Smoked pork loin chops, cherry tomato pasta with proscuitto and asiago, Greek halloumi salad with herbed pita chips, brown sugar-grilled salmon, Italian sausage and summer vegetables
This week's meal plan features a great mix of grilling, smoker, and stovetop recipes, perfect for summer, and designed to help you maximize your time in the kitchen so you can spend more time with your family.
On the menu August 2 - 8, 2020:
Sunday Smoked Vegetables with Smoked Baked Potatoes, and Smoked Pork Loin Chops
Tonight's smoker meal turned out much better than Friday's. I'm beginning to wonder if I have simply had too many veggies in my grill basket, and that's why they are taking so much longer to cook? Tonight I made Smoked Baked Potatoes again. My potatoes were on the smaller side but were perfectly cooked. I also tried a new thing with veggies - cooking them directly on the grill. They were perfect as well, although the kids thought the tomatoes were a little mushy. For our pork loin chops, I tried this Everything Pork Dry Rub and it was a success, although we have decided we prefer smoked pork tenderloin over smoked pork loin chops. I forgot to take a photo of the chops and we ate every last bite, but we had some leftover veggies. Not really pretty, but deliciously flavoured!
Monday Cherry Tomato Pasta with Prosciutto and Asiago and green salad
This pasta dish was quick and so good. I didn't have any multicolored cherry tomatoes, so I just used all red ones, but I don't think anyone minded. I used less parsley than the recipe called for because we don't love it and I don't think we missed it. This dish had a delicate flavour that we all enjoyed. In case you can't tell, we really love tomatoes around here! My favourites are Axiany sold at Loblaws stores.
I was expecting great things from this meal, and while the Halloumi cheese never disappoints (it may be my fave cheese of all time!), the dressing on the salad was a little underwhelming. We also found that the pita chips tasted better with hummus, but as an inspiration for future meals, this salad was tops. Next time I would not skip the red onion and try a different homemade Greek salad dressing. A little salt and pepper might be all the pita chips need, but you can't go wrong with hummus on the side. This meal was surprisingly filling and I will be trying it again with a few tweaks. Yum! I used my grill pan for the cheese, but you could definitely barbecue it as well. I love having flavourful, delicious vegetarian options like this for meals.
Wednesday Brown Sugar-Grilled Salmon with Zucchini and Fennel "Noodles" and fruity green salad with Easiest Blueberry Vinaigrette
Typically my son is not a fan of salmon, but he really liked this. He was less sure about the fennel zucchini combo, but everyone else loved the light, flavourful taste and it went really well with the salmon. I had a little trouble with my salmon tonight. I bought boneless, skinless pink salmon because that was all our local store had in stock. It was quite a bit thicker than usual and since it wasn't fully thawed, it took longer to cook than the recipe suggested. I didn't achieve the lovely crust in the linked photo, but the flavour was very good. This meal didn't have any carbs tonight but you could easily serve this with rice if you like.
I was also thrilled with the amazing blueberry vinaigrette I made tonight. I've been searching for a blueberry dressing recipe for a while, ever since we first had a fabulous one at Grassroots Woodfired Pizza. This one was super and a perfect topper for mixed greens, blueberries, oranges, and peaches topped with goat cheese. I found a large carton of BC blueberries this week, and they are so good. I meant to add some candied nuts but forgot them when it was time to serve. Since I know I will be making this often, I will be sure to add them next time!
Thursday Italian Sausage and Summer Vegetable Sheet Pan Dinner with salad and yellow beans
Even though I meal plan on a weekly basis, I still sometimes mess up and have to cook something else on the fly. Sometimes I think I have an ingredient on hand and find out I actually don't, or sometimes I have already used that ingredient and simply forgotten that I need it for another meal. I highly recommend taking a regular inventory of your kitchen, especially to make sure you actually have what you think you do. I am still totally working on this, so no judgment here!
It's for those very occasions that I love having something quick in the freezer that I can pull out and make at the last minute. Sausage and frozen turkey or hamburger patties are perfect for those situations. Trick's Creek Farm has awesome Italian sausage and we love their burgers as well.
This meal was born of necessity since I did not have the long-grain white rice in my pantry that I thought I did, so I needed to make a quick meal change. It used other ingredients that I did have on hand, like sweet peppers and zucchini and yellow squash, and fresh, local yellow beans went very well with it, too. This was delicious and a very happy replacement for my original planned meal. It was fast and easy - the best kind of weeknight meal. If you wanted to add a carb, leftover fried potatoes work well or rice or pasta.
Friday Leftovers / Eat Out / Takeout
Saturday Grilled steak with smoked baked potatoes and summer veggies
We love steak from Trick's Creek Farm - grass-fed and organic, and it was awesome served with local corn and veggies done in the smoker. And I never serve baked potatoes without my Killer Topping for Baked Potatoes. Definitely a "must-try"!
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