti serve with side salad
This is my mom's recipe and not rigid by any means. You can play with the ingredients to your liking.
For the Sauce:
saute 6-8 cloves sliced garlic in EVOO for a minute, just before they start to brown, add a big can of crushed tomatoes and a normal can of tomato sauce. Stir in about a Tbs of basil, Tbs of oregano, and 1/2 Tbs of anise seeds. Add about 3/4 cup red wine (something dry and good enough to drink). If you have a pressure cooker, do it in that, add the browned meatballs (recipe below), cover and pressure cook for 20 mins. If sauce needs thickening, you can add a small can of tomato paste at the end. Also add S&P to taste. If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can simmer the sauce for about 3 hours and then add the browned meatballs and simmer another hour.

For the meatballs:
Mix together 2 lbs of ground meat (you can do all ground beef or you can do about half beef and half pork), 1 egg, just enough breadcrumbs to hold mixture together, a little lemon zest, a few good grates of Parmesan (or other hard Italian cheese), some oregano and basil, chopped garlic and thinly sliced onion, S&P, Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, and a little red wine or milk. Mix just until it comes together. Form into balls and brown in EVOO on all sides before transferring to sauce.

Serve over spaghetti cooked al dente. If you are watching the glycemic index of your foods, you can opt for something like Dreamfields pasta which has a lower GI, or you can go for whole wheat pasta.

Thu - Roasted Sausage, Apples, Leeks and Potatoes (from Woman's Day magazine, serves 4)
2 small crisp red apples (such as Braeburn or Empire), quartered
2 leeks (white and light green parts only), halved crosswise and then lengthwise
2 yellow potatoes, cut into 1/2" thick wedges (I'm using red since they are coming in my produce box)
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 Tbs EVOO
kosher salt and pepper
1 1/2 lbs chicken sausage links (the recipe calls for 8 small ones, but I opted for 4 large ones that are made in-house at our Sprouts market - they had chicken and basil)

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss apples, leeks, potatoes, thyme, oil, S&P in large roasting pan. Roast 15 mins. Stir the veggies and then add the sausage to the pan. Roast until sausage is cooked through, about 15-20 mins more.


Fri - Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken serve over couscous and with side salad (from Betty Crocker's book again, serves 4)
8 chicken drumsticks, skin removed
1 8oz can pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried marjoram leaves
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 Tbs cold water
1/4 cup sliced pimento-stuffed green olives
1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
cooked couscous for serving

Place chicken in 5-6 qt slow cooker. Mix pineapple through turmeric. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hrs. Remove chicken. Mix cornstarch and water and stir into sauce. Turn up to high, cover and cook another 15 mins, stir in olives, sprinkle with parsley and serve over couscous.


Sat - Kung Wow Chicken
I am making this recipe as written, only also adding zucchini.