Dinner Planner – Week of December 18, 2023

We’re in the Christmas home stretch! I hope you’re staying healthy and sane in these last weeks of 2023. A couple of admin notes. I was just invited to be a guest chef at The Golden Door the week of January 21, 2024. This is an actual dream come true for me since The Golden Door is my happy place and a truly magical, transformative experience. I will be teaching a cooking class one night and preparing dinner for all the guests with the kitchen staff on another night. I truly cannot wait. Let me know if you will be there that week so we can hang out. Even better if you play pickle 😉

This Monday’s newsletter will have ideas for homemade gifts from the kitchen and ways to package them. Subscribe for free here. Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

Meatless Monday: Lemony Chickpea Soup, whole roasted cauliflower with tahini sauce

Tuesday: Three pea saute with or without turkey bacon. You don’t have to use three types of peas – use all frozen peas if you want. Plus wild salmon roasted on a sheet pan with carrots. Start the carrots first at 400 degrees and try to guess about 10 minutes before they’re done. Then add the salmon, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Wednesday: Warm Chipotle Lime Sweet Potato Salad by Stacie Hassing from The Real Food Dietitians. You can omit bacon for a plant-based alternative or swap for chicken breast.

Thursday: Stir-fried beef and broccoli, steamed brown rice or cauli-rice.

Friday: Mediterranean skillet chicken and rice, add a salad or a sauteed vegetable on the side, like kale or spinach.

Saturday Brunch: Hashbrown casserole

Sunday (Christmas Eve): Normally, this is a potluck dinner at my aunt’s house for 100-120 people! We always have dozens of fish dishes, including linguine with clam sauce, baccala, stuffed clams, eel, octopus and more. I have never published a clam sauce recipe, but I do something similar to this one but with a little tomato cooked into the sauce. If you are doing a seafood Christmas Eve, check out Cod Acqua Pazza, Seven Fishes Seafood Salad, or the Halibut with Capers and Lentils from my December 2020 online class; a simple arugula and radicchio salad; plus some garlicky broccoli rabe. Here’s a recipe for Whole Roasted Branzino if you’re in the mood for an easy and elegant fish dish or you can do the broiled branzino fillets from QTQ. My cousin Allison makes dozens of “haystacks” and there are biscotti, panettoni, and more. Apple Amaretti Crisp with vanilla ice cream would make a great dessert too. Check out my December 2023 Class for more ideas!

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! I have a free Monday newsletter with my thoughts, new recipes, and things I’m loving lately. Subscribe here!

Order my cookbook, Quicker Than Quick! If you have 1 minute, would you mind leaving a review on Amazon? I would be so grateful, thank you! Take a peek at my first cookbook “Kitchen Matters”!

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