Easy meal ideas: Simple food leading up to Thanksgiving

Yes, they have to eat even when you're obsessed with the holiday feast. Scavenge the fridge! Have breakfast at night! Make life easy on yourself this week.

Monday:  Morning at night
With all eyes on Thursday’s Thanksgiving feast, it’s a shame we have to worry about meals the rest of the week. But we do. Go light and simple in the days leading up to the daylong over-do. Tonight, it’s Breakfast for Dinner with cheese and veggie omelets, fruit and toast.

Tuesday: Scavenger hunt
You’ll need space in the refrigerator for the turkey, so scour the shelves for a Chef’s Choice dinner. Heat up leftovers, make a Cobb salad — or a quiche with that frozen pie shell, cheese, veggies and eggs. If you’ve got hummus and crackers, put them out. Today is the day to make way for the big stuff.

Wednesday: Rotisserie chicken
Pick up a chicken when you do your last-minute shopping for a Calm Before the Storm meal. Go easy on yourself with the side, too. Buy a prepared salad — we like pasta or three bean — and spend tonight’s cooking time getting ahead for tomorrow.

Thursday: T-day
An early feast means somebody is going to be hungry at 8 p.m. Open-Faced Turkey Sandwiches are Thanksgiving dinner re-arranged. Layer warm turkey and stuffing on slices of bread and douse with gravy. (Add a dollop of cranberry sauce before the gravy.)

Friday: Leftover pie
You’ve probably got all the ingredients to make Turkey Pot Pie (recipe below) but it may be the energy you lack. Enlist some help and take a nap after Christmas shopping. The busy season has truly begun.
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Turkey Pot Pie
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
6 ounces button mushrooms, stems trimmed, caps cut in half then thickly sliced crosswise
1 cup thinly sliced, peeled carrots (about 2 carrots)
1/2 cup diced leftover cooked vegetables (optional)
1?1/2 cups diced cooked turkey (7 to 8 ounces)
1 to 1?1/4 cups gravy
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley plus additional parsley leaves for crust
1 egg white, beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)
1 (9-inch) purchased pie crust
Cranberry sauce
Melt 1 tablespoon unsalted butter with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and saute until golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Add sliced mushrooms; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute until browned and tender, about 4 minutes. Add sliced carrots; cover and cook until carrots soften slightly, about 2 minutes. Add leftover vegetables, if desired. Add diced turkey, gravy and chopped fresh thyme. Bring filling mixture to boil; reduce heat to low and simmer to thicken if necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in peas and chopped parsley. Pour filling into 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish and refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes.

Lightly brush rim (both top and underside) of filled pie dish with egg glaze. Place crust atop filling and fold edge of dough over edge of pie dish. Pinch dough rim to seal crust all around. Press down on top edge of crust with fork tines to seal decoratively. Chill 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly brush top of pie with glaze. Make three to four 1/4-inch slits in center of pie to allow steam to escape. Press some fresh parsley leaves onto crust. Bake pie until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Serve with cranberry sauce.

Serves 6.

Source: Bon Appetit magazine

Easy Weeknight Meals: Casseroles to Panini to Middle Eastern flair

Here are five dinner ideas to get you out of your rut. White Bean-Turkey Chili with Cornbread Dumplings will do that for you.

Monday: Leftover delight
Use up leftover rice in Cheesy Chile Rice, a meatless dish idea from the Food Network. To 2 cups of cooked rice, add 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup chopped scallions and a small can of drained, diced chiles. Then mix in 1 cup shredded Cheddar (I’d use pepper jack), salt and cayenne pepper if you’d like. Spritz a casserole dish with non-stick spray and sprinkle with Parmesan. Dump in the mixture and bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Tuesday: Upscale sandwich
Go fancy with Salmon and Goat Cheese Panini, and if you don’t have a panini press call your hot sandwich grilled cheese and make it in a frying pan. You can also make panini on a George Foreman gill. Layer poached salmon, goat cheese, capers and slivers of red onion between slices of sturdy bread and grill on each side until goat cheese is gooey. A lightly dressed green salad is perfect on the side.

Wednesday: Rotisserie chicken
Prepare Middle Eastern Chicken Flatbread by spreading store-bought baba ghanoush on toasted pita or flatbread. Layer on shredded rotisserie chicken, sliced cucumbers, diced tomatoes and Romaine lettuce. Sprinkle red wine vinaigrette over all. Serve with a side of couscous studded with raisins.

Thursday: Turkey preview
Get a head start on your November turkey consumption with White Bean-Turkey Chili with Corn Bread Dumplings (recipe below), or clip and save for the day after Thanksgiving . Hunt through the pantry for a jar of salsa to save you one more purchase at the grocery store.

Friday: Bake it
Italian Shrimp Bake is an easy and satisfying end of the week meal. Put several large, peeled shrimp in gratin dishes or individual ramekins with basil-infused tomato sauce. Top with cubes of fresh mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. Serve with green salad and crusty bread for dipping.

White Bean-Turkey Chili with Corn Bread Dumplings
1 pound cooked turkey
1 (16 ounces) jar chunky salsa
1 (15 ounces) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 (8.5 ounces) package corn bread mix
1 egg
Garnish:
1/4 cup shredded cheese
Sliced green onions
Chili powder for sprinkling

Chop turkey. In  Dutch oven, combine turkey, salsa, beans, chili powder and 2/3 cup water. Bring to boil.
Meanwhile, for dumplings, in a medium bowl mix together corn bread mix, egg and 1/4 cup water. Drop batter by large spoonfuls on boiling turkey chili.

Cover; reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean. To serve, top chili with cheese, green onions and chili powder.

Serves 4.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens

Easy weeknight meals: Fast scampi and a nutty-blue chicken salad

Out of dinner ideas? Here are five to get the juices flowing.

Monday:  What a scampi
We’ve made Shrimp Scampi Fettuccine before and it’s a dish worth repeating. Saute garlic, and minced shallots if you’ve got ’em, in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Don’t let the garlic go brown; keep stirring. Add peeled shrimp and a few good splashes of white wine (or chicken broth). Let shrimp cook through and serve over hot fettuccine. Green salad on the side.

Tuesday: Corny alternative
Saute corn kernels, fresh or frozen, and sliced jalapeno peppers for Spicy Corn & Jack Quesadillas. Mix the corn and jalapenos with grated Monterey Jack cheese and use as the filling for quesadillas. Serve with green salsa and sour cream.

Wednesday: Rotisserie Chicken
Nutty Blue Chicken Salad is what’s for dinner. Shred the bird and arrange meat over iceberg lettuce mix; add some crunchy veggies if you’d like. Sprinkle toasted walnuts and crumbled blue cheese over all; dress with balsamic vinaigrette.

Thursday: Going light
Sausage and Egg Flatbread (recipe below) from Cooking Light is, as you would expect, a light meal. The lemony dressing pairs well with the peppery arugula that garnishes this “pizza.”

Friday: Simply salmon
When you see salmon on sale, grab it. Saute fillets seasoned with salt and pepper in olive oil, about 4 minutes a side. Remove from skillet and add grape tomatoes, a bit of butter, fresh lemon juice and capers to pan. When tomatoes go soft, dump the chunky sauce over the salmon and serve. Five-minute couscous on the side.

Sausage and Egg Flatbread
1 (11-ounce) can refrigerated French bread
2 teaspoons cornmeal
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 (4-ounce) turkey Italian sausage, casing removed, crumbled
1/2 cup  shredded Fontina cheese
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups arugula
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Find lengthwise seam in dough. Beginning at seam, gently unroll dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough crosswise into 2 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 15- by 6-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Place each rectangle on a baking sheet sprinkled with 1 teaspoon cornmeal.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and turkey Italian sausage to pan; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring to crumble.

Divide sausage mixture evenly between rectangles, spreading evenly down length of dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border on each; top evenly with 1/4 cup cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven. Break 2 eggs onto each flatbread, packing evenly lengthwise; sprinkle evenly with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until eggs are set. Turn off oven; leave flatbreads in oven with oven door closed for 4 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from oven.

Combine arugula, lemon juice and olive oil; toss. Arrange arugula mixture evenly over flatbreads. Cut each flatbread crosswise into 3 squares; serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional information per serving: 288 calories, 12g fat, 17g protein, 28g carbohydrates, 676mg sodium.
Source: Cooking Light, October

Make Mediterranean Pizza out of your rotisserie chicken

Here's a recipe that you can play with endlessly. I shared it a couple of years ago on the blog but it deserves a command performance. The recipe calls for tomato sauce and dried spices; instead you can used prepared pizza sauce. Don't like artichokes? Leave them out. Want to add green peppers? Go ahead; just make sure to slice them thin so they cook in the short amount of time in the oven.

If you take away the garlic and olives, though, you have to change its name. That's the Mediterranean part.

Mediterranean Pizza
1 10-ounce pre-baked whole wheat pizza crust (such as Boboli)
1/2 cup no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 cup shredded chicken
1/2 cup sliced olives
1 small jar artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 small jar roasted red peppers, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 cup reduced fat cheese (mozzarella and cheddar blend)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread tomato sauce over the crust. Sprinkle toppings on pizza, finishing with cheese. Bake on a pizza sheet or pizza stone for 10 minutes.
Serves 6.

Per Serving: Calories 230, Calories from Fat 57, Total Fat 6.4g (sat 2.3g), Cholesterol 25mg, Sodium 696mg, Carbohydrate 27g, Fiber 4,9g, Protein 16.3g

Source: www.about.com, photo from Formaggio Kitchen, a very cool cheese shop in Cambridge, Mass.

Easy weeknight meals: Meatloaf, shrimp tacos and rotisserie chicken

Start Tuesday's dinner on Monday by roasting garlic for a new favorite recipe: Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Garlic and Walnuts. Here's the rest of your simple weeknight meals ideas:

Monday: Old-school dinner
Dust off your mother-in-law’s meatloaf recipe and make your spouse oh-so-happy. Or perhaps dish out some punishment. Serve it with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Green salad with Thousand Island. (While the meatloaf is cooking, roast the garlic for Tuesday’s dish.) (Meatloaf makes me think of the '50s which makes me think of the Donna Reed Show, pictured here. I loved to watch that in reruns. Had a big crush on Dad Carl Betz.)

Tuesday: Blooming pasta
Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Garlic and Walnuts (recipe below) isn’t our usual Stir Crazy dish because it takes some time to prepare. If you roasted the garlic last night when you made your meatloaf, you’re ahead of the game.

Wednesday: Rotisserie chicken
It’s not high-brow for sure, but Poppy Seed Chicken Bake will get high-fives from the family. In a large bowl, mix 3 cups cubed cooked chicken, 2 cans condensed soup (make it low-fat, low-sodium), 1 cup low-fat sour cream and 2 teaspoons poppy seeds. Spread the mixture in a shallow casserole dish and cover with a cup of buttery crackers (like Ritz) mixed with a couple tablespoon of melted butter. Layer on some shredded cheese if you’d like. Serve with green salad.

Thursday: Tacos that swim
Load Spicy Shrimp Soft Tacos with shrimp tossed in chipotle peppers with adobo sauce and sauteed in a bit of oil. Garnish with sour cream mixed with cilantro, shredded lettuce, crumbled fresh Mexican cheese and sliced avocado. Spanish rice and fruit on the side.

Friday: Two in one
Cheeseburgers and pizza are at the top of the list for most Americans when it comes to favorite foods. Why not combine them for Cheeseburger Pizzas tonight? Use whatever type of pizza crust you like. Brown ground beef with diced onions; drain well. Mix pizza sauce with ketchup and spread over crust. Layer on meat mixture, then sliced tomatoes and lots of grated Cheddar cheese. (Crispy bacon pieces before the cheese if you dare.) Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Pasta With Roasted Cauliflower, Garlic and Walnuts
2 heads garlic, papery skins removed, top quarter of heads cut off and discarded
6 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided use
1 head cauliflower (about 1 1/2 pounds, see note)
Table salt and ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 pound pasta
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 to 3 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves, chopped
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Adjust oven rack to middle position, place large rimmed baking sheet on rack and heat oven to 500 degrees.
Cut one 12-inch sheet of foil and spread flat on counter. Place garlic heads, cut-side up, in center of foil. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon oil over each head and seal packet. Place packet directly on oven rack and roast until garlic is very tender, about 40 minutes. Open packet and set aside to cool.
While garlic is roasting, trim outer leaves of cauliflower and cut stem flush with bottom. Cut head from pole to pole into 8 equal wedges. Place cauliflower in large bowl; toss with 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste and sugar.
Remove baking sheet from oven. Carefully transfer cauliflower to baking sheet and spread into even layer, placing cut sides down. Return baking sheet to oven and roast until cauliflower is well browned and tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer cauliflower to cutting board. When cool enough to handle, chop into rough 1/2-inch pieces.
While cauliflower roasts, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta; cook until al dente. Squeeze roasted garlic cloves from their skins into small bowl. Using fork, mash garlic to smooth paste, then stir in red pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Slowly whisk in remaining 1/4 cup oil.
Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking water, and return pasta to pot. Add chopped cauliflower to pasta; stir in garlic sauce, 1/4 cup cooking water, parsley, and 1/2 cup cheese. Adjust consistency with additional cooking water and season with salt, pepper and additional lemon juice to taste. Serve immediately, sprinkling with remaining ½ cup cheese and toasted nuts.
Serves 4.
Source: Cook’s Illustrated