Meg's Meal Planning

kale

One pan penne sausage and kale

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One pan penne, sausage, and kale is an easy week-night dinner. The pasta is cooked in the same skillet as the sausage and tastes amazing! 

one pan pasta

I need to start writing down all my one pan dishes because they are just AMAZING. If you haven’t learned my style of cooking yet, one pan dishes pretty much sums it up.  Some of my favorite one pan dishes are spicy quinoa and shrimp and one pot chili and Mac and cheese. 

Have you ever cooked pasta a different way besides boiling water? Cooking pasta in the same pan you cooked another item, like sweet Italian sausage, gives the pasta UBER amounts of flavor! Plus in this recipe, instead of using water the penne cooks in chicken broth, which of course adds more depth to any dish.

one pan penne

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One pan penne sausage and kale
 
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One pan penne, sausage, and kale is a easy week night dinner. The pasta is cooked in the same skillet as the sausage and tastes amazing!
Author:
Recipe type: One pan pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 gloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 box penne pasta
  • 4 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes
  • 6 cups kale, washed and chopped
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute, careful not to burn.
  2. Add sausage, breaking up large pieces, and cook for 8-10 minute or until cooked through. Remove from skillet.
  3. Add chicken broth and pasta. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 11 minutes. (The pasta will be al dente). All the chicken broth should be absorbed, no need to drain.
  4. Add 4 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes and cook for additional 2 minutes.
  5. Turn off heat and add sausage and kale. Stir until the kale is cooked down.
  6. Top with parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes (optional) if you like a little extra kick.

 

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kale, sausage, penne

Sirloin Stir Fry

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This dinner combines lots of left over ingredients from other dinners this week: steak, kale, and brown rice.  The only new ingredient is mushrooms!


Sirloin Stir Fry with Kale and Mushrooms

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsps reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp Sriracha
  • 2 tbsps sesame oil
  • 4 1/2 tsps sherry
  • 1 cup left over brown rice, heated
  • 3-4 strips of left over steak, cut into 1 inch pieces 
  • Kale bunch 
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 8 oz package mushrooms, washed and sliced
  • 1 tsp honey
  • Red pepper flakes

Steps

  1. In medium bowl, mix together soy sauce, Sriracha, 1 tbsp sesame oil, and sherry. Add steak to marinate. 
  2. Heat 1 tbsp sesame oil in wok over medium heat about 1 minute. Add ginger, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes.  
  3. Turn heat to low and add kale, steak/marinade, and honey. Cover and cook until kale has wilted, about 7 minutes.
  4. Serve over brown rice. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes for an extra kick!
 

Vegetarian soup 

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Even though we are far from vegetarians, my husband and I both love this soup. It’s a one pot meal, packs plenty of flavor, and between the kale, sweet potato, butternut squash, and quinoa, you will feel full and satisfied! 

  

Vegetarian soup with kale and quinoa

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped 
  • 2 cups chopped butternut squash
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 4 cans  (14 1/2 oz) reduced sodium vegetable broth
  • 2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 cups chopped kale, ribs and stems removed
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

  1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, sweet potato, butternut squash, and bay leaves. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
  2. Add the vegetable broth, tomatoes, and chickpeas. Stir in the quinoa and season with rosemary and thyme. Cook for 15 minutes or until quinoa is soft. Stir in the kale and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
 

This recipe was inspired from here 

Week of May 24th 

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This week I’m featuring two main ingredients that will be used in different ways to make up the dinner ideas. This week pork and kale will be the stars of the show!  I will write a separate blog post about the two ingredients and the meals I chose for each of them. 

 

 
Monday– Happy Memorial Day Everyone! Enjoy celebrating, but remember our troops and everything they do for our country! 

  

Tuesday– Pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts.  This is the first of a two-part dinner special featured this week on the blog.

 Wednesday– Kale and Shrimp Skillet. This is the first of two-part special with kale! 

  

Thursday– Pork stir fry with edamame and broccoli. I cooked the pork for this meal at the same time I cooked the tenderloin for Tuesday night’s dinner.  It saved me time in the kitchen; who doesn’t love that!? 

  

Friday– Spaghetti with kale, lemon, and garlic. A very light and refreshing dinner with a little kick from the red pepper flakes! Goes great with a glass (or two!) of white wine!

  

Kale, quinoa, black bean, sweet potato and avocado salad

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Super foods unite! This salad is unbelievable!  The flavors all blend well together and the avocado sauce has the perfect amount of kick!  I really enjoyed making this because it has a lot of my favorite foods to cook and eat! It was the perfect size for two people; my husband and I polished if off!

 

Spiralize sweet potato, season with olive oil and salt and bake in oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes

 

 

Add avocado , cilantro, lime juice, lime zest, olive oil, and salt to food processor, blend well

 

 

Season kale with salt and massage well

 

 

Kale, quinoa, black bean, sweet potato and avocado salad
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 1 bunch kale, ribs removed and chopped into bite size pieces
  • 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 sweet potato
  • 1 avocado, sliced and pitted
  • ½ jalapeño pepper, seeds and stem removed. You can use more to make it spicy
  • Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
  • ½ can black beans, drained and rinsed
Instructions
  1. Prepare the quinoa as per packed directions. Set aside to cool.
  2. Spiralize sweet potato onto baking sheet. Season with 1 tablespoon olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
  3. Place kale in serving bowl and season with salt. Then massage kale with hands for 1 minute in order to really blend the salt. Whisk together 1 tablespoon olive oil, juice from ½ lime, and lime zest. Drizzle over kale. Set aside.
  4. Add avocado, ½ jalapeño pepper, cilantro leaves, juice from ½ a lime, lime zest, and salt to a food processor and blend well.
  5. Add cooled quinoa to kale, stir to combine. Distribute the kale to plates and top with sweet potato, black beans, and avocado sauce.

 

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Top with roasted sweet potato, black beans, and avocado sauce