• If you're a new visitor to this blog, please read "how to use this blog" off to the right-hand-side.
• Starting next week, you’ll see at least one or two recipes for the grill. Summertime is here and there is nothing better than yummy grilled meats & veggies.
• Several recipes this week take advantage of in-season spinach (either in supermarkets or your own garden!).
• Check NOTES under each meal for ahead-of-time preps.
• We had chicken on hand so 2/5 recipes this week call for chicken.
• By clicking on “older posts” at the bottom of this page, you can look back at previous week’s recipes.
• If you are looking for a particular recipe, use the search box at the right-hand-side then scroll to the top of the page to see search results.
• The recipe for chicken salad includes a recipe for delicious homemade 7-grain bread. I make this recipe every week (it yields 2 loaves) and avoid buying store-bought bread. It’s so easy to make you’ll be surprised! I “knead” the bread with my dough hook in my Kitchen Aid mixer so besides tending to it during the rising phase, there’s not much to it! Try it! The ingredients for the bread ARE NOT on the shopping list. Add them if you want to try it.
• Check out the extra recipe this week using those in-season blueberries and raspberries – Double Berry Pancakes! Impress your Memorial Day guests with this one. It’s a crowd pleaser! The ingredients ARE NOT included in the shopping list so add if you want to make them.
RECIPE 1: LENTIL & VEGGIE TOSTADAS
Modified from Better Homes & Garden Cookbook
NOTES: 
• This sounds a little unusual but it was DELICIOUS! We will be making this again and again. The best part is you can vary the veggie topping depending on what’s in season or what you have on hand.
• Cook the lentil mixture and sauté the veggies you plan to use the night before for a quick prep. All you’ll have to do is place lentil mixture, veggies and cheese on top of tostada shells and broil for about 2-5 min until cheese melts!
• This recipe is kid friendly. The veggies are chopped small and you can hide them under a layer of melted Monterey Jack cheese so they won’t even know they’re there!
INGREDIENTS
• 3 c. water
• 1 ½ c. red lentils (they look orange when dry), rinsed and drained
• ¼ c. chopped onion
• 2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 tostada shells (or fry your own corn tortillas in a small amount of oil in a saucepan)
• 4 c. assorted chopped veggies (I used red and orange bell pepper, yellow squash, & zucchini but you could try broccoli, tomato, etc.)
• 1 ½ c. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• Mashed avocado or guacamole to top tostadas
DIRECTIONS
1. In a medium saucepan, sauté chopped veggies in a small amount of olive oil until just tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
2.In a medium saucepan, stir together water, lentils, onion, cilantro, salt, cumin, and garlic. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 12-15 minutes or until lentils are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed (I ended up draining off some of the excess liquid). Remove from heat and mash with a fork (chunky is ok).
3. Spread lentil mixture on tostada shells; top with veggies and cheese. Place on a large baking sheet. Broil 3-4 inches from heat until cheese melts (2-5 min). Watch closely so they don’t burn!
RECIPE 2: SPINACH & RICOTTA-STUFFED SHELLS
Modified from Real Simple
NOTES: 
• Cook & stuff the shells ahead of time, cover tightly and store in fridge until ready to cook. Remove about 30 min-1 hour before baking to bring to room temp. If you don’t have time to do this, just cook them a little longer to make sure they’re heated through.
• Double this recipe and freeze one for later!
Ingredients
• 20 jumbo pasta shells (about half a 12-oz box)
• 1 24-oz jar marinara sauce
• 2 15-oz containers ricotta
• 2 c. baby spinach, chopped
• ½ c. grated parmesan cheese (2 oz)
• 1 c. grated mozzarella
Directions
1. Set an oven rack to the highest position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Cook the pasta according to directions (do NOT overcook!), drain, and run under cold water until cool enough to handle.
2. Spread the marinara sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish.
3. Sauté the chopped spinach in a little olive oil 1-2 min until just wilted.
4. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper. Spoon the mixture into the shells and place them on top of the sauce. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and bake until the shells are heated through, 10-15 min.
5. Increase heat to broil and broil until the cheese begins to brown, 2-5 min.
RECIPE 3: SPINACH BURRITO BAKE
From Simply in Season
NOTES:• This was easy to assemble and can be done ahead of time (through step 5).
INGREDIENTS
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium onion, minced
• ¾ c. uncooked rice
• ¾ tsp ground tumeric
• 1 ½ c. chicken or veggie broth
• Approximately 8-10 c. fresh spinach, loosely packed
• 2 c. cooked black beans
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 c. Monterey Jack cheese
• Warm flour tortillas
• Toppings of choice for burritos: chopped lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, guacamole, fresh cilantro, lime wedges, salsa, sour cream.
DIRECTIONS
1. Sauté ½ of garlic and next three ingredients on medium-low heat in oil until onion is tender and rice in a golden brown.
2. Add chicken or veggie broth and mix well. Simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed, about 15 min for white rice, 40 min for brown. Remove from heat, let stand 5 min. Fluff with a fork.
3. While rice cooks, heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan on high heat. Add rest of garlic and spinach, one handful at a time as it wilts, adding a little water as needed to prevent sticking. Spinach should be moist, with loose leaves, not clumped together.
4. Mix black beans and chili powder in a bowl.
5. In a casserole dish, layer as follows: half of spinach, all of rice, all of beans, remaining spinach, cheese.
6. Bake, covered, at 375 until sizzling, about 45 minutes. Spoon mixture into warm flour tortillas and garnish with toppings of choice.
RECIPE 4: SPICY MEXCIAN SKILLET (OR GRILLED) CHICKEN
NOTES:
• Cook the chicken in a skillet 8 to 10 minutes, turning once (until meat registers 170 on a thermometer) or cook on the grill.
Ingredients
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 ¼ lb), (see NOTES above for cooking options)
• 1-2 tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp salt & ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 c. frozen corn, cooked (or fresh cooked corn on the cob)
• 1/3 c. salsa and extra for topping
• Chopped fresh cilantro
• Sour cream, for topping
Directions
1. Mix chili powder, salt and pepper and sprinkle evenly over both sides of breasts before cooking.
2. In a large skillet, cook chicken (if not grilling). When cooked stir in beans, corn and salsa. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 3-5 min or until veggies are hot. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving and top with extra salsa and sour cream if desired.
RECIPE 5: CHICKEN SALAD WITH BELL PEPPERS
(ON HOMEMADE BREAD!)
(ON HOMEMADE BREAD!)
Modified from Southern Living
NOTES:
• I make the 7-grain bread recipe (see below chicken salad recipe) every week (it yields 2 loaves) and avoid buying store-bought bread. It’s so easy to make you’ll be surprised! I “knead” the bread with my dough hook in my Kitchen Aid mixer so besides tending to it during the rising phase, there’s not much to it! It tastes SOOO good and makes great toast, sandwiches, french toast, and grilled cheese!
• The ingredients for the bread ARE NOT on the shopping list. Add them if you want to try it.• Mix up the chicken salad the night before. I cooked the chicken one night and then shredded it and prepared the chicken salad the next night to eat the next day.
• The chicken salad should cool for at least 4 hours so prepare the night before or the morning of.
Ingredients – Chicken Salad
• About 3 lbs chicken breasts
• 1 49 ½ can/box chicken broth (or use a mixture of chicken broth, water, and bouillon cubes)
• 1 c. finely chopped celery
• 1 c. finely chopped bell peppers – a mix of red, yellow, or orange
• ½ c. finely chopped red onion
• Mayo – the recipe calls for 3 c. but I just add some and mix until I get the creaminess I want. Also, low fat or light mayo works fine!
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp white pepper (use black if you don’t have white)
Directions – Chicken Salad
1. Place chicken breasts in a large skillet with chicken broth. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, covered, 3o min or until chicken is done. Remove from skillet and let stand until cool enough to handle. Either chop or use forks to shred.
2. Combine chicken, celery, peppers and red onion in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, combine mayo, salt and pepper until well blended then spoon over chicken mixture, stirring to coat. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.
7-Grain Bread
Ingredients – 7-Grain Bread
• 1 ¼ c. 7-grain cereal (try Bob’s Red Mill found at most grocery stores)• 2 ½ boiling water
• 3 c. unbleached all purpose flour plus extra for dusting
• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 4 tbsp honey
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 ½ tsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp salt
• ¾ c. raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds (shelled) (optional)
• ½ oats (old fashioned)
Directions – Bread
NOTES:
• The instructions look long and detailed but it’s really easy! After you make this once, you won’t even have to look at them. If you try this bread and like it, let me know by commenting on this post!
• The picture I took isn’t that great…the bread is a few days old at this point and the oats on top have fallen off (be sure to spray it well with cooking spray before rolling it oats to ensure they stick!). Regardless, it’s still so yummy.
1. Place cereal in the bowl of your standing mixer and pour boiling water over it. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degree F and resembles thick porridge (about 45 min – 1 hour). In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk flours together.
2. After the 45 min – 1 hour, add honey, melted butter and yeast to cereal mixture. Stir to combine. Attach bowl to standing mixer fitted with the dough hook and with mixture running on low speed, add flours ½ c. at a time and mix on low speed until dough forms a ball. I usually use a plastic spatula to make sure the flour on the side of the bowl gets mixed in. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let set 20 min.
3. Add salt and knead on medium-low speed until dough clears sides of bowl, 3-4 min. Add 2-3 tbsp more all-purpose flour if dough is very sticky (I usually have to add about 2 tbsp more) and continue mixing 5 more minutes. (If not using seeds, skip to step 5).
4. If using seeds, add and mix for another 15 sec then knead by hand on floured work surface until seeds are evenly dispersed.
5. Knead dough by hand a few times until you have a smooth, taut ball. Place dough into a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest until doubled in size, 45-60 min.
6. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 375 degrees. Spray two 9” x 5” loaf pans with cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and pat into a 12” x 9: rectangle. Cut in half crosswise with knife.
7. To shape loaves, start with one dough with short side facing you. Start at farthest end and roll dough into a log, keeping it taut by tucking it under itself as you go. To seal loaf, pinch seam gently with thumb and forefinger. Repeat with remaining dough. Spray loaves lightly with water or nonstick cooking spray and roll each dough in oats to coat evenly. Place loaves seam side down in greased loaf pans. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled, 30 -40 min (dough should barely spring back when poked with knuckle).
8. Bake at 375 until internal temp register 200F on a thermometer (30-40 min). Remove loaves from pans and cool on wire rack before slicing or storing. I store one loaf in a ziplock bag and freeze the other loaf for use later in the week.
EXTRA RECIPE: DOUBLE BERRY PANCAKES
From Sunset
NOTES:
• This recipe will feed about 4-5 people. If there are fewer of you, go ahead and make the full recipe. Let hot pancakes cool on a cooling rack then freeze in freezer bags. The night before you want to eat them, let thaw in fridge overnight then reheat on a baking sheet for 5 min at 350 degrees.
• These are best when served with REAL maple syrup or REAL heavy whipping cream. Don’t skimp here!
• These ingredients ARE NOT listed on the shopping list. Add if you are going to make them.
• To save time the morning you are going to make them, the night before mix together dry ingredients in a bowl (with a lid), get out ¼ c. butter to get ready to melt the next morning, and prepare your mixer with the whisk attachment (you can also use a hand mixer but the regular mixer is nice because you can be beating the egg whites while preparing the rest of the batter).
Ingredients
• 1 ½ c. all-p flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 2 c. buttermilk
• ¼ c. butter, melted
• 1 c. each rinsed fresh blueberries and raspberries (you can use frozen too just do NOT rinse or thaw them before dropping into pancake batter).
Directions
1. In a large bowl stir together dry ingredients.
2. In another bowl, mix egg YOLKS, buttermilk and butter until well blended. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until well blended.
3. In your standing mixer bowl, mix egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form (3-5 min). Gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain.
4. Place griddle or nonstick frying pan over medium heat (I put my gas burners just above the low heat mark – experiment with yours to find the optimal temp. It’s better to be too cool than too hot. If your pan is too hot, the outside of the pancakes burn and the insides stay raw. It’s much easier to adjust if your pan is too cool).
5. When hot, coat lightly with butter and spoon batter in 1/3 c. portions and spread a little to make a 4-inch round. Sprinkle evenly with blueberries and raspberries (pinch raspberries with fingers to divide into 2 or 3 pieces if desired). Cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges being to look dry, 2-3 min. turn with a wide spatula and brown the other side, 1-1 ½ min longer.
6. You can keep already made pancakes warm by transferring to baking sheets in a 200 degree oven.
Shopping list:
NOTES:• I have organized the shopping list by category and then within each category by meal. After each item you’ll see a number in parenthesis which corresponds to the meal number. That way you can easily pick which recipes you want to try and then find those items (or cross items out) on the list.
• Under Veggies/Fruit I have italicized anything that is a veggie or fruit but NOT found in the fresh fruits and veggie area of the supermarket.
• Add sides to the meals as necessary.
The shopping list does NOT include ingredients for the homemade bread or double-berry pancakes so add if making them.
Meat/Fish
• Chicken breasts - 4 boneless skinless (4), 3 lbs boneless skinless or bone-in with skin (5)
Veggies/Fruit
• Onion – ¼ c. chopped (1), 1 medium (2), 1 red onion (5)
• Cilantro – 2-3 tbsp (1), 2-3 tbsp (4)
• Garlic – 2-3 cloves (1), 3 cloves (2)
• 4 c. assorted chopped veggies for tostadas – try red, orange or yellow bell pepper, yellow squash, zucchini (1)
• Avocado – 1 (1), 1 (4)
• Spinach – 2 c. fresh (2), 8-10 c. fresh (3)
• Frozen (or fresh off the cob), corn – 1 c. (4)
• Toppings of choice for burrito (besides 1 avocado, already listed): chopped lettuce, tomatoes, green onion, lime wedges (3)
Celery – 1 c. chopped (5)
Red, orange or yellow bell peppers – 1 c. chopped (5), approx. 1 c. shopped (1) (see bullet #3 under above)
Breads & starches
• 8 tostada shells (1)
• 20 jumbo pasta shells (about half a 12-oz box) (2)
• Flour tortillas (3)
• ¾ c. uncooked rice (white or brown) (3)
• Hamburger buns (4)
• Homemade bread (see recipe included in this week under (5)) or store-brought bread (5)
Spices/Sauces/Vinegars/Oils/Condiments
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Cumin – 1 tsp (1)
• Tumeric – ¾ tsp (3)
• Chili powder – 1 tbsp (3), 2 tsp (4)
Dairy
• Monterrey jack cheese – 1 ½ c. shredded (1), 1 c. shredded (3)
• 2 15-oz containers ricotta (2)
• Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated – ½ c. (2)
• Mozzarella cheese – 1 c. shredded (2)
• Ricotta cheese – 1/3 c. (3)
• Sour cream – for topping burritos (3), chicken (4)
Other
• Oil
• 1 ½ c. red lentils (they look orange when dry) (1)
• 1 24-oz jar marinara sauce (2)
• 1 ½ c. chicken or veggie broth (3), 1 49 1/2-oz container or a small container/can + water and chicken bouillon cubes (5)
• 2 c. cooked black beans (3), 1 can (15 0z) (4)
• Salsa – for topping burritos (3), 1/3 c. plus extra for topping (4)
• 2-3 c. mayo (light or low fat works fine!) (5)
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