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This Week’s Menu – Food for Winter Weather

This Week’s Menu – Food for Winter Weather

Baby, it’s cold outside, so let’s enjoy a menu full of veggies and other good for you ingredients with the most comforting of sauces and sides.

How To Use This Week’s Menu

What a great week for comfort food!

I’d start with the Chicken Tikka Masala because I’m always craving this sauce. Save the rest of the heavy cream for your Pasta in Tomato Vodka Sauce with Roasted Veggies.

If your family isn’t wowed by your cooking yet (first, sit them down and make sure they have working taste buds 😉 ), try the Winter Burgers with Potato Wedges on game night. You might not be able to get outside, but we can pretend it’s grilling weather!!

Finally, make a loaf or two of the Lemon Poppy Seed Bread. This is a great snack to share with your coworkers or something to keep in the freezer for a last-minute pot luck contribution. It’s the little black dress of baked goods – it works in almost any situation!

 [[ recipeID=recipe-8ldc9m874, title=Chicken Tikka Masala ]]

[[ recipeID=recipe-8ldcape9p, title=Pasta in Tomato Vodka Sauce with Roasted Veggies ]]

[[ recipeID=recipe-8ldcb4i2v, title=Winter Burgers with Potato Wedges ]]

[[ recipeID=recipe-8ldcbnn5p, title=Lemon Poppy Seed Bread ]]

Posted on January 25, 2023
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Chicken Tikka Masala

Ah, friend. This dish is so good. I know I say that about everything, but seriously consider dropping whatever you had planned for dinner tonight and make this instead. This sauce…golly, this sauce. Yum, yum, yum!!


This sauce is the best intro to Indian food you'll ever try. Beginners will love it and experienced spice fans will also rave! We like to pair the chicken and sauce with rice, but try it with naan or roasted veggies.

Servings: 6

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  • Prep Time: 0 mins
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Ingredients

Instructions

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 4 tsp garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • 14 oz tomato sauce
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp sugar (optional)
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
  • ½ tsp curry powder
  • ½ tsp salt to taste
  • 3 cups cooked rice

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and stir until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook, about 1 minute. Add the cumin, 1 tsp salt, ginger, cayenne, cinnamon, and turmeric and fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add the tomato sauce into the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, then mix in cream, paprika, and 1 tbsp sugar (optional). Bring the sauce back to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a separate skillet over medium heat. Add chicken, sprinkle with curry powder, and saute until lightly browned but still pink inside, about 3 minutes, stirring often. Transfer the chicken and any pan juices into the sauce. Simmer the chicken in the sauce until no longer pink, about 30 minutes. Adjust salt and sugar to taste.

Notes

DAIRY-FREE

- Try with coconut milk or alternative milk heavy cream.


VEGGIE LOVERS

- Skip the chicken and make a mix of roasted or sauteed veggies instead. Diced winter squash, cauliflower, or sweet potatoes could be interesting. Maybe top with roasted chick peas for something totally different.


CARB CONSCIOUS

- Replace the rice with cauliflower rice, cut back the amount of white rice, or serve with brown rice. Or completely skip rice and serve over roasted veggies instead. 


Pasta in Tomato Vodka Sauce with Roasted Veggies


Servings: 6

Keywords:

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

Instructions

Ingredients

PASTA

  • 3 cups pasta
  • salt

SAUCE

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 cup onion roughly diced
  • 2 tsp garlic minced
  • ½ cup canned fire-roasted tomatoes
  • ½ cup vodka
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • ¼ cup Parmesan grated
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes

ROASTED VEGGIES

  • 5 cups vegetables diced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper

GARNISH

  • Parmesan

Instructions

  1. Fill a large saucepan two-thirds full with water, bring to a boil. Cook pasta according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the pasta water.
  2. After you start the pasta water, preheat the oven to 400 and toss the diced vegetables with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes or until softened and slightly caramelized.
  3. Meanwhile heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Once warm, add the oil and onion. Saute for 4 minutes or until the onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds more. Stir in the canned tomatoes, vodka, tomato paste, and salt. Turn the heat down to a medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes to cook out the alcohol.
  4. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the tomato mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour the blended sauce, heavy cream, grated Parmesan, red pepper flakes and the reserved pasta water into the large saucepan used to cook the pasta. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until heated through. Stir in the pasta, and cook for 1 minute more to coat. Add the red pepper flakes and more salt if needed.

Notes

- We try to use seasonal veggies for this recipe in our house, but red and yellow pepper, zucchini and cherry tomatoes are always a hit.

- Afraid you’re going to waste the rest of the heavy cream container? Then skip it! I tried it with 1% milk and it was still delish!!


DAIRY-FREE

- Try canned coconut milk or skip the cream and the cheese. It will be a different kind of dish, but still tasty.


GLUTEN-FREE

- Hmm… Replace with a gluten-free pasta or maybe a piece of roasted chicken? This sauce would be delicious over pretty much anything so get creative!


MEAT LOVERS

- Add grilled or baked chicken breast to the final dish. Alternatively, browned crumbled Italian sausage may give the sauce an interesting twist.

Winter Burgers with Potato Wedges

Blizzarding outside, but you still want a burger? Here’s the answer to your prayers!


When it's too cold to grill, but you can't ignore that hankering for a burger, this will be your new go-to recipe. Also, these potatoes go great with anything.


Servings: 4

Keywords:

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

Instructions

Ingredients

DIPPING SAUCE

  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard

POTATO WEDGES

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp garlic minced
  • 2 lbs russet potatoes 6-8 small potatoes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp parsley chopped (optional)
  • 2 tbsp Parmesan

HAMBURGERS

  • 1 lb ground chuck
  • cooking oil spray
  • 4 hamburger buns
  • 1 tomato thinly sliced
  • 4 slices red onion
  • 4 slices cheese (optional)

Instructions

DIPPING SAUCE

  1. In a ramekin or small bowl, mix together all the sauce ingredients until smooth, and set aside.

POTATO WEDGES

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the 2 tbsp olive oil and the garlic in a large bowl and set aside. Scrub the potatoes and pat dry. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 4 wedges. Add the wedges to the oil mixture, sprinkle in salt and toss to thoroughly coat.
  2. Place the potato wedges in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip and bake for another 15 minutes. Garnish the potatoes with the parsley, Parmesan, and salt to taste.

HAMBURGERS

  1. Next, prepare the patties. Divide the beef into 4 balls. Place the balls in between folded parchment paper. Roll out the patties (or press out using your hands) to about ¼-inch thick. The patties will be thin and large.
  2. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high for at least 5 minutes. Once hot, lightly spray the pan with cooking spray. Add the patties to the pan, cooking in batches if needed. Cook 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until the desired degree of doneness, using a sharp metal spatula to flip. The patties should be charred on both sides.
  3. To add cheese, place a thin slice on the patties immediately after the flip and cover the pan to steam the cheese to just-melted consistency. Spray buns with cooking oil and toast in the oven with the potato wedges. Top the bun with burger, sauce, tomato and red onion. Serve with potato wedges.

Notes

- This is definitely a “splurge” kind of meal calorie-wise. To lighten it up, make smaller burgers, or skip the cheese on the burger, and/or exchange the bun for a lettuce wrap. Lighten up on the olive oil for the potatoes or do a smalling serving size of them. Whatever you do, don’t take out the “mayo-chup”. It’s so good on everything!


DAIRY-FREE

- Skip the parm on the potatoes and cheese on the burgers. Quite easy!


Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Looking to spice up breakfast? Make this bread. Need a hostess gift? Make this bread. Want to punch up snack time? Make this break. I think you get the idea. Make this bread. 😉


This poppy little number will add some zest to whatever situation calls for a sweet treat – breakfast, snack time, hostess gift.

Servings: 1 loaf

Keywords:

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

Instructions

Ingredients

  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
  • ¼ cup milk
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 lemon zested (around 3 tbsp)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tbsp poppy seeds
  • 1 tbsp poppy seeds
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray (parchment paper helps) an 8×4 inch loaf pan and set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated.
  3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  4. In a small mixing bowl combine the Greek yogurt, milk, and lemon juice and mix together until smooth.
  5. With mixing speed on low, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in three separate additions. Mix until smooth batter forms.
  6. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes and test with a toothpick. You may need to tent the loaf with foil half way through the baking process to prevent over-browning. When its mostly set (not runny, but may still have crumbs on the toothpick) remove pan from oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Transfer to a wire rack (with plate or baking sheet underneath) and poke holes all over the top of the bread using a toothpick.
  7. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan set over medium heat. When the sugar has completely dissolved, pour the mixture over the cooled loaf and allow it to drip over the edges and sides. Allow the loaf to sit for 20 minutes to harden before serving.

Notes

- Leftovers are best kept in the fridge in an airtight container.

You can freeze this bread. After the frosting has cooled, wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Allow to thaw on the counter.


GLUTEN-FREE

- I didn’t try it, but feel like Bob’s One-to-One Gluten-Free Flour would be good in this recipe.