I am sooooooo ready for winter to be over. I’d like to make a deal with the weather: April starts in just over a week. By the time we get to April 1, can we just agree that spring will be here? That it will be sunny and warm, that the ground will start to show signs of green, that the birds will return?

In the meantime, we’ll bundle up with another round of comfort food.  Deal? Deal.

Photos used with permission from Cookie + Kate, Simply Delicious and Local Kitchen.

A Savvy Weekly Menu: End of Winter, with Naan

Monday: Curried cauliflower soup (from Cookie + Kate) with naan (from The Foodess)
Tuesday: Butter chicken curry (from Simply Delicious) with leftover naan
Wednesday: Meyer lemon and rosemary mac and cheese (from Local Kitchen) with a side salad
Thursday: Vegan quinoa corn chowder, plus savory scones with caramelized onions and prosciutto
Friday:  Healthier chicken and waffles

On Sunday:

Use three of the onions and some olive oil to make some caramelized onions.  You will have extras – add them to lunchtime salads and pasta dishes, or freeze the extra in airtight freezer-safe containers.

Prep the naan dough, but instead of letting it rise for 1 to 2 hours, cover the bowl with plastic wrap (leaving a small space open) and refrigerate overnight.

Grate the cheese for the mac & cheese. Refrigerate in an airtight container until Tuesday.

On Monday:

Take the naan dough out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and cover with a damp towel to rest for 10 minutes.

Make the cauliflower soup. While the soup cooks, heat the cast iron pan and cook the naan. Refrigerate the leftover naan for tomorrow

New cook and prep time: 1 hour.

 

On Tuesday:

In the morning before work, put the chicken in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate until evening.

Make the chicken curry. While the chicken cooks, cover 1 cup of white jasmine rice with 1 /1/2 cups of water. Season with salt, cover the pot and bring to a boil. Uncover and reduce the heat so that the rice simmers, until all the water is absorbed.

Towards the end of the cooking time, warm the leftover naan in a 350F oven for 3-5 minutes, or just until warmed through.

New cook and prep time: 1 hour.

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Coming up with a Savvy Weekly Menu isn’t just about getting multiple uses out of your main ingredients. It is easy to roast a chicken one day, and turn the leftover chicken into tacos the next. And I’m all for that kind of cooking efficiency.  But it isn’t that alone that makes for a great Savvy Weekly Menu – let’s put our flavoring agents on double-duty, too…or even triple- or quadruple-duty!  Here, smoky peppers and chiles makes an appearance in four very different dishes, and cilantro takes the stage in three of them

Enchilada photo by How Sweet It Is.

A Savvy Week: Cilantro and Spice

Monday: Cilantro lime chicken burrito bowls with guacamole.
Tuesday: Chipotle sweet potato and brown rice egg skillet (from Naturally Ella).
Wednesday: Vegan quinoa corn chowder.
Thursday: Lightened-up beef enchiladas (from How Sweet It Is) with corn salad.
Friday:  Baked panko fish sticks with lemon caper mayonnaise (from Love and Olive Oil) with a side salad.

On Monday:

Start marinating the chicken.  While it rests, cover 1 1/2 cups of brown rice with 3 cups of stock or water in a medium saucepan.  Cover and bring to a boil, then remove the lid and simmer until most of the stock is absorbed.  Measure out 1/2 cup of the rice and refrigerate until Wednesday.  

While the chicken is marinating and the rice is cooking, make some guacamole.

Grill the chicken. Serve over the cooked rice with guacamole, shredded cheese and pinto beans.

New cook and prep time: 1 hour.

 

On Tuesday:

Make the corn chowder, just as it says in the recipe.

New cook and prep time: 40 minutes.

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