Fruit salad with cottage cheese, big mac salad, greek salad with turkey burgers, pesto pasta salad, burrito bowls.
I was off on holidays last week, so I took a break from meal planning, but I'm back at it this week.
It has been HOT around here, and all the salads just seem to hit the spot when I don't feel like cooking or heating up my kitchen.
On the menu - July 21 - 27, 2019:
Sunday Fruit salad and cottage cheese
As a kid, my mom often served fruit salad and cottage cheese for supper. It was one of my dad's favourite meals, and I still remember eating cantaloupe with grapes and bananas. So good when it's hot outside! No oven is required and it's very quick to prepare. You can use any fruits your family likes - just cut them up into bite-size pieces and toss together in a large bowl. When it comes time to serve, put some cottage cheese in the bottom of a cereal or soup bowl and top with fruit salad. We ate it all before I had a chance to take a photo, but tonight I used watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, an apple, two bananas, green grapes and a mango. (This photo is from a few days later). For three people, we used an entire large container of cottage cheese. My son loves cottage cheese as much (or maybe more!) than my brother and I did as kids. (Anytime we visited a buffet restaurant, cottage cheese was our first choice!)
Monday Big Mac Salad
This carb-free salad is so, so good. The dill pickles add just the right tanginess and I really loved the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes in this. I used a mix of romaine and butter lettuce because that's what I had on hand, and I also cooked some frozen hamburger patties instead of using ground beef. If you're feeding people who want (or need) carbs, it's easy to give them a burger on a bun and you can still serve this salad on the side. I will be making this again.
Tuesday Greek Salad with Turkey Burgers and Tzatiki
I've been searching for the "best" Greek salad for a long time, and I'm still looking. This recipe was tasty but I found that it had a little too much bite for me to consider it the "best". Burgers seem to be hitting the spot this week, so we had Hayter's Onion & Parsley Turkey Burgers with this tonight.
Wednesday Tortellini Pesto Salad or as I like to call it, Pesto Pasta Salad) with green salad and cold meat
Years ago, I attended a work potluck at a co-worker's home, and she served this AH-MAZING pasta salad. She used farfalle rather than tortellini, and Queen olives rather than the regular (small) ones. She did not serve it on a bed of spinach, but you definitely can (although I usually don't). Typically I julienne the carrots and don't bother to blanch the broccoli. This is one of our favourite salads, and my son requests it regularly. I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't like it. It's deliciously different! Thanks for sharing, Mary Ann!
Thursday Mucho Yummy Beef Bowlrito
My son has been pretty busy this summer and hasn't been home for supper too often, but I've been receiving many pleas for more leftovers. This dish is great warmed up, and serves 4 easily, so it fit the bill. Still my favourite Mexican dish - from Greta Podleski's "Yum & Yummer" cookbook. Tonight I used a bunch of lettuce and went easy on the rice, topping the whole thing with homemade salsa and guacamole, shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped tomatoes (not pictured), corn and black beans. Divine!
Friday Leftovers / eat out / takeout
Tonight we attended "Fired Up Friday" with friends nearby and it was such a fun event! If you live in Huron or Bruce counties, I highly recommend you check it out. Loved the atmosphere and their delicious woodfired pizza and fresh salads. Bonus - it's all you can eat and there is fantastic live music!
Saturday Leftovers / eat out / takeout
A friend was celebrating their birthday tonight with a barbecue, so I made the Pesto Pasta Salad (Tortellini Salad - see above) and my Best Ever Broccoli Salad. They were both huge hits, and I could have doubled the Broccoli Salad for sure. Some of the guests are doing Keto and/or are gluten-free, so it was a perfect dish to take, and the kids/teens loved them both, too.
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