Meredith and I were talking the other day and discovered that in an effort to save time avoid the looming and inevitable question of 'what's for dinner tonight?, we were both itching to get into a better meal routine. I love cooking, but without proper preparation it's just not happening. And so, proper meal planning and prep it is! My hope is to cook 2-3 meals during the week and have leftovers for the other days. Here is Mere's Week 1 menu if you're interested (which is Paleo friendly!).
The first meal that we're working into a bi-weekly rotation here at Casa Pike hit it out of the ballpark- Mustard Herb Crusted Chicken Breasts and Farro with Mushrooms and Fresh Corn. Farro is one of those grains that I normally don't grab, but I always remember how much I love it when I wind up eating it. It reminds me of a cross between wheatberry and rice. The chicken was incredibly moist and flavorful, and it also packed the perfect amount of punch with the dijon mustard. The farro recipe is loosely based on this one. I tried following the original recipe, but the farro wasn't cooking correctly so I nixed that plan (also, stirring the farro for 30 min just wasn't going to happen). Here's what I ended up doing:
-Cook farro according to package: Boil one cup farro in three cups water or stock. At boiling point, reduce to simmer and cover for approx. 30 min (all liquid should be absorbed)
-While the farro is cooking, begin cooking down mushrooms using butter and salt in the pan. Once they're cooked down halfway, add two ears of chopped fresh corn and a chopped shallot (along with any butter or olive oil as needed to get things moving). Once everything is cooked through as desired, add a handful of Parmesan cheese and the farro. Viola!
I'd say from start to finish this dinner took 45 minutes (and less than ten minutes to eat, haha!). That being said, now that I know the process it will take less time for sure, which is why I love the idea of repeating a seasonal menu every two weeks.
Any recipes you're loving lately? Feel free to share them in the comments!
This sounds delicious! We are thinking about adding more meals to our week because it's so much easier than wondering what the heck we need to get at the store!
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