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This Week’s Menu – Dinner Two Ways

This Week’s Menu – Dinner Two Ways

Actually, it’s still three dinners, but you’ll get two full meals out of one round of slow-cooking. Oh, and the most perfect dessert for those of us that care more about taste than fancy ingredients.

[[ recipeID=recipe-8lcgq275h, title=The Best Spring Pasta ]]

[[ recipeID=recipe-8lcgqdde7, title=Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken Over Rice ]]

[[ recipeID=recipe-8lcgql10j, title=Chicken Enchiladas ]]

[[ recipeID=recipe-8lcgqpzfp, title=Delightfully Tacky Toffee ]]

(It should go without saying you make the Delightfully Tacky Toffee as soon as humanely possible after reading this post. Assuming that is a given, let us proceed…)

First up, enjoy The Best Spring Pasta. While we are in the asparagus season, I like to make this dish as much as I can. Bonus – it works great for lunch the rest of the week.

Then prep the ingredients for the Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken and get it going before work. Come home, make rice, slice an avocado and ta-da, dinner!

Chicken enchiladas come together pretty quickly using the leftover meat, so I’d just assemble that same night vs. dirtying up another dish. Pop the enchiladas in the freezer if you don’t need it for a while. Otherwise, will be fine up to 3 to 5 days in the fridge.

Posted on January 04, 2023
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The Best Spring Pasta

You've got to love a vegetarian dish that incorporates bacon, right? Skip it for a truly meatless meal, but I love it for the perfect amount of salty flavor.

Servings: 6

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  • Prep Time: 0 mins
  • Cook Time: 0 mins
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Ingredients

Instructions

Ingredients

  • 3 cups penne pasta
  • 1 cup pea
  • 3 slices bacon
  • 1 bunch asparagus trimmed and chopped into 2 in. segments
  • 1 tbsp salt divided
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 cup white wine more sweet than dry
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 2 cups arugula
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
  • ¼ cup grated parmesan (optional)

Instructions

  1. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Add the peas to the water with four minutes of cooking time remaining. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining.
  2. Cook the bacon over medium heat in a large skillet until crispy. Place on paper towels and crumble when cooled.
  3. Meanwhile, remove most of the bacon fat from the pan and return to medium heat. Add the asparagus and a pinch of salt and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.
  4. Using the saucepan that cooked the noodles, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in the flour and cook for another 30 seconds. Whisk in the reserved pasta water, wine, cream, and salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes or until thickened. Add the pasta, peas, and asparagus into the pan. Sprinkle in red pepper flakes. Toss to coat.
  5. To serve, combine each portion with a 1/2 cup of arugula and a sprinkling of chopped bacon. Top with parmesan if so desired.

Notes

I really like orecchiette pasta in this dish, but it can be a bear to get via grocery delivery. Any small sized pasta works just fine.

 

DAIRY-FREE

Skip the heavy cream and parm. Keep a little extra bacon fat in with the asparagus instead.

 

VEGGIE LOVERS

Skip the bacon and use 1 tbsp olive oil to sauté the asparagus. 

Add more veggies in place of pasta. I think this would be good with as little as 1 cup of pasta if looking for more of a salad entrée than pasta entrée.

 

MEAT LOVERS

Slices of grilled chicken breast would be delightful in this dish. As would a fruit-y or herb-y sausage, like chicken and apple cut into bite-sized pieces.



Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken Over Rice

This is the best kind of slow cooker meal. It comes together in mere minutes and turns out enough deliciousness for at least two meals.

Servings: 8

Keywords:

  • Prep Time: 0 mins
  • Cook Time: 0 mins
  • Total Time: 0 mins

Ingredients

Instructions

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 16 oz salsa
  • 14 oz canned black beans drained
  • 1 ½ cups corn
  • 1 ½ tbsp taco seasoning
  • ½ salt and pepper
  • ½ oregano
  • 1 cup rice

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients except the rice into the slow cooker and add a ½ cup water. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours.
  2. With about 20 minutes left of cooking, prepare the rice using the instructions on the package.
  3. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken and add back into the crock pot, stir. Serve over cooked rice or a bed of romaine lettuce. Top with more salsa, avocado slices, or your other favorite taco ingredients.

Notes

-The nutrtional info on this recipe isn’t 100% accurate. Because we’ll get two meals out of the meat, the recipe is divided by 8. That’s not the case for the rice. Account for more carbs than mentioned.

 

CARB CONSCIOUS

-Skip the rice and add more veggies. Use diced peppers and halved cherry tomatoes with a mix of spinach and baby lettuces.


Chicken Enchiladas

Here's a super quick recipe for enchiladas. No fuss, but all the compliments for this one!

Servings: 6

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  • Prep Time: 0 mins
  • Cook Time: 0 mins
  • Total Time: 0 mins

Ingredients

Instructions

Ingredients

  • ½ recipe of the salsa chicken
  • 8 tortillas
  • 10 oz red enchilada sauce
  • ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

  1. Spray the bottom of a 9X13 casserole pan with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Scoop about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll-up. Place in casserole pan. Repeat steps until all tortillas and chicken mixture is used up.
  3. Spread the enchilada sauce over the top of the tortillas and then sprinkle on cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 5-10 minutes more until cheese is melted. Allow to rest for a couple minutes before serving. Optional: top with sour cream, salsa or guacamole.

Notes

-If you don’t have the salsa chicken ready to go, heat and shred a few chicken breasts or buy a rotisserie chicken and shred the meat from there. Add a can of rinsed black beans, 1 cup of corn and 1 tbsp of taco seasoning to the chicken before rolling.

-The software won’t allow me to do nutritional data for this one. Sorry!

 

DAIRY-FREE

Skip the cheese on top or use a cheese alternative. I find serving with fresh slices of avocado gives the same lucious effect.

 

VEGGIE LOVERS

Add slices of peppers to the chicken mixture (or replace entirely.)

Delightfully Tacky Toffee

This kitshy quick candy comes together with ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.

Servings: 16

Keywords:

  • Prep Time: 0 mins
  • Cook Time: 0 mins
  • Total Time: 0 mins

Ingredients

Instructions

Ingredients

  • saltine crackers about 1 sleeve
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 ½ cups semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Line up crackers in a single layer on the foil.
  2. Meanwhile, melt butter and brown sugar in saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil 3 minutes or until thickened. Immediately pour over crackers and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for 5 minutes.
  3. Remove from oven and turn oven off. Sprinkle chocolate chips over crackers and chips will start to melt, 2-5 minutes. Spread chips using a clean spatula. Pop back in the oven for 30 seconds to a minute if the chips don't spread easily.
  4. Let cool to room temperature, then put in fridge for at least an hour. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Notes

- Substitute graham crackers for the saltine crackers for a sweeter version

-If you have a fancy sea salt or Himalayan salt, use that, but don’t buy it just for this recipe.

-A cup of chopped nuts sprinkled over the warm melted chocolate is a great addition!

-The candy will be fine on the counter, but I prefer to keep it in the fridge.