Archives for posts with tag: water chestnuts

Okay, so I didn’t exactly just serve one dish per meal this week, but I could have! Each of the main dishes offer a combo of proteins with veggies and/or carbs. I love these types of dishes; especially for weeknights. I didn’t grow up eating casseroles, so you won’t see too many on this site, but I do like a dish that can serve as not only the main event, but the only event.

(Meals should feed four adults and take about 30-40 minutes to prepare, or the time it takes Patrick to give Eliza a bottle and put her to bed.)

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Meal #1: Chicken Thighs, Fennel and Artichoke Fricassee with Noodles
Meal #2: Pork Chops with Peppers and Capers, Green Salad
Meal #3: Salmon, Red Cabbage and New Potatoes
Meals #4: Chicken and Vegetable Fried Rice

Your Grocery List, excluding the usual pantry items:

bell peppers – 1 each green and yellow, 3 red
large red onion – 2
ginger – 1 piece (you can freeze or refrigerate the rest)
zucchini – 2
bunch of scallions
small red cabbage – 1
new potatoes – 10
lemon – 1
fennel bulb – 1
lettuce, or whatever greens you like for a salad – 1 head or bag
parsley – 1 small bunch
artichoke hearts – 1 can
chicken stock – 1 can (you’ll need 1 cup, but you can always freeze the rest in an ice cube tray and use later)
water chestnuts – 1 can
horseradish – 1 bottle (it’ll keep, or you could make bloody marys!)
egg noodles – 1 bag
bone-in chicken thighs – 8
bone-in pork chops – 4
skinless salmon fillet – 1 1/2 lb.
chicken cutlets – ¾ lb.
dry white wine

 

This dish is a great way to use up leftover rice from another night’s dinner or take-out, because the rice should be at least a day old or it will be too sticky for the recipe. You can use whatever protein (pork, beef, tofu) you prefer or skip it all together and just use vegetables – also throw whatever veggies you like in here. Here’s what I did.

purple onions

2 TB. vegetable oil
1 garlic, minced
1 TB. ginger, minced
¾ lb. chicken cutlets, cut into strips
2 zucchini, chopped*
2 red pepper, chopped*
6 scallions, chopped (greens reserved)
1 can water chestnuts, sliced
2 cups rice
2 eggs, beaten
soy sauce

* ingredients that can be prepped several days ahead.

Heat oil in a large saute pan or wok until very hot. Add garlic and ginger and stir quickly until they smell delicious, between 30 sec – 1 min. Add chicken and stir until no longer pink. Add zucchini, pepper and scallions and continue to stir for 1-2 minutes. Add water chestnuts, rice, and eggs and continue to stir. Once blended add soy sauce to taste, stir and serve.