Five Meals for Your Family Table....Week 11

Happy Spring!!! Gosh I hope the weather starts acting Spring-like around here! I am ready to do more grilling and can't wait to get fresh produce from local farms. Sharing 5 meal ideas for your family table this week, including a new favorite...Hummus crusted chicken. Grab your pen & paper and write your grocery list.

one

These Black Bean Enchiladas are so good, filling and I love that I can make them a few days ahead on my prep day. I found the recipe a few years ago here and have been making them ever since. You can get the recipe here. I follow the recipe pretty closely, except I only use about half the cheese that is called for. You can make these ahead of time and just bake them up when ready. We top ours with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt and some sliced avocado.

two

I made this Hummus Crusted Chicken a few weeks ago and it was such a hit! I put about a pound of chicken breasts in a 13*9 glass dish, sprinkle with salt & pepper and cover in about 3/4 cup of hummus. I used garlic hummus, but you can use any flavor you want. Bake at 450 for about 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. We paired with with some Mediterranean couscous. Toss cooked couscous with some chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, kalamata olives, parsley, and feta. Drizzle with a little EVOO, the juice of half a lemon and season with salt & pepper. It's such a fresh dish!

three

Steak Stir Fry Bowls. I know I have talked up stirfry before, but they are just so easy and such a great way to get in a lot of veggies! For this stirfry I heat up a couple tablespoons of EVOO in my wok over medium- high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the bite size steak, and season with salt & pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes, until the meat is browned, tossing frequently. Remove the meat to a plate and saute your veggies. I add about 4-5 cups of veggies. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and let the veggies steam for about 5 minutes until just softened. In this batch, I used bell peppers, spinach, and onions. Add your steak back in. I like to keep the sauce clean... a few shakes of liquid aminos and the juice of half an orange. For this rice, I cooked some brown rice and set aside. I cooked three eggs in a fry pan, breaking it up an then added the rice. Top the rice with your stirfry mixture, chopped scallions & sesame seeds.

four

Good old fashioned meatloaf and baked potatoes. I must admit- I just made baked potatoes for my family for the first time a few weeks ago. Neither of my kids have ever been big on potatoes, so we eat a lot of sweet potatoes, quinoa and brown rice with our dinners. They loved the baked potatoes! I made extra and chopped them up with some eggs for breakfast the next morning. I jazzed up the meatloaf by adding some sauteed onions & mushrooms. It gave some nice flavor and texture to the meatloaf.

five

This Roasted Shrimp Pasta with spinach & tomatoes is a simple dinner for the end of the week. I roasted a pound of shrimp seasoned with a little EVOO and salt and pepper. In a large bowl, I put in a pint of cherry tomatoes (halved), a few cups of fresh spinach, some chopped black olives and 2-3 TBSP of an herb infused olive oil. I tossed in some warm pasta and the spinach began to wilt. Season with a little salt & pepper and plate with some of the shrimp and feta cheese. (the kids went with parmesan cheese),