Swipe My Meal Plan | Week 9

Hello again! I want to extend a special welcome to those of you who are new to this blog! Many of you are finding my meal plans for the first time, thanks to the Aficionado Farms CSA preview newsletter. I'm looking forward to getting to know you as we do this CSA thing together, venture into new culinary experiences, and enjoy some of the yummiest produce in the Tri-state.

Because there are so many of you who might not be familiar with my approach to meal plan, here's a basic break-down of how I do things 'round here.

I start by writing out what I've got on hand (and what I know we'll be receiving in our CSA baskets). I plan around those items, to come up with a meal plan for 5 days worth of dinners. Sometimes a special breakfast or lunch might be thrown in there, but for the most part, dinners are my focus. I try my darnedest to stretch ingredients across multiple meals to save money, so you'll see me creatively using up leftover ingredients from one meal to inform what I'll make another night during the week.

Another point I love to make, especially since a lot of you are local, is that I shop almost exclusively at Aldi. I think this is important so that you know none of the ingredients I feature here are exotic or hard to find. If you can get them at Aldi, you can certainly get them at Schnucks or The Fresh Market, if that's where you prefer to shop.

I'm so excited to be receiving wheatgrass in our baskets this week! Wheatgrass is an AMAZING food. It contains all the minerals known to man (um, WHAT?!) It purifies the liver, detoxifies the lungs, and has antibacterial properties. It is also a nutritionally complete food, which means wheatgrass, alone, can sustain life. AND, here's a crazy stat: Nutritionally speaking, 1 ounce of pure wheatgrass juice is the equivalent of 2 pounds of produce!

Without further ado, here's this week's meal plan!

As always, underlined recipes are linked, and the rest can be found at the bottom of this post. I've also rounded up all the recipes in this week's meal plan over on Pinterest, on my Weekly Meal Plan Recipes Board.

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Wheatgrass & Mango Green Smoothie (eaten for breakfast for as long as the wheatgrass lasts)

Slow Cooker Banh Mi Tacos with Kohlrabi Slaw

In case you aren't familiar with "Banh Mi", it's basically pulled pork which is seasoned with Asian spices instead of BBQ sauce. Use the Banh Mi link only for slow cooking the meat. It calls for hoisin sauce which can easily be substituted using these ingredients if you don't have any. The "slaw" here is actually a salad recipe that I think just sounds really good in a taco. Serve on your choice of small corn or flour tortillas.

Avocado Pizza

I've been craving this ever since we got home from Miami in March. This dish is famous at The Miami Edition. It sounds so simple but packs a flavor punch and looks like a surprisingly easy recipe, considering how fancy we felt eating it on the terrace of that swanky hotel. It will make an admittedly light dinner, perfect for eating outside on a hot day with a cocktail or two. My kids will love this one, too, as long as I'm light-handed with the lime and onion on their portions.

Blackberry Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese, served with Basil and Greek Yogurt Grilled Chicken Skewers

Make a double batch of the chicken and save half for later in the week. I like to buy chicken at The Fresh Market on Tuesday when it's $2.99/lb.

One pan Quinoa with Kale, Mushrooms and Garlic Herb Butter

I would suggest using real butter in this one, rather than the butter substitute she calls for in the recipe.

Leftover Basil and Greek Yogurt Grilled Chicken Skewers

Serve simply. We'll probably eat them with leftover kohlrabi slaw, or a lightly dressed salad, sliced tomatoes, fruit or even steam-in-the-bag broccoli.

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RECIPES

Wheatgrass and mango green smoothie

Ingredients:

1 Handful of wheatgrass

1 Cup frozen mango chunks

2 Tbsp chia seeds

1 Very ripe pear, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 Cups coconut water

1 Cup ice

Directions:

Blend until smooth

Blackberry Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

Salad mix

1 pint blackberries

2 oz goat cheese (that's 1/2 of a small log)

1/3 Cup walnuts

1 lemon, juiced

1 Tsp raw honey

1 Tsp dijon mustard

4 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 Tbsp Fresh herbs or 1 Tsp dried herb blend (use whatever's on hand)

Directions:

Toast the walnuts in a dry pan on low heat. Watch them closely so that they don't burn. As soon as you can smell their nuttiness, they're ready to be removed from the heat.

In a salad bowl, combine the lemon, honey, mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. Whisk until well incorporated. Add in the salad greens and walnuts when ready to serve, and toss several times to coat in the dressing. Top the salad with blackberries and goat cheese.