I had a very, very busy week and I am so looking forward to chilling out this weekend before another very busy week! I am starting a new menu in my in-person cooking classes this week and I will be speaking at two conferences at the end of the week in Minneapolis at the Beauty Counter Leadership Summit and at the Galveston Chamber of Commerce Women’s Conference.  🙂  My meal planning is a lifesaver for weeks like these!

Here’s your dinner planner for this week:

Meatless Monday: chickpea soccas with Mediterranean salad bar 

Tuesday:  poached halibut in thai coconut curry and jasmine rice from The Chalkboard Mag, stir fried bok choy from my cookbook

Wednesday: simple grilled chicken paillard (use this recipe), grilled artichokes with lemon-caper dipping sauce (or use your favorite vinaigrette), crispy salt and vinegar potatoes

Thursday: hearty vegetable vegan lasagna

Friday: chopped grilled vegetable salad with shrimp (take a Tablespoon of vinaigrette and brush it on the shrimp and grill them for a couple minutes on each side)

Saturday is Cinco De Mayo Here are just a few yummy ideas for a cinco do mayo dinner:

Tacos: Chipotle cauliflower tacos, Slow-cooker barbacoa-style beef tacos, slow-cooker chicken tacos, ground turkey tacos (use tempeh for vegetarian), grilled fish tacos, sweet potato and black bean tacos

Salads: Mexican cobb salad, Jicama slaw, Creamy cabbage slaw, Mexican chopped salad, cilantro-lime slaw, fiesta salad with salsa vinaigrette, avocado, jicama, and mango salad, deconstructed guacamole salad 

Enchiladas: Mexican lasagne, Chicken enchilada rojas (swap roasted veggies and beans for the chicken to make vegetarian), roasted vegetable enchiladas verdes (swap the veggies and beans for already cooked, shredded chicken if you want this with animal protein)

Beans: Mexican black beans, drunken pinto beans

Rice: Restaurant-style Mexican rice, cilantro-lime cauliflower-rice, green rice (arroz verde)

Veggie Sides: Chipotle brussels sprouts, Mexican sautéed greens, grilled Mexican corn, chipotle sweet potato fries, homemade guacamole

Soup:  Tortilla soup, Caldo Tlalpeno Soup

Some ideas from my cookbook: migas (for breakfast!), pineapple agua fresca, Mexican vegetable soup with rice and beans, burrito grain bowl, Mexican chopped salad with spicy cilantro dressing, slow-cooker chicken tacos, chipotle shrimp tacos with pineapple slaw, Portobello and poblano tacos with charred corn, Mexican millet casserole

Sunday: Repurpose your Cinco De Mayo leftovers!

-If you made tacos, re-use the meat to make quesadillas.

-If you have leftover corn tortillas, make tortilla soup.

-If you have leftover enchiladas, add to a pot with stock and puree partially to make enchilada soup.

-If you have leftover rice and beans, reheat to make a grain bowl and top with leftover veggies, salsa, and guacamole OR layer with scrambled eggs in a tortilla for a breakfast burrito.

 

Here’s what you can do ahead if you need to (this would not include advance prep for Saturday or Sunday since I didn’t give a single meal):

Sunday

Make socca batter

wash, dry and cut bok choy

Steam artichokes (up to 3 days in advance)

Make beans, if not using canned

Wash/dry greens/lettuce and herbs

Make salad dressings

Trim tough ends of asparagus (for grilled veg salad) and place cut ends in a small amount of water in the fridge

Make marinara sauce (or buy jarred)

 

Monday

Make cauliflower-cashew “ricotta”

Roast veggies for lasagna

Make lemon-caper dipping sauce

Thursday

Grill all veggies for salad (pull out an hour ahead to bring them to room temp)

 

Here’s a link to my previous dinner planners.

I have LOVED seeing all your creations of my recipes on Instagram.  If you make any of my recipes, please tag me @pamelasalzman #pamelasalzman so I can check them out!

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If you like my recipes, you’ll LOVE my cookbook!