This Week At Our Table | Week 02

As this week is progressing and I'm cooking through my meal plan, in my need to mix in some completely different meals, I added in a couple that are a little long for week night dinners — meatloaf and lasagna are suited when there is not a rush to get dinner on the table.

There are also a few that I can't link directly to so I will write them out at the bottom of the post —

MONDAY — I didn't end up cooking the sheetpan chicken from last week but had all the ingredients. I flipped it around a little and made spiced chicken from the spice mix from the recipe, rice and a kale and avocado salad with our favorite make at home dressing ( recipe below ).

TUESDAY — This week a few meals were built off of something that was in the fridge that I wanted to use. We had a few Super Bowl snacks over the weekend and potato skins were one of them. When I was scooping out the potatoes I popped the insides into a container in the fridge so I knew I didn't want those to go to waste. I thought of a baked potato casserole I had made once, and what's good with mashed potatoes — meatloaf!

This meatloaf recipe is one I have from Bon Appétit years ago, and I always tend to forget that it takes an hour to cook.. so prep it first haha, I put the potato casserole together first and then realized my mistake! The potato casserole is an elevated mashed potato and really good. There's so much flexibility in the recipe — I had havarti and gouda in the fridge so I used that up and put it in. I skip the onions in this one so the texture stays pure potato but you do what works for you :) It's light and fluffy and full of flavour.

I was just noticing the reviews on the meatloaf — I promise it's delicious, my family loves it. I do skip the blender part and just put chicken broth and the couple tbsp of sauce into the beef mix.

WEDNESDAY — A very loose take on a Donna Hay recipe where you skewer fresh artichokes and fish and grill. We picked up fresh Cod from the fish market and I made a lemon zest and thyme oil that we put on the fish before the bbq. I had a can of artichokes from the Italian Market that we used last week on pizza's and they were decidedly good for canned. I sliced them in half, topped with s+ p and put them in the oven to warm.

Roast beets, peel and cube, add to some spinach with goat cheese and drizzle with olive oil and honey.

THURSDAY — This became taco night as our resident taco lover was going to be out Friday for dinner and didn't want to miss this one. I'll write out the Donna Hay recipe below. I love to add crispy sushi rice to taco nights as the flavour works so well with all tacos.. seriously! Make sushi rice according to bag directions, mix in 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp mirin and pop in the air fryer for a few minutes until crispy. It's SO good. The guac side is perfect to layer on the tacos as well.

FRIDAY — Seafood Lasagna, linking the recipe I'm trying. Served with a caesar salad. As I was making the lasagna I did make a few edits, but these are just preference. For the ricotta cheese, I use a small container of ricotta and one cottage cheese. It's just my way for lasagna. Mix the two, add an egg and s+p. I used a small amount of mozza and added it to my seafood layer and ricotta layer. The whole milk — I used one cup whole and 2 cups regular. With the bechamel on top I didn't want to cover it and have it all stick to the foil and I didn't want it to brown too fast so I started it cooking at 275 for 30 min and then upped the temp slowly as it cooked through and started to brown. Once browned if you want you can then cover it and let it finish cooking slowly.

I have a layer tip I wrote down years ago after making a lasagna recipe and it's a great formula to follow —

Bottom of the pan

Thin sauce layer

Noodle layer

Meat sauce - here the seafood

Mozza

Noodle layer

Ricotta blend

Mozza

Noodles

Sauce - here the bechamel

Top

Recipes —

Our favorite dressing , this one is based off of GP but then over the years we've altered it a bit. I omit the vinegar and oil from the recipe, add Hellmans olive oil based mayo and apple cider vinegar. It's creamy and tangy and a hint sweet. If you make a dressing and it's a little thick, add a drop or two of water.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Standby Vinaigrette Recipe

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons real maple syrup

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as canola or grapeseed, optional; some versions use 1/4 cup total oil)

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Chimichurri Steak Tacos

steak fillets

extra virgin olive oil, for brushing

cherry tomatoes

flour tortillas, warmed

shredded white cabbage and extra store-bought pickled jalapeños, to serve

chimichurri

½ cup (26g) finely chopped cilantro

½ red onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped store-bought pickled jalapeños

1 clove garlic, finely grated

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup white wine vinegar

sea salt and cracked black pepper

To make the chimichurri, combine the cilantro, onion, jalapeños, garlic, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat.

Brush the steaks with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 2–3 minutes each side or until cooked to your liking. Set aside. * or bbq

Wipe the pan clean and return to medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5–6 minutes or until blistered and starting to soften. * I left the tomatoes fresh, not blistered

Slice the steak into thin strips and place in a bowl. Add the chimichurri and toss to combine.

To assemble, fill the tortillas with some cabbage, the chimichurri steak and the tomatoes. Top with the extra jalapeños and any remaining chimichurri.

Happy cooking! I'm off to find next weeks recipes — S