Meg's Meal Planning

gnocchi

Week of July 26th

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What a week of great meals! After returning from vacation, it takes a while to get back into the swing of things. This past week helped to reestablish my routines and start eating healthy again. 

  
Monday-Chicken sausage kebobs with green pepper, cherry tomatoes, and pineapple and tomato, spinach, and basil risotto. 

Chicken Sausage Kebobs with Green Pepper, Cherry Tomatoes, and Pineapple

Ingredients

  • 2 Chicken sausage links, sliced into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 bell pepper, cut into 1 inch squares
  • 1 package cherry tomatoes
  • Pineapple cut into 1 inch squares
  • 5 wooden skewer sticks, soaked for 30 minutes

Steps

  1. Prepare all your ingredients. We didn’t cook the chicken sausage ahead of time on the stove, but it would be a good idea since some pieces fell off theskewer 
  2. Place in order on the skewer – chicken sausage, pepper, tomatoe, pineapple, repeat. Don’t overcrowd them – leave a little space in between each item
  3. Grill for 10-15 minues until the veggies start to get some grill marks

Tuesday-Cobb salad. I pretty much only make this in the summer, especially on the hottest, most humid days of the summer.  It’s super easy to throw together and tastes delicious! 

Cobb Salad

Ingredients

  • 1-2 hard boiled eggs, sliced and chopped
  • 1 avocado, sliced and chopped
  • 3-4 slices of bacon, cooked
  • 1 large tomato, chopped 
  • Feta cheese
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Your choice of salad dressing  

Steps

  1. Add lettuce to a large bowl 
  2. Add all other ingredients and your choice of dressing!

Wednesday–Gnocchi with zucchni ribbons and cherry tomatoes – A perfect summer meal! Calling this a light meal seems like an oxymoron since it’s gnocchi, but that’s exactly how I would describe it! Try it for yourself and see what you think!

Thursday–Lemon basil grilled pork chops with a Caprese salad! I have so much fresh basil in my garden I need to start using it up! This dinner was great since both items called for basil! 

Caprese Salad with a Balsamic Drizzle

Ingredients

  • Two large tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 ball fresh mozzarella sliced
  • Handful fresh basil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar 

Steps

  1. Slice tomatoes and lay on large platter, cover, salt them and let sit 10-15 minutes, drain the juices
  2. Slice mozzarella and add to platter, tucking behind a tomato, top with fresh basil and add pepper to taste
  3. In a small mixing bowl, add olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, and salt. Stir together and pour over tomatoes

Friday-Cooking with Hope – A Birthday Celebration! Quinoa Fiesta Enchilada Bake. My sister loves this recipe, so in honor of her birthday today, we are making her favorite meal together! Separate post coming soon! 

Shopping List

  • Servings: 2 people/meal
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  • 3-4 boneless pork chops
  • Fresh basil – 1 cup for pork chops and handful for Caprese salad
  • Five large tomatoes – 2 for Caprese salad, 2 for the risotto, 1 for the cobb salad
  • Fresh mozzarella
  • Two chicken apple sausage links
  • Cherry tomatoes – for the chicken sausage kebobs and the gnocchi pasta
  • Zucchini
  • 1 package gnocchi 
  • Fresh parsley
  • One large green bell pepper
  • Pineapple – cut into cubes for the kebobs
  • 3/4 cup Risotto
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1 bag of lettuce
  • 1-2 hard boiled eggs
  • 3-4 slices of bacon, cooked
  • 2 Avocados – 1 for the cobb salad and 1 for the quinoa enchilada bake 
  • Feta cheese
  • 1 4 oz can diced green chiles
  • Fresh cilantro
  • Shredded mexican cheese 
  • Scallions

Pantry items

  • Salt and pepper
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar 
  • Lemon juice 
  • Butter
  • Shallots
  • Garlic
  • Ground nutmeg
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Quinoa
  • Tomato sauce
  • Chicken broth – for the risotto and quinoa bake 
  • Cumin
  • Chipotle en adobo sauce or hot sauce
  • Black beans
  • Fresh or frozen corn

Homemade gnocchi…A labor of love. 

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Ever since coming home from my honeymoon in Italy, I have been dying to try homemade gnocchi.  I had the most amazing gnocchi when staying in Positano at this family owned restaurant named Ristorante da Vincenzo. It was so good, we went back two nights in a row.

I’ve put off making my own for a while, so the time has finally come. I followed two receipes 1. from keepin’ it kind and 2. from delallo.  I combined parts of both recipes until I found the perfect consistency for the dumplings.  I do not own a potato ricer. I have never heard of such a thing before until I started making the gnocchi! Guess I should have read the full recipe first! Instead, I used a potato masher.

This meal exceeded my expecations! Everything about it brought me back to sitting in Piazza Navona in Rome! The homemade sauce, homemade gnocchi, homemade meatballs, even the wine and cheese were brought back from Italy (don’t tell US Customs!). There is something to be said about REAL GOOD Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese! And the wine, real Italian wine, sulfate free is the best kind.  The wine came from a resturant in Positiano, La Tagliata. It’s a another family owned resturant and they make their own wine. We loved it so much, we asked to buy a bottle, but the amazing owner gave us one for free!  If you can’t tell by now, I highly recommend going to Italy on your honeymoon!
Ingredients

  • 6 small-medium size potatoes – I used gold potatoes because that’s what I had in my pantry
  • 2 1/2 cups of flour – although I found I had to use more like 3 1/2 cups
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Steps

1. Boil potatoes with skins on for about 20 mins or until tender when poked with a fork. Drain well and let cool.

2. Peel boiled potatoes, removing any brown spots.

3. Clean your work surface, either the countertop or a large cutting board.

4. Use potato ricer if you have one, if not use potato masher to mash the potatoes. The masher worked just as well, but you really have to make sure to work out all the little clumps.

5. Pour flour and salt on top of mashed potatoes

6. Clear out a circle in the middle of the potatoes and crack your egg in the middle. Beat with a fork, slowly pulling in the potatoes.

7. Time to get down and dirty! Use your hands and start mixing the ingredients until your dough begins to form. This is where I started having trouble. My dough was too wet, so I had to keep adding flour.

 

8. Once you have the right consistency, cut off small parts of the dough and roll out about 1 inch think and cut into 1 inch pieces.  If you choose to, you can press fork indentations into the cut pieces. #sofancy

 

Roll out about 1 inch thick and cut into 1 inch pieces

If can indent with a fork , if you wish

 

9. Drop the cut pieces into boiling water. Gnocchi cooks very quick! Once the pieces start “dancing” they are done.  Scoop them out with slotted spoon and set aside until all pieces are cooked.

A VERY HELFUL TIP!!! Even when you think the dough is the right consistency, roll out and cut off a small piece and test it out.  If it sinks and doesn’t rise, add more flour.  If it sinks, then rises, but tastes gummy, add more flour.  I had to repeat this step 3x before my pieces didn’t taste gummy. Another helpful tip from one of my followers is use older potatoes, they hold less mositure.  That is why I probably had to use more flour than the receipe called for; my potatoes were bought the same week.

 

Enjoy!