Plan your menu: 9 meal ideas for a busy week
Some weeks, planning your meals can be a real headache. To simplify things, try these five days of gourmet recipes by Metro. They’re balanced and easy to prepare—and they only require three sources of protein.
5 day of recipes and side dishes
MONDAY
TUESDAY
LUNCH
Magic Chicken Fingers
(use 2 chicken breasts)
Side dish: crispy vegetables, sliced apples and honey dip for the chicken fingers
DINNER
Side dish: salad with corn, fresh cilantro, fresh basil, a bit of olive oil, lemon juice and chili powder
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
LUNCH
DINNER
No side dish. The dish alone provides a full range of colours, flavours and nutrients!
FRIDAY
LUNCH
Maple Chicken Salad Pita Pocket
(use 4 boneless and skinless chicken thighs)
Side dish: carrot and celery sticks
DINNER
Clean-out-the-fridge meal.
Be creative!
PROTEINS
To cook these nine meals, you’ll only need three sources of protein, which you can use in multiple recipes. That means no wasted food!
Here’s what to choose and how to prepare it.
1CHICKEN
Amount: 2 whole chickens
Number of meals: 3
Preparation:
• Remove the breasts. Using a good knife, make a slit right between the two breasts and cut along the bones to detach as much meat as possible. Place the chicken breasts in pairs in zipper bags.
• Cut off the thighs and place them in a zipper bag.
Tip: Short on time? Use the backbone to make delicious chicken broth. Place it in a large pot with a bit of onion, a stalk or two of celery, a carrot and some herbs. Cover with water and simmer around 90 minutes. Remove any remaining cooked meat and strain the liquid. Store in the fridge or freezer.
Order on-line your chicken
2Legumes
Amount: 540 mL drained red beans, 540 mL drained lentils, 540 mL drained chickpeas
Number of meals: 3
Preparation:
• No preparation required
Order online your legumes
3GROUND BEEF
Amount: 2.5 lb.
Number of meals: 3
Preparation:
• None! The perk of using ground beef is that it requires very little work.
Order on-line your ground meat