A week's worth of quick, healthful meals for budget-minded families
SUNDAY: Prepare your own baked ham for the family dinner. Add a special dish such as Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Apples With Pecan Streusel Topping (see recipe), along with green peas (from frozen) and dinner rolls. You'll love how easy Raspberry Shortcake can be using sliced pound cake with fresh raspberries and light whipped cream for dessert.
Plan ahead: Save enough ham for Monday; save enough cake for Tuesday.
MONDAY: Use the leftover ham for Grilled Ham and Swiss Cheese Sandwiches on rye. Serve with tomato basil soup and a lettuce wedge. Fresh pineapple is your dessert.
TUESDAY: The kids will be all over Tortilla Casserole tonight. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a 7-by-11-inch baking dish, combine 1 (10- to 13-ounce) package refrigerated cooked carved chicken breasts, 1 (14.75-ounce) can cream-style corn, 1 (15-ounce) can black beans (rinsed) and 2 medium tomatoes (seeded and chopped) until well blended. Smooth top. Cover and bake 35 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle top with ½ cup coarsely crushed baked tortilla chips and ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese. Bake 2 more minutes or until tortillas are toasted and cheese is melted. Serve with a chopped lettuce salad. Slice the leftover cake for dessert and top it with sliced peaches.
WEDNESDAY: Skip meat and have Fettuccine With No-Cook Tomato Sauce for an easy meal. In a medium bowl, combine 12 chopped, seeded plum tomatoes, ¼ cup balsamic vinaigrette, ¼ cup chopped fresh basil and 1 teaspoon minced garlic; mix well. Toss with hot cooked fettuccine and serve. Add a spinach salad with hard-boiled egg wedges and garlic bread. Try fresh tropical fruits for dessert.
THURSDAY: Layered Beef Salad is on the menu tonight! In a glass serving bowl (straight sides if available), layer shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, canned artichokes (drained) and strips of deli roast beef and any cheese. Repeat layers once. Top with ranch dressing. To serve, spoon through all layers. Serve with deli minestrone soup and flatbread. Buy or make tapioca pudding for dessert.
FRIDAY: It's inexpensive and has lots of flavor, two good reasons to put Santa Fe Rice and Beans (see recipe) on the menu tonight. Serve with a sliced avocado and lettuce salad and corn tortillas. Plums are good for dessert.
SATURDAY: Invite extra-special friends for the spring flavors in Pan-Seared Paprika Salmon With Spicy Green Beans (see recipe). Add brown rice, a bibb lettuce salad and a baguette. For dessert, buy a coconut cream pie.
THE RECIPES
Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Apples With Pecan Streusel Topping
- 2 pounds peeled sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons softened butter
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom, divided use
- ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
- For the topping:
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large saucepan, combine potatoes and apples; cover with 1 inch cold water. Bring to a boil on medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well; return to pan. Add butter, vanilla, 1 teaspoon cardamom and salt; mash until potatoes are well-blended and smooth. Spoon into 1 ½-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray.
For the topping: In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, butter and remaining ½ teaspoon cardamom until coarse crumbs form. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle mixture over sweet potatoes. Bake 30 minutes or until lightly browned and heated through.
Makes 8 servings.
Nutrition information: Each serving contains approximately 216 calories, 2 g protein, 8 g fat, 34 g carbohydrate, 15 mg cholesterol, 169 mg sodium and 5 g fiber.
Carbohydrate choices: 2
Santa Fe Rice and Beans
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (14-ounce) can unsalted chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed
- 1 (16-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed
- 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles, with liquid
- 1 (10-ounce) package frozen shoepeg corn
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 3 cups cooked brown rice (see note)
- Sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic; cook 6 minutes. Stir in broth and cumin; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add both beans, tomatoes, corn and vinegar. Simmer 10 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice. Garnish as desired.
Makes 5 servings.
Note: I used boil-in-bag brown rice; it cooks in 10 minutes in microwave.
Nutrition information: Each serving (prepared with reduced-sodium beans and no-salt added tomatoes and green chiles) contains approximately 334 calories, 14 g protein, 4 g fat, 62 g carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 242 mg sodium, 12 g fiber.
Carbohydrate choices: 4
Pan-Seared Paprika Salmon With Spicy Green Beans
- 4 (6- to 8-ounce) skin-on salmon filets, 1 inch thick
- 1 ¼ teaspoons smoked paprika, divided use
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more to taste, divided use
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste, divided use
- 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided use
- 1 pound trimmed green beans
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- ½ cup hot banana pepper rings (from jar)
Pat salmon dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet on medium-high until just smoking. Place salmon skin side up in skillet; cook until well browned and center is still translucent when checked with a tip of paring knife (internal temperature of 125 degrees for medium-rare), 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with remaining ¼ teaspoon paprika. Wipe out skillet with paper towels. Heat the remaining oil in the now-empty skillet on medium-high until just smoking. Add green beans, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring often until green beans and garlic turn spotty brown, about 6 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water; cover and reduce heat to medium, cooking until green beans are softened, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in banana pepper rings; season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. (Adapted from "Five-Ingredient Dinners," America's Test Kitchen.)
Makes 4 servings.
Nutrition information: Each serving contains approximately 311 calories, 38 g protein, 13 g fat, 11 g carbohydrate, 80 mg cholesterol, 774 mg sodium and 4 g fiber.
Carbohydrate choices: 1
Susan Nicholson is an Atlanta-based cookbook author and registered dietitian. She can be reached by email: