Weekly Meal Plan: Healthy Options
This week's meals are all about swapping out unhealthier components of recipes for good veggies without compromising flavour or texture. Need I say more?
MONDAY: TERIYAKI EGGPLANT SUSHI
Picture by Sweetened By Plants
If you read my blog last week, you'll already know how obsessed I am with this recipe. I changed a few things this time around, and finally mastered the art of rolling sushi!! I found that I needed a fairly thin layer of rice to properly roll it all up tightly. This time I subbed out the cucumber for some zucchini, which I actually just cooked with the eggplant. Instead of cutting super thin slices of eggplant, I did about finger-sized blocks. This gave it a bit more substance so in the end I could make more wraps with the amount of "teriyaki" that I had cooked.
Also, if you're worried about making sushi at home- don't be! I hadn't done it before myself and it ended up being incredibly easy. My tips would be to keep the layer of sushi rice thin and to keep refreshing the water on your hands to keep the stickiness at bay. Also, as with anything you'll eventually have to roll up, don't over-fill. If you don't have a sushi mat, don't worry. I couldn't find one in the store next door but I used a small, thick towel under my plastic wrap. It works perfectly! I'll add a photo of my sushi below. It's not a great picture, but who has time for Instagram-worthy pictures when there's delicious food in front of your face?!
TUESDAY: TACO LETTUCE WRAPS
Picture by Cooking Classy
I'm really loving substituting tortillas with lettuce right now. This time I did a basic taco, minus the taco shell and with just a sprinkling of cheese. You still get so much good flavour but you're adding in another veggie. Such a good bonus! To flavour my meat I used some dijon mustard and it came out very moist and yummy.
WEDNESDAY: CHICKEN AVOCADO BURRITOS
Picture by Closet Cooking
Back to the regular tortillas on this one. Although I did use whole-wheat. I skipped on the Greek yogurt and used a little Gouda in place of Monterey Jack, which is more of an American cheese (apparently). I served some sweet potato fries on the side (cut into fry shape and bake in some light olive oil, salt, and pepper). Pretty quick, easy, and painless!
THURSDAY: HONEY STOUT SKEWERS & LETTUCE WEDGES
Skewers by The Beeroness and Hapa Nom
I've had these skewers on my to-make list for a long time now. I am happy to report that it was worth the wait! Rather than just doing chicken on mine, I added in some sliced zucchini. On the side I did a little "mini salad" as Killian called it. I would really love to do have done both of these recipes on the grill. Alas, I do not have a grill. Sad times. I did the skewers in the oven and the "salads" on the stove. Also, rather than using mayo for the sauce over the gem lettuce, I used Greek yogurt as the base. It was still super yummy, and I really only wanted a little drizzle what with the parmesan and bacon to add so much flavour to begin with. Both of these were a big win for us. But between you and me, I was more excited for the salad find. Warm salad?! Apparently it's a good idea.
FRIDAY: PESTO CHICKEN OVER ZOODLES
Picture by Recipe Runner
Okay okay. I've been hesitant to try this. Pesto and zucchini just did not sound like an appealing meal to me. Pesto chicken? Yes. Pesto zoodles? Not so much. But the healthier side of my brain said to give this a go. Killian makes a great dinner where he cooks chicken that's been marinating in pesto with some broccoli and stirs in penne. It's uber filling and yum. This was just a healthier version of that.
And I am SO GLAD I MADE IT! Holy moly! It totally masked the zucchini, but the zucchini gave it a nice crunch. I would love to make this again but with the broccoli as well for more veggie goodness. I do think that having a little sprinkle of parmesan on the top made a difference as well. I'll be experimenting more with pesto and zoodles in the future for sure.