Week 24 - Everyday Potluck

Printable Version of Meal Plan and Grocery List

Have you ever noticed when you go to a potluck that everything tastes so good!  So why don't we just cook like that all the time?  The thing with potluck food is that it's typically something you can big-batch, has global appeal for picky eaters and travels well... perfect for everyday!  So all the lunch/supper options this week are potluck friendly.  Just in time for all those summer barbecue's!

Recipe Quick Links

Fish Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa, Canadian Living
Honey Garlic Meatballs, Edesia's Notebook
Avocado Corn Salad, Sobey's Inspired
Thai Chicken Skewers with Peanut Dipping Sauce, Life's on Fire
Lemony Red Pepper and Asparagus Salad, Canadian Living

Week in Review

Monday

Lunch - Quinoa Lentil Salad.  This recipe came from my sister, Jo-Anne.  She brought it to a family BBQ a couple of weeks ago.  She likes to make the base (quinoa, bulgur, lentils, feta and dressing) in a big batch on the weekend and then she just adds the veggies as she goes through the week.  The lentils in this salad make it a filling lunch.  I prepared 1 cup of quinoa (reserving enough for breakfast later in the week), 3/4 cup bulgar and 1 cup of lentils.  This made generous servings of lunch for Dave and I for two days.  I added tomato and cucumber to our individual servings.

Dressing for Quinoa Lentil Salad
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp mint
1 tsp dill
Salt & Pepper
**Note: I made the amount of dressing as described here but found it to not be enough, so I made more based on 1/8 cup olive oil.  How much dressing you need will depend on how much salad you make and personal taste.

Supper - Fish Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa.  I made these a few weeks ago and they are so good!  I will say I made one mistake this time... I got lazy and bought corn tortillas instead of making them fresh.  It really did make a difference.  I think these would be awesome for a potluck.  When I make my own corn tortillas they're typically pretty small so you could have a platter with a stack of tortillas, crumbled fish, and the salsa and yogurt in dishes.  I think it would look really pretty and impressive and one little taco would be just right size when you're taking a little bit of everything. 

Photo by Jim Kim/TC Media, via http://www.canadianliving.com

Tuesday

Lunch -- Quinoa Lentil Salad.  I didn't switch it up, this was an exact repeat of Monday's lunch.  It was really nice to have something easy to pack on Monday night!  My sister will big batch this to have more than twice in the week.  For me two times of anything is typically enough... by the third day it's lost it's appeal.

Supper -- Honey Garlic Meatballs and Rice.  Ever been to a meatball free potluck?  Nope, me either.  I've never made honey garlic meatballs so I browsed Pinterest looking for a recipe.  I typically stay away from ketchup based sauces because, well... they're just too "ketchup-y".  But it seemed like every recipe I found for honey garlic sauce was this recipe.  Given it's popularity I thought I'd give it a try.  The verdict?  It was too "ketchup-y"!  I was looking for a bit more honey and bit more garlic.  When I said I wasn't crazy about it though Marin said (with a full mouth of food) "mmmm... I think it's perfect already".  So it got the kid stamp of approval.  If anyone has a meatball recipe they'd like to share I'm still looking for "the one".

Wednesday

Lunch - Dave didn't need lunch and I had a lunch date with my bestie!

Supper - Fajita Chicken Stirfry and Avocado Corn Salad.  I was planning to barbecue the chicken but it was raining cats and dogs so at the last minute I decided to do up the chicken as if we were having fajitas... chicken, peppers, onion, Mexican spice blend and salsa.  This is the second time I've had this Avocado Corn Salad on the menu and I made it for our family gathering last weekend as well.  This is best with grilled corn but I've made it plenty of times using frozen corn and it's still really good.  The last time I made it I skipped the salsa and hot pepper in consideration of some dietary constraints and actually preferred it that way so I skipped them again.



Photo from Sobey's Inspired - http://www.inspired.ca

 

Thursday

Lunch - Honey Garlic Meatball Pita Pizza.  I used up the leftover meatballs on a pita pizza, using the honey garlic sauce in place of pizza sauce.  It was pretty good.  I like when I can reinvent leftovers.

Supper - Thai Tofu Skewers with Peanut Dipping Sauce with Basmati Rice.  I think these would be great for a summer barbecue as an alternative to meat.  This recipe is from the cookbook "Life's on Fire - Cooking for the Rushed" but substituting tofu/veggie skewers for the chicken.  The recipe is copied out in the Week 6 file (linked above).  I mentioned this cookbook a few weeks ago and this is by far the recipe that I've made the most.  I think the Tofu version turned out great but then again, anything dipped in this peanut dipping sauce is going to be good.  I could eat have eaten it by the spoonful.  And you might not think of Tofu as kid-friendly but in our house it most definitely is!  It was one of Marin's first finger foods and she's always loved it.  I find this recipes needs a pretty plain side so we had it with basmati rice.

Friday

Lunch - Lemony Red Pepper and Asparagus Pasta Salad and Deviled Eggs.  Pasta Salad and Deviled Eggs - two more potluck classics.  I first tried this pasta salad at a girls night potluck and instantly fell in love with it.  It's really light and full of flavor, the perfect summer pasta salad.  This made enough for 2 days so we'll clean up on it on the weekend.  And confession time... I left deviled eggs in the menu because of the theme, but I was too lazy by the time I packed our lunches so we just had plain boiled eggs.

Photo by Joe Kim via http://www.canadianliving.com

Supper - Layered Nacho Dip.  Saving the best for last!  Isn't this always the first thing to go?  And is it just me or do you usually eat it and think "mmm... I could totally park myself in front of this dish and make a whole meal of it!".  Well we did... and this isn't the first time either!  Dave was regrettably out at a staff party but Marin will be super happy with this one!  I blend equal parts of cream cheese and sour cream, topped with salsa, optionally some veggies such as tomatoes, peppers and avocado and finally a layer of shredded cheese.  Easy peasy and delicious! 

Happy Father's Day weekend!