A Healthy Balance Around the Holidays
Everywhere you look right now there tends to be a plate of cookies. Or cake. Or chocolate-covered popcorn. Or candy. Or all of the above. ‘Tis the season! However, to balance out the temptations and joys of indulging, we decided to keep the week pretty healthy when it came time for dinner. Plenty of veggies, I said, as we walked around the grocery store. And lots of protein.
For a week that started without a plan, I am happy to report that we still made three amazing meals that focused on the healthy, but never sacrificed the delicious. Now, that’s my kind of balance. ;)
Note: all recipes/meals below are original. I planned each one during my commute home each night.
Shawarma Chicken Spinach Salad with Gouda and Pepitas
Before you get on your high horse and say we shouldn’t mix these random ingredients together and call it a salad, hear me out: we made a charcuterie platter over the weekend and had a lot of leftovers. And in an attempt to not waste any of it, much of the extras made their way into Monday night’s pretty awesome dinner. I have no regrets.
We baked the chicken with my favorite shawarma spice (recipe is in the book Cook90) and then sliced it over a large spinach salad. Sounds great, right? Yup. But to make it even more exciting, and even more flavorful, we added chopped coppa, roasted tomatoes, chunks of Gouda, cucumber, and salty pepitas. Plus, a slightly-sweet, slightly-savory homemade dressing.
Now, this combination definitely sounds random and not necessarily the key to a delicious salad, but I guarantee you would have loved it too. I was happily surprised, and very full, from this hearty, and healthy, chicken, spinach, and everything else, salad.
Crispy panko Chicken wiTh Roasted Broccoli and arugula salad
For all of the times I plan to grill chicken, many of those times I change my mind amidst a long commute and decide that crispy chicken is the only food that will soothe my exhausted, hungry self. There are few dinner foods more satisfying than a piece of scrumptious, panko-crusted chicken after a long day. I wholeheartedly believe this; my cravings for tacos aside.
So on the night we needed crispy chicken, we paired it with another salad to continue the theme of balance. And we had a lot of broccoli in the fridge. Time to roast it! Nothing makes a potentially boring salad come alive than adding in a roasted vegetable. And much to everyone’s surprise, roasted broccoli is actually pretty delicious.
The salad had a base of arugula, chopped red pepper and cucumber, and the aforementioned roasted broccoli. We went for the gold and made a spicy peanut dressing (my favorite) which took this bowl of greens to a whole new level of weeknight awesome. Spicy peanut dressing is the gold standard, to me, for making any salad way better and much more appetizing.
Crispy chicken and a delicious salad. A combo that could be boring or not awesome, but this version was the exact opposite. And I’m craving it all again, already.
Pork and mushroom stir-fry
After the busiest Wednesday ever and a hard workout at the gym, all I wanted was something boldly flavored and really filling. Time for stir-fry!
I searched online for a specific recipe based on the few ingredients we had and decided to improvise a bit based on one from Bon Appétit (find it here) which sounded promising. We skipped noodles, added rice and mushrooms, and called it a day. Or dinner. You know what I mean.
The final dish was a really yummy (scrumptious, in fact) stir-fry filled with ground pork, two types of mushrooms, a semi-spicy sauce, and lots of scallions. Plus toasted sesame seeds for good measure. Jasmine rice is perfect for meals such as this so we made some to go alongside. Leftover rice is perfect for morning fried rice, by the way. Just add eggs. :)
A meal like this one is awesome for many reasons, but I loved it especially because it was so satisfying and quick, two necessities on weeknights. And the fact that it was absurdly delicious, fairly healthy, and I’d eat it again tonight? Well, that’s just a holiday bonus. 😉
As always, please leave a comment or send us a note with any questions you may have about our meals.
Enjoy!
