Check out these dinner recipes (from an old meal planner I used to have on my website). Hope you enjoy.
P.S. The last recipe is AMAZING!!!
Italian Turkey Burgers
Avocado Quinoa Salad
Pepper Steak
One-Pot Cheesy Italian Pasta and Chicken
Meal 1: Italian Turkey Burgers
4 turkey burger patties (make from lean ground turkey or frozen patties)
kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 slices provolone
3 bell peppers (green, yellow, and red)
1/4 c. marinara sauce
8 fresh basil leaves
Ingredients
- Heat grill or grill pan to high. Season burger patties with salt and pepper and grill
until pink, 6 minutes per side for medium. Add cheese and let melt, 1 minute. - Meanwhile, grill bell peppers until charred, 4 minutes. Season with salt. Once cool
enough to handle, slice into strips. - Assemble burger: Spread bun bottoms with marinara and top each with a patty,
grilled peppers, and basil. Add top buns and serve.
Meal 2: Avocado Quinoa Salad
This Avocado Quinoa Salad is a powerhouse salad packed with good-for-you ingredients
and the best healthy lemon vinaigrette.
Servings: 8 as a side
Calories: 313 kcal
Ingredients
Salad
1 cup uncooked quinoa
8 ounces fresh cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large cucumber, chopped
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
5 ounces fresh spinach, roughly chopped
2 large ripe avocados, pit removed and chopped ( I would lower to one to cut some kcals)
1/4 of 1 bunch fresh cilantro, optional and to taste
1/3 cup Feta Cheese, optional and to taste
Dressing
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, do not use regular mustard
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 lemon (2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)
Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa according to package directions. Fluff and set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, prep the dressing. Whisk the red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, oregano, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste), and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (or to taste) together in a small bowl. Slowly add in the olive oil into the vinegar mixture while whisking briskly. Whisk in the lemon juice. Pour into a jar and store in the fridge while prepping the vegetables.
- Prep the veggies: Halve the cherry tomatoes, chop the cucumber (peel if desired, we leave the peel on), finely chop a quarter of a red onion, roughly chop fresh spinach, remove the pits and chop the avocados. Finely chop the cilantro if desired.
- In a large bowl, add in all the prepped veggies and quinoa. Remove the dressing from the fridge and shake it well and then pour over the salad*. Toss the salad and then top with feta cheese if desired.
- Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*If you aren’t planning on finishing this salad all in one day, I’d recommend keeping the
dressing separate from the salad and only dressing what you’ll be eating. Also, only prep
the amount of avocados to what you’ll be eating that day (so if you’ll have leftovers, only
add 1 avocado and add the other one the next day)
Meal 3: Easy Pepper Steak
Ingredients
1/4 Cups Less-sodium soy sauce
1/3 Cups Water
2 Tablespoons Rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1/8 Teaspoons Black pepper, to taste
1 pound Certified Angus beef sirloin steak, cut diagonally across the grain into thin strips
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
2 Sweet peppers, thinly sliced
2 Green onion, sliced diagonally into 1-inch pieces, white and green pieces separated
2 Tablespoons Fresh ginger
Preparation
- Marinade: add all marinade ingredients to a large bowl or zip lock bag and stir to
combine. Add the sliced steak, and toss in the marinade. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. - Heat 1 tbsp. oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sweet peppers and white
part of the green onions, ginger, garlic, and saute for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Transfer to plate. - Add the remaining 1 tbsp. oil to skillet. Remove half the steak from the marinade with a
slotted spoon (reserving the marinade) and sauté about 2-3 minutes until browned,
stirring occasionally. Transfer steak to plate with veggies. Sauté the remaining steak,
then transfer to plate. - Add the reserved marinade to the skillet and cook for 1 minute or until thickened. Add
the steak, veggies and green parts of the green onions to the skillet, and stir to combine.
Cook for an additional minute, then remove from heat. - Serve with:
Meijer Instant Brown Rice
Meijer California Blend Vegetables
Meal 4: One-Pot Cheesy Italian Pasta and Chicken
SERVES 6 | ACTIVE TIME 20 Min | TOTAL TIME 30 Minutes
8 ounces baby spinach leaves, divided
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil and Italian herbs, drained (about 7 ounces) (or
substitute 1 diced tomato)
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1/2″ bite size pieces)
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 pound dry linguine
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (reduce for a less spicy dish)
4 cups (32 ounces) reduced sodium chicken stock
1 cup (8 ounces) chardonnay wine
4 ounces fresh Parmesan cheese, shredded
Combine 1/2 of the spinach with the tomatoes, onion, chicken, garlic, linguine, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper in a 5-quart Dutch oven over medium-highheat. Pour chicken stock and wine over top. Cover and bring to a boil.
Cook 7-9 minutes until pasta is al dente (with a bite to it). Toss pasta with tongs occasionally to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You will still have some liquid in the pan when the pasta is done cooking. This is going to make the base for our delicious cheese sauce.
Turn off the heat and add the cheese to the pasta. Toss pasta with tongs until the cheese melts into the pasta. Toss in remaining spinach.