Cooking on a week day can be hard. Really hard. No one wants to work in the kitchen after working all day at.. work. That’s why after a loooong day I always go for a quick and easy recipe – like this one. Simple Lemon Garlic Salmon not only has a great name, but from start to finish it takes less than an hour. And it contains only 3 ingredients that are used to maximize flavor. Really, it hits all the criteria for a successful dinner – Its simple, its healthy, and its economical. Beats spending money on a pizza. Save that for the weekend. Here’s how to get it done:
Entrees
Healthy Buffalo Chicken Bites
As you read in my Slow Cooker Avocado Chicken article, I recently gave up eating deli meat sandwiches for lunch. It just became too much to handle – eating a cold sandwich every day. Don’t get me wrong, I loved them for 2+ years and will probably eat them again, but in the meantime, I need to switch it up. I’m opting for hot lunches for the first time since elementary school. Except this time hot lunch doesn’t mean pizza and corn dogs, this time it means Healthy Buffalo Chicken Bites. They’re spicy, savory, easy to make and heat up beautifully so you can bring them to work every day for lunch. They go great in a wrap, with some brown rice and vegetables or on top of a salad. The best part is that a complete lunch featuring these Healthy Buffalo Chicken Bites will run you less than $3.
That’s fast food cheap.
Making this recipe is extremely easy too, and takes less than 30 minutes. I had some help along the way from some useful kitchen tools; my Le Creuset and wooden turner:
Simple Pasta with Garlic and Oil
Pasta with Garlic and Oil is a classic Italian dish – also known as spaghetti aglio e olio. The best part about this recipe is not its a.k.a. status, but its simplicity. You only need three ingredients to get started, and you probably already have all three in your pantry.
Asian Dijon Turkey Burgers
Burgers are one of my favorite foods. They’re a better sandwich, and there are many different forms they can take. I made Asian Dijon Turkey Burgers this time around. They are quick to make and are perfect for weeknight dinners.
Personally, I am not a huge cilantro fan. I tend to pick up on it’s “soapy” taste. Don’t know what I am talking about? Read this.
However.
The cilantro in these turkey burgers just works. It steals the show.
Grass Fed Beef and Quinoa Meatballs
I have a bad habit of buying groceries I don’t need each week at the grocery store. Not that I buy a bunch of cereal and candy bars and chips, but I’ll oftentimes buy bread when we already have a loaf at home or I’ll get pasta without knowing we have a couple boxes in the pantry. In this case, and for the past couple weeks, I have been buying grass-fed beef that is on sale even though we already have 2-3 lbs in the freezer. It’s an annoying habit that I need to break, but the extra food always gets used in the form of countless sandwiches, pasta bakes, and in this case, Grass Fed Beef and Quinoa Meatballs.
If you’re wondering why there is quinoa in these meatballs, the main answer is “money.” Meat is expensive, and quinoa is slightly more affordable and packs a good amount of protein. Rather than use breadcrumbs in this recipe, I decided to switch it up and use quinoa. It worked great and kept a couple extra bucks in my pocket.
Pan Seared Salmon with Soy Ginger Glaze
This Pan Seared Salmon with Soy Ginger Glaze is the perfect weeknight meal. It’s easy to make, affordable and the glaze takes the flavor to a whole new level. Plus, the entire recipe only has 7 ingredients! It’s a great recipe to make for your family or just for yourself – it heats up surprisingly well for being salmon (just try not to do it at work).
My first blog post ever was actually a salmon recipe. The stock photo is hard to look at, but the recipe itself is very good. It’s a go-to recipe of mine that I cook all the time, and if you like this Pan Seared Salmon with Soy Ginger Glaze recipe then I suggest you check out the original economical salmon recipe too.
Back to the current salmon recipe…
Slow Cooker Beer Chicken
The Super Bowl is right around the corner, and this Slow Cooker Beer Chicken is the perfect dish to enjoy while watching the millionaires play their game.
You can easily impress your guests (and/or yourself) with this Slow Cooker Beer Chicken that takes minimal effort to make. Throw it on a bun with some BBQ sauce, or eat it plain with some rice and veggies. Your call.
All you need to get started are two key ingredients:
Spicy Soy Sauce Basil Chicken
Chicken is healthy, but can also be bland and boring. This cold winter night I decided to go with something spicy for dinner, and this Spicy Soy Sauce Basil Chicken is anything but bland. It will give your weeknight dinner routine the shake up it needs. Earlier, I shared a recipe on how to make chicken in a slow cooker, this time I am going to marinate chicken and “grill” it on the stovetop. If you don’t have a grill pan, a regular frying pan will work just fine.
Easy Braised Guinness Lamb Chops with Rosemary Sweet Potatoes
I recently discovered how versatile beer is for cooking. I typically fall back on IPAs, pale ales or anything with hops. Though, with St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I decided to break out the Guinness and make these Braised Guinness Lamb Chops with Rosemary Sweet Potatoes. I have been cooking with beer frequently, and have been pleased with the results (check out this Slow Cooker Beer Chicken to see what I mean). This recipe did NOT disappoint either. The sauce was rich and tangy, and the lamb was tender. It was exactly what I was looking for in a St. Patrick’s Day recipe.
The recipe is easy to make too. It’s what I would call an “easy braise” – you will be done in about an hour. Plus, you’re idle for most of that hour so you can enjoy it hanging with friends or watching The Office like I did.
Read moreEasy Braised Guinness Lamb Chops with Rosemary Sweet Potatoes
Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
Lunches are tough to plan for the week, not to mention actually prep and cook. It can be hard to find the motivation some Sunday’s to spend time in the kitchen making food for the work week instead of enjoying the last few hours of the workday. This past week, I was feeling especially uninspired. Just what you want to hear at the beginning of a recipe post.
I had already made Basil Quinoa and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing, Healthy Buffalo Chicken Bites, Slow Cooker Avocado Chicken Salad, and Spicy Soy Sauce Basil Chicken, I was running out of ideas, to be honest. Then hit it me, I remembered a simple classic from my childhood – BBQ chicken with rice. I had BBQ chicken and rice every night throughout middle school and high school. Okay, not every night, but once a week easy. The idea made me excited to whip up my own version.
When revisiting this childhood classic I wanted to keep it easy and simple, and nothing is easier than the slow cooker. You could make BBQ chicken with two ingredients – BBQ sauce and chicken. I was looking for something a bit more flavorful, so I added some onion, garlic and vinegar to the slow cooker to spice up this Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken while still keeping the recipe simple with only 5 ingredients.
Easy Blackened Chicken Pita with Mint Yogurt Sauce
Blackened Chicken Pita with Mint Yogurt Sauce go great together, like MJ and Pippen, Brady and Belichick, Chandler and Joey, Shrek and Fiona. You get the picture. The heat of the chicken is matched perfectly by the cool tang of the mint yogurt sauce. Each only having a handful of ingredients makes this flavorful pita recipe super easy to make.
I first made blackened seasoning last summer over the Fourth of July. I was grilling at my then Fiance’s (now Wife’s) parent’s house and drinking my favorite beer (manly) and covered the entire chicken breast in black pepper before tossing it onto the grill. Plain and simple, yes, but the result was pretty dang good.
This time around, I upped the seasoning game slightly and added some other spice and flavor to the mix, including red pepper and paprika. The combination was quite tasty, and hot. If you like spicy food then this recipe is for you! It’s not quite grilling weather yet, so I baked this in the stove, but cooking it on the grill would work great too. You also do not need a cat measuring cup to make this recipe, but if you’re into it the Amazon link is below.
Rosemary Dijon Pork Loin
My wife hates the smell of bacon. It’s kind of weird. She also hates the smell of coffee in the morning, so not really sure we can trust her. Needless to say, she was not a fan of when I made this delicious rosemary Dijon pork loin last Sunday afternoon. Its tasty, herby aroma filled the apartment. Or in her words, “it smelt like death.”
After opening up all the windows and airing the place out, I was able to slice this pork and chow down. It was the perfect Sunday late lunch, but it also heated up well all week for lunches and dinners.