Week 3: 3 Fairly Healthy Dinners (So You Can Save Calories for the Other Days)
I’ve got two staples in the house on this one, the Cod and Chicken with Rice, and then a twist on my Creamy Chicken Marsala recipe to give you 3 recipes fo a week you may have stuff going on during most days.
Click the links below to skip to the grocery list and each recipe, or just scroll through.
Dinner 3
Grocery List:
~ .25-.5 lb cod per person
~ .5 lbs chicken breast per person
~ .25-5 lb chicken thigh per person
1 shallot
garlic
2-3 broccoli crowns
1 lb cremini (brown) mushrooms
1 bag small yukon gold potatoes
1 lemon
dill
rosemary
flat leaf italian parsley
spring mix or bag salad
capers
3-4 cups chicken broth
marsala wine
16 oz pasta shells
panko bread crumbs
heavy cream
parmesan cheese
Breaded Cod and Smashed Potatoes with Homemade Tartar
cod
panko bread crumbs
1 egg
flour
1 bag small yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cup mayonaise
juice from 1/2 lemon
1-2 tbsp capers, chopped
handful of fresh dill, chopped
Make the Sauce:
Combine mayo, lemon juice, chopped dill and capers. Stir really well, adding more mayo or lemon juice depending on how thick you want it. Salt and pepper to taste and then store in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
Smash the Potatoes:
Dump your potatoes into a pot, fill with cold water, then bring to a boil until potatoes are fork tender (usually around 15-20 minutes). Arrange potatoes on a baking sheet, then smash them with the bottom of a coffee mug. Drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper over everything and bake at 450 for another 20 minutes until crispy.
Bread your Cod:
Pat your cod dry, cut into portion sizes (~4-6 inch pieces) and season with salt and pepper (and any other seasonings you like on your fish). Arrange a set of plates/trays/bowls, one with flour, one with a beaten egg, and another with panko breadcrumbs. Dip each cod piece, skin side down, in the flour, then egg, then panko. Do this only on the one side, we don’t bread the whole thing.
Bring a neutral oil to head in a pan, and add each piece of cod breaded side down until browned (around 3-5 minutes), then flip and cook the other side another 2-3 minutes until they look slightly flaky (the meat should be separating an ok amount, but not falling apart on the bottom
Put all on a plate, top with the sauce, serve with a bag salad, spring mix with vinaigrette, or whatever veggie(s) you want
Picky Eater Notes:
My kids actually eat this one. This one is easy to keep everything separated, maybe get some ketchup for the potatoes
Chicken with Rice Cooker Rice Pilaf (Chicken of the Week)
chicken breast
2 cups rice
2 cups chicken broth
shallot
2 cloves garlic
veggie of choice
Start the Rice:
Thinly slice your shallot and garlic cloves, and sautee in a pan until softened. Add your rice to the pan, combine, and cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes to toast everything up nicely. Put everything in your rice cooker and fill to the line with chicken broth and let it cook. (You can do this all in a pot as well, or just add the chicken broth to the same pan and cook, but you can figure out the timing there)
Cook the Chicken:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Season chicken breasts on both side with kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika (I don’t actually measure, i just put a good coating of each on there)
Sear in a pan over medium heat until both sides are nice and browned, then transfer to the oven. Using a thermometer, pull the chicken when its about 145-150 degrees (probably about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven), and let rest
Cook your veggies or make your salad:
While everything else is in the oven/rice cooker/resting, prep whatever veggie or salad you want on the side
Picky Eater Notes:
You can omit the garlic/shallot from the rice and still get plenty of flavor with the chicken broth, or just make it white rice if it’s like that.
Chicken Marsala Pasta Bake
chicken thighs
16 oz pasta shells
1 lb cremini (brown) mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
small bunch of flat leaf italian parsley
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup marsala wine
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
Ideally you’ll do most of this in a dutch oven, but if you don’t have one, use whatever pan you like to cook chicken in, and a dish you like to bake in.
Preheat oven to 350
Start your pot of water, bring to a boil, add the pasta shells, removing when done
Season your chicken (I prefer salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika) and sear in the dutch oven (or your favorite pan) until fully cooked. Set aside.
Add your mushrooms (and more oil if needed) to the same dutch oven/pan, cook for 3-5 minutes until starting to soften.
Add garlic and rosemary and cook an additional 30 seconds
Add marsala wine, and reduce until it's mostly gone, scraping up any brown bits
Add chicken broth and heavy cream, bring to a boil, then lower heat and reduce until desired thickness
In the meantime, chop up your chicken thighs
Once your sauce is good, add parmesan cheese, parsley, chicken, and pasta shells to the pot, stir to combine, then grate a little more cheese on top and add to the oven
Bake 15-20 minutes uncovered
Picky Eater Notes:
Since we combine everything at the end, you can set aside some of the pasta and chicken, and just make butter noodles + chicken without too much extra effort