Monday’s Menu Musings
Although today isn’t Monday, I think I’m going to try a little something – a tradition, if you will, right here in the blogosphere. That’s right, Monday’s Menu Musings, more simply put- meal plans and/or recipes and the like. The menu musings might be good recipes I’ve come across and want to try, recipes I’ve sampled from others and just had to have, old family traditional recipes or even some of my very own that I attempt to create (but don’t expect a lot of those!) So here goes nothin’ and be sure to check back next Monday for some more musings…
Meal Plan For The Week (just a side note – I like to gather several meals for the week and then choose each day accordingly instead of having to stick to the plan. It allows for flexibility and I never plan 7 whole dinners a week because we usually have left-overs from at least a couple of meals which we will eat on other nights just to simplify things a bit more)
DINNER
Mediterranean salad with chickpea patties
Ravioli with spinach and bacon
Chicken with tarragon and leeks
Whole Wheat Pita pizza’s and fruit
LUNCH
Cranberry couscous
Crackers and cheese, nuts and fruit
Almond butter and honey sandwiches, veggie sticks
Mac-N-Cheese
BREAKFAST
SuperGreen smoothies and eggs
Homemade yogurt and granola
Over-Night Steel cut oats with cream, raisins and almonds
Cereal and fruit
And today’s featured recipe is the Mediterranean salad with chickpea patties(from Real Simple) that we had last night for dinner. It was a big hit and the girls loved it too (sort of to my surprise!) The only thing I did different was made my own pita chips from whole-wheat pita breat (sprinkled with olive oil and sea salt and baked for a bit at 400) and served the meal up with some red grapes as well. Enjoy!
Mediterranean Salad With Chickpea Patties
- 1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
- 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup low-fat yogurt (preferably Greek)
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 8 cups mixed greens
- 1 cup grape tomatoes
- 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
- Pita chips (optional)
- 1In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas, parsley, garlic, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper just until coarsely chopped and the mixture comes together when gently squeezed. Form into eight 1/2-inch-thick patties and coat with the flour, tapping off excess.
- 2Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the patties, turning carefully, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- 3In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Divide the greens, tomatoes, onion, and chickpea patties among plates. Drizzle with the dressing and serve with the pita chips, if using.
Mmmmmmmmmmmm. That’s looks really good!
great idea! your week looks so gourmet…feel free to invite your favorite friends over 🙂 (i’m only half kidding). fyi: we tried the chicken, tarragon, and leeks and in retrospect thought it would have been better with some other herb besides tarragon (it tastes kind of like licorice). you guys might like it though! i do love leeks…