4-Week Cooking Habit
(it's Week 1)
Hi there friends and happy March!
Welcome to our new adventure: the 4-Week Cooking Habit!
The goal over the next four weeks is to get into the routine of making dinner three nights a week. This might be a new or renewed habit for you. It is normal to be busy, distracted, or unmotivated to cook by the time five o’clock rolls around.
But, with a menu plan in place, shopping already done, ingredients on hand, and recipes at your fingertips, dinner suddenly becomes an easy plug-and-play.
Doesn’t this sound awesome to you? It’s gotten me excited, too!
The details of how this will work:
Every Friday in March, starting today, you receive a menu plan with recipes for the following week. This gives you the weekend (or Monday morning) to shop for the ingredients.
Recipes will include a variety of protein options including plant proteins, beef, chicken, pork, and seafood.
No one wants to be overwhelmed, so we are planning for three dinners per week leaving the rest of the days free and flexible for leftovers and dinners out.
You decide which three days you want to cook. I typically make dinner on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but choose whatever days work for you.
I hope that you will discover untapped cooking skills or rediscover ones that have been neglected over time. It happens.
There is a chat where you’ll meet other home cooks at all skill levels, walks of life, and geographic areas. Feel free to share photos of what you’ve cooked that week. Instagram-worthy photos are not required, just share. The chat will be a place to receive encouragement, accountability, and community. We will have fun!
The 4-Week Cooking Habit with menu plans and recipes is free for everyone. If you haven’t become a paid subscriber yet, now is a good time to become one. Paid subscribers will receive extra goodies like printable recipes and shopping lists. Plus dessert recipes that are absolutely worth the calories!
Week 1 Menu Plan
This week the recipes require basic cooking skills. Nothing complicated, nothing scary. They range in time commitment from 20 minutes to just under 90 minutes. The proteins this week are salmon, eggs, and chicken. Veggies include in-season spinach, Brussels sprouts, and rutabaga.
Please think of these recipes as guidelines and not rigid rules. If you don’t like salmon and want to use halibut instead, do it. Want to swap out other veggies on the sheet pan meal? Go for it. You’re an adult, so do what you want.
20-Minute Fish and White Beans Skillet
Mushroom and Spinach Loaf
Sheet Pan Crispy Chicken and Veggies
Mocha Mousse (for paid subscribers)
Also, a word about photos. The pictures I include here represent what the meals looked like on the day I made them. No one’s dish is ever going to look like the photo, not even mine. When I make these recipes again this week, they won’t look exactly like these because, life. And that’s okay. Again, think of the photos as a guideline, not a must-achieve goal.
Recipes
20-Minute Fish and White Beans Skillet
Serves 4
Total time: 20 minutes
Less than half an hour for dinner to be ready? I’m in. However, fish can be an “I’ve eaten but now I’m hungry 45 minutes later” kind of meal. The beans here add some heft and extra protein that helps you feel fuller longer. If you are growing herbs, use them liberally here! Rosemary is especially good, but use whatever you are growing. Crusty sourdough would be great with this.
Ingredients:
4 ( 4 oz each, 1 lb total) salmon fillets
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cups baby spinach
2 cans (15 oz each) white beans like navy or cannelli
1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
1 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Squeeze of lemon
Directions:
Pat the salmon dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Once it is hot, pour in the olive oil and place the fillets, skin side down, into the skillet. Cover the pan and allow fish to sear for 3 minutes.
Move the fillets to a plate and cover to keep warm. If you don’t like salmon skin, now is a good time to remove it as it should peel right off.
Turn down the heat to medium. In the same skillet, add the garlic, onion, and spinach. Sauté for a minute or two, just until the spinach wilts. Tip in both cans of beans either with or without the liquid. Bring the beans to a simmer and allow to cook for 2 minutes.
Return the fillets to the skillet, nestling them among the beans. Remove the pan from the heat and cover. Allow it to sit for 3 or 4 minutes. Uncover and garnish with the fresh herbs. Squeeze half a lemon over everything and serve.
Mushroom Spinach Loaf
Serves 4 to 6
Total time: 85 minutes
If you think this loaf sounds like something your hippie aunt who owned a health food store in the 1970s would serve, you aren’t wrong. But a savory vegetarian loaf like this makes it easy to get in your protein and veggies all in one dish. Brown rice brings texture and fiber while sun-dried tomatoes bring the 70s vibe. Serve it with a crisp green salad.
Ingredients:
½ cup uncooked brown rice (or 1 cup cooked)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 ½ cups onion, diced
1 cup celery, chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 cups white or brown mushrooms, sliced thin
5 oz fresh spinach (about ½ bag of washed spinach)
4 eggs
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp broth, white wine, or water
Fresh chopped parsley or other herbs for garnish
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Move the oven rack to the middle of oven position.
Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with oil on the bottom and sides, then set aside.
If the rice is raw, cook according to package directions, then set aside to cool.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Tip in the olive oil, onion, and celery. Cook for 5ish minutes or until onions are translucent. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and mushrooms. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes or until mushrooms have released their liquid. Add the spinach and stir until the spinach wilts. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.
Whisk the eggs, sun-dried tomatoes, mustard, and broth in a large bowl. Add the rice and the onion mixture and stir everything together.
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45 minutes or until the middle is set when tested with a knife.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edges. Cut the loaf into slices while it is still in the pan, or turn it out onto a platter and slice. Serve warm, garnished with chopped fresh herbs.
Sheet Pan Crispy Chicken and Veggies
Serves 4
Total time: 55-ish minutes
It’s hard to pass up a meal that involves crispy chicken and a zippy sauce, especially if it is easy enough to make on a weeknight. This one roasts chicken cutlets along with Brussels sprouts and rutabagas and is ready in under an hour. If rutabagas aren’t your thing (don’t knock them until you’ve tried them!), carrots or beets are a good substitute. The secret to the crispy coating: crushed cornflakes.
Sheet Pan Ingredients:
1 lb Brussels sprouts
1 lb rutabaga, peeled and cubed
2 shallots, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
Crumb Coating:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups crushed cornflakes
Sauce:
¼ cup honey
¼ cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp smoked paprika
4 Tbsp salted butter, melted
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 F/220C. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss together the Brussels sprouts, rutabaga, shallots, garlic, oil, salt, and pepper. Pour the mixture onto one of the baking sheets and spread out the pieces into a single layer, evenly spaced. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Prepare the chicken by slicing the breast halves lengthwise into thinner, equal-sized cutlets. This will help the chicken cook quickly and avoid drying out. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.
Make an assembly line for coating the chicken by placing the flour in one shallow pan, the beaten eggs in another pan, and the crushed cornflakes in a third pan. Dredge a chicken cutlet into the flour on both sides and shake off the excess, then dip it into the egg wash on both sides. Finally, dip it into the cornflakes and press to adhere the crumbs on both sides. Place the coated chicken onto the second prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining cutlets.
Place the pan with chicken in the oven on a separate baking rack from the veggies. They can bake at the same time.
Bake the chicken for 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Cutlets cook quickly so don’t overcook them or they will be hard and dry.
Make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and stirring until smooth. Drizzle some sauce over the crispy baked chicken and return the pan to the oven for another minute or two.
Serve the chicken with the roasted veggies and extra sauce on the side.
Remember to post your photos next week in the 4-Week Cooking Habit chat. I’m looking forward to seeing your dishes.
See you next Friday!
This week’s dessert recipe (Mocha Mousse!), downloadable/printable recipes, and the shopping list are all below for Paid Subscribers.