Last week’s meals included three vegetarian dishes, a deliciously simple salmon dinner and a meal that involved zero cooking. It was quite the random assortment but everything was tasty!
Week of Weeknight Dinners: April
MONDAY: Marinated Salmon with Roasted Butternut Squash and Green Beans
It was back to basics with this dinner! To make the salmon, I followed this maple soy salmon marinade recipe but substituted coconut aminos for the soy sauce and doubled the amount of garlic. It was fantastic and a nice departure from the flavors I usually gravitate toward when I make salmon (dill, lemon, garlic). Ryan gave this dinner rave reviews as well and said it was one of his favorite salmon recipes to date because the marinade took some of the “fishiness” of the fish away. As for the sides, I made a batch of roasted butternut squash by tossing cubed butternut squash in olive oil, garlic salt and rosemary and simply steamed the green beans because that’s how Chase like them best!
TUESDAY: Vegetarian Chickpea Curry
This dinner was my favorite meal of the week! I’ve been working on tweaking a vegetarian chickpea curry recipe for ages and finally nailed it in early April so I had to make this recipe again for dinner last week! This curry dish is made with lots of vegetables and chickpeas and a base of coconut milk and diced tomatoes and we could not get enough of it. I ate the leftovers over brown rice for lunch the next day and it was fantastic. Stay tuned for this one on the blog soon because it’s definitely share-worthy!
WEDNESDAY: Asian Chopped Salads
Not every dinner has to involve cooking to be delicious! This was a throw-it-together dinner and I mean that quite literally. We had two bags of an Asian chopped salad mix in the fridge that I poured together and topped with leftover shredded chicken and we were good to go! The salad kits came with Asian dressing as well as cashews and sesame sticks which added a hearty crunch to the meal.
THURSDAY: Vegan Pad Thai
As written this recipe actually isn’t vegan (it includes honey) but I substituted maple syrup for the honey in the peanut sauce (so Ryder could also have some) so the recipe actually was vegan in our house. The peanut sauce is simple to whip up and I love how many veggies are included in this dish. The pad Thai is made with a base of edamame noodles which we LOVE. I randomly added edamame noodles to a Thrive Market order a few months ago and have ordered several more boxes since. They’re fantastic and a great source of plant-based protein, too!
FRIDAY: Thai Chickpea Burgers
I’ve been making these Thai Chickpea Burgers on repeat not only because Ryan and I love them but because Ryder gobbles them up like it’s his job. (He even loves the uncooked veggie burger “dough.”) I like keeping at least one of these veggie-packed burgers on hand in the fridge at all times so I always have a lunch or dinner option for Ryder that I can easily break into tiny pieces for him to grab and shovel into his mouth. (These burgers aren’t Chase’s thing to the surprise of no one.) On Friday night, Ryan and I ate our veggie burgers with mashed potatoes topped with butter and roasted okra and yellow squash.
Question of the Day
What is one recipe you made last month that blew you away?
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I made a dessert that is incredible – Detoxinista’s No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Pie. It is vegan and easy to make. The pie is delicious!
Can you share the recipe?! That sounds delicious!
Sara: Go to Detoxinista site and search for No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Pie. It is so good. I just made her Kung Pao chickpeas in the Instant pot – another winner.
Her recipes are so good! Can’t wait to try this one as well!!
What do you usually give Chase on nights you know he won’t eat what you are eating? My three year old is pretty picky and I feel like we just rotate through the same old options with her.
A lot of the time we’ll do deconstructed versions of our meals. Also Chase, for whatever reason, MUCH prefers raw veggies to cooked so he gets a lot of raw carrots, cucumbers, etc. and fruit. He also eats a LOT of the same foods over and over again but I try not to beat myself up about it as long as they’re mostly healthy. Also, have you seen this post by Lindsey of The Lean Green Bean? –> https://www.theleangreenbean.com/tips-for-feeding-toddlers/ She’s a registered dietitian and talks a bit about why her kids don’t always eat what she eats and I thought it was SO helpful!!
I love these posts. Great recipe inspiration. I need to try that vegan pad thai and edamame noodles. I recently tried chickpea pasta and that was good and more protein than regular pasta.
These posts are my new fave! I can’t wait for the chickpea curry recipe, that’s everything I love in a bowl.
So glad you’re enjoying them!
I want to try that vegan pad thai! I’ve been using this sweet and spicy marinade on everything lately – it’s just brown sugar, soy sauce/coconut aminos (whatever I have on hand), crushed red pepper, chopped onion, and ginger. I’ve used it on chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, and pork chops. So easy and is now my husband’s favorite.
sounds so, so good! do you measure it or just wing it? i feel like that’s one i’d want to measure the first time but then would just wing it every other time. if you happen to have an idea of the amount of each ingredient you use, i’d love to know!
It’s from the skinnytaste fast and slow cookbook but I’ve made it so many times I just wing it! But I think it’s 1/4 c soy sauce, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp crushed pepper, and 1/4 of an onion
thank you!!
Love these posts!
The Thai chickpea burgers look incredible! I’ve been meaning to make them ever since I first saw you posted them, but haven’t gotten around to it, but seeing again reminds me I should definitely prepare them soon! I think I even already have all the ingredients on hand!
Where did you find the Asian Salad Kit?
They have one at Costco!
Hi! Can you link the chickpea curry soup recipe? Thanks!!
Hi Kim! It’s actually a recipe I’ll be sharing on the blog soon — hopefully next week!!
Julie,
I made a version of your chickpea burgers this week and they were a hit with my family! I used fresh basil instead of dried and also added green onions. I also swapped out the green curry for red and used cashew butter for tahini.
Pretty tasty. Loving the increase of plant-based recipes on your blog.
Bailey
Thank you for taking the time to let me know! I’m so glad you liked them & all of your swaps sound delicious!!
Hi Julie,
The dinners look fab. Quick question: how did you convince Ryan to eat meals with no meat. Getting the husband to see plant-based meals as, well, meals is harder than tricking my little nieces and nephews to eat veggies! :0