Sunday Meal Planning & Marvelous Mushrooms

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Nathan has been gone for the past week, so I didn’t really put much thought into my meals last week. This week, however, my goal is to choose mid-week meals that we can put together in 30 minutes or less. We are both in training mode, so when we finish work, we head out to run or cross train. That means we aren’t getting home until 6:30 or 7:00 and still have to shower and put dinner together before we relax a little. On top of all that, you mix in a 5:00 AM wake-up each morning and we aren’t left with much time. We both end up frustrated, exhausted, and starving by the time dinner is ready if we don’t choose some things that are super quick.

Now that we have a gas grill, summer grilling just got a lot faster!

All of that said, here is what we have chosen for the week:

Soup for the Freezer:
Split Pea (I can’t help but keep this one in the rotation!)

Dinners:
Grilled Chicken with Strawberry & Avocado Salsa (side of black beans and brown rice)
Tuna Steaks with Israeli CousCous and Veggie Ragout
Grilled Chicken Salad (we’ll grill the chicken for this when we grill the chicken for the other dinner)
Grilled Veggie Quinoa

Almost all of these dinners allow for one of us to prep and work on side dishes inside, while the other one tackles the grill work. Also, I’m kind of excited for a week without recipes!

Now, for a meal that is super delicious! As I mentioned, Nathan was away teaching at a national music camp last week. As such, I decided to cook two of my favorite ingredients that he doesn’t really enjoy too much: tomatoes and mushrooms.

For this dish, I chose a package of Gourmet Blend mushrooms from Whole Foods and some grape tomatoes. Preheat the oven to 400º. I always put my small cast iron skillet in the oven as it preheats to save an extra step. When the oven is ready, pull the skillet out and melt a small pat of butter or a little coconut oil into it. Break up the mushrooms and add them to the skillet. Give them a little stir and then pop them back into the oven. I pull mine out every 5 minutes and give them another little stir. After 15 minutes, add a thinly sliced shallot to the pan and allow them to cook for 10 more minutes (don’t forget to stir again halfway through).

While the mushrooms are cooking, half a large handful of grape tomatoes and add them to a small skillet with a little olive oil. Saute until they start to brown a little and break down. Once that happens, turn them to low. Then, just before the mushrooms are finished, deglaze the pan with just a little sherry.

I also cooked up about 4 ounces of whole wheat angel air while all of this was going on. Once the pasta, mushrooms, and tomatoes were all cooked, I placed my pasta pot back on the stove top on low heat. I melted just a little bit of butter in the pot with a tablespoon or so of veggie broth. Then I added all of the pasta back in with the veggies and tossed it all around. Finally, I drizzled the whole thing with just a touch of white truffle oil. I pulled about half out for my dinner and saved the other half for lunch the next day. Each time, I topped it with freshly grated parmesan cheese. It was delicious!