This Week with Keeks - Meal Plan 1
buttery chicken, basil-y salmon, and pork chops
Access a printable file here: Grocery List & Recipes
As 2024 closes out, many people are starting to make resolutions. Roughly 79% of New Year’s goals involve improving health (mental, physical, emotional), and while I’m not one for resolutions, I tend to think there is always more room to spend quality time with family. Dinners are a great way to improve your health in all of these areas, and I would love to help you create more weeknight meals with your family. Below is a sample of what you can consistently expect on a weekly basis as a paid subscriber to keeks (in addition to extra recipes and crafts). Commentary, notes, and tips will be at the end of each recipe. My goal is to remove the stress from cooking dinner, minimize your food waste, and for you to ultimately make these meals work best for your family based on taste preferences, food intolerances, and budget.
I will be choosing meals with a focus on seasonal ingredients with meal overlap. I will use 2-3 different animal proteins a week and recommend substitutes to suit your preferences. The meals will be listed in order of ease (the first being the easiest), so you can look at your calendar and figure out which ones fit your family’s schedule each weeknight. In the notes, I will share when I find time to make the meals. Since I assume most people are cooking for children as well, most of the meals I make are kid friendly or made “deconstructed” so that both parents and children can enjoy.
All feedback is greatly appreciated!
MEALS FOR THE WEEK + THEIR INGREDIENTS:
BUTTERY TOMATO CHICKEN THIGHS WITH PENNE
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 6)
Cook Time: Roughly 40 minutes, 10 minutes active
Clean your chicken thighs and heat a medium saucepan over medium to medium high heat. Coat the pan with the olive oil, then add the chicken thighs and sprinkle with 2 tsp salt. Sear on one side for 3 minutes, then flip and sear the other side for 3 minutes.
When the thighs are done searing, add your tomato sauce, butter, garlic cloves, and oregano, lower the heat to medium low, cover with a lid, and braise for 30 minutes. Check on the thighs every 10 minutes or so to make sure the sauce is homogenous and the thighs are submerged.
When there is 10 minutes of cook time remaining, add the red bell peppers. If you are not cooking this in advance, now would be a good time to prepare your pasta as well.
When the chicken is done cooking, let it sit for a few minutes before shredding with 2 forks. Add the cream and pasta and serve with parmesan on top.
The chicken takes about 40 minutes to make but does not require monitoring. I make the chicken in advance and reheat when my family is ready to eat. Chicken thighs are probably best with this recipe, but it would also taste great with shrimp or meatballs. If substituting, cook your protein first and place on paper towels. Then reduce your sauce and add the meat back in at the end.
Notes:
Next time I make this I will try a sandwich with focaccia, spinach, and pickled onions.
If you don’t use it for dinner, it makes a great snack for kids or you!
Use less butter or skip the cream if you would like a healthier take on it. if you are, add a bit of chicken broth to the mixture so that the thighs stay submerged while cooking.
If you’re looking for another way to use your green onions from the Salmon + Basil Recipe, I think they taste amazing sprinkled on everything. Chop them up and sprinkle on top!
In the image above I used broccoli because it was all I had, but it tasted great. You could also substitute spinach or skip the veggie all together and serve with a Caesar salad.
SALMON + BASIL DRESSING + VEGGIES
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 6)
Cook Time: Roughly 20-30 minutes, 20 minutes active
Make your basil dressing by placing all the ingredients in a blender and blend until homogenous. Add salt, vinegar, or oil as needed.
Wash your salmon, pat dry, and cut into 6 even pieces. Sprinkle with 2 tsp salt and bring to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 450°. Wash and trim your asparagus and place in a baking dish with 2 TBSP Olive Oil, 2 TBSP LOW SODIUM Soy Sauce, and 1 tsp salt. Toss to coat. Bake in the oven for 7 minutes.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 2 TBSP olive oil. When the pan is hot, add the butter and let it melt. Then add your salmon and cook for 4 minutes on one side, and 4 minutes on the next. Transfer to a clean plate and squeeze the juice of one lemon over the salmon.
Toss noodles or rice with dressing and place salmon, asparagus and avocado on top.
The dressing takes about 5 minutes to make and I keep it in my refrigerator for about 1-1.5 weeks and use it on everything. The salmon takes about 10 minutes to cook and the asparagus only takes 7, so if you make the dressing in advance, this can be a 10 minute meal with some premade rice or easy noodles. This would also taste great with steak.
Notes:
This is my favorite way to cook asparagus! The soy sauce adds flavor but it needs to be LOW SODIUM. The flavor is overpowering if you use full sodium. If you’re gluten free and looking for a soy sauce alternative, I love to use balsamic vinegar.
Cook your salmon however you like! My kids get fussy with fish so I’m always trying to cook it in new ways. Butter tends to solve my problem most of the time, and this was truly delicious. I missed the crunch you get on the outside, though, and will probably try to cook it differently to get that crunch next time.
PORK CHOPS + ENDIVE SALAD
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4)
Cook Time: Roughly 30 minutes, all active
Remove the pork chops from the refrigerator, salt each pork chop with 1 tsp salt, and leave at room temperature for an hour.
Cut off the ends of the endives and chop in long, skinny pieces (like French fries). Slice the pear or apple into similar sized pieces. Rough chop the nuts and place with endives, apples, and cheese (if you are using it) in a large bowl.
Put the shallot, Dijon, and vinegar in a jar or bowl and whish rapidly while slowly adding the olive oil. Add maple syrup and salt, taste, and add more if needed.
Warm a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add 1 TBSP of olive oil and 1 TBSP of butter. Add the pork chops and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Sear the fat cap for roughly 3 minutes. Lower heat and cook for another 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and let sit 7-10 minutes before serving.
Add dressing and toss the salad just before serving.
This is the hardest meal, in my opinion, because you have to actively turn and monitor the pork chops, which is hard to do with kids running around. My family likes their pork well cooked, so it takes me about 20-30 minutes to make this dinner. The salad would also go well with steak or chicken, but the sweetness of it makes it ideal for pork, in my opinion. I chop the salad ingredients and make the dressing when I have the time (when making breakfast or lunch).
Notes:
You could substitute other pears or apples, but I prefer the crispness and sweetness of these varieties. This salad also tastes great with chopped dates.
I tend to use whatever vinegar I have for this recipe, but these are my favorites in order of preference: white wine vinegar (or champagne), red wine vinegar, rice vinegar, ACV
If you’re in a rush, you can put all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake or use a frother to emulsify.