Have you settled into a cooking routine yet? Yes? No? Either way, it doesn’t matter because most rules these days are out the window and we’re all just trying our best. And trying to eat well, too!

I’d say our meal planning is now barely existent due to our “see what they have” mentality when we grocery shop (it’s necessary). Even if we plan a few ideas for meals, we can’t assume they will be possible until we get to the store.

So while I am offering you plenty of dinner options below, I completely understand that the grocery shopping situation is hardly normal. Maybe one of these dishes will be possible for next week, maybe three or four (or none).

Regardless, I hope this set of dinners offers you some inspiration and help during this uncommon time. Also, perhaps you’ll notice a few trends of the last week: we love crispy chicken, pesto is currently popular (in our house), and when the weekend arrives, we make nachos.

We’re trying to keep routines in place to separate the work-week meals from the weekend dishes so we save the bigger indulgences for the end of the week (works for us, but you do not need to follow suit). Since we cannot go out to a restaurant for a favorite bar snack, we’re making them at home. Hello, nachos. It’s good to see you. ;)

I hope you’re doing well and staying safe. Please #stayhomeandcook - maybe you’ll create a new favorite meal!

Italian Chicken with Arugula Salad and Pesto

Following our double-pizza weekend, we decided it was time for a salad. But not to get too healthy, we paired a simple arugula salad (with sun-dried tomatoes, pepitas, and chickpeas) with delicious Italian-breadcrumb chicken. Balance! Times are tough, friends, so while our hearts know we need greens, our hearts crave scrumptious meals. There is always a way to make a healthy meal just a little extra special.

We’re not in the business of being “extra healthy” right now (although we’re getting lots of exercise and staying hydrated) so if we decide to add crispy chicken to a plate of greens, so be it. Live a little! This style dinner is one of my favorites, truth be told, because it is in fact a great way to balance your plate.

Cover half of your dish with the salad, but include a favorite flavor alongside (my goodness that chicken is so good). And yes, you do see a dollop of basil pesto nestled between the chicken and greens. I couldn’t resist. Spring has arrived and my pesto passion has emerged once again.

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry (channeling Myers and Chang)

While we are doing fairly well not going out to eat, once a week (sometimes more) I do get a pang of “I wish we could go to…” and this time around that wish was for Myers and Chang, one of our favorite Boston restaurants which is currently closed.

Lucky for us, Myers and Chang released an amazing cookbook called “Myers and Chang At Home” which includes the recipes of all our favorite dishes! How convenient! Not only can we re-create the fabulous food in our own home, but it allows us to make even more of the menu since we can adapt everything to be gluten free. The restaurant does an incredible job with dietary restrictions, but the menu is limited. With the cookbook, we can make it all!

On this particular night, we made the Chicken and Rapini Stir Fry, just swapping regular broccoli for rapini since that’s what we had and making sure to use GF-labeled soy sauce and a few other ingredients. How easy is that?! The dish comes together quickly and is ridiculously delicious. It makes enough for a small group, or two very hungry people with a fair amount leftover for lunch. ;)

Despite not being able to visit Myers and Chang, I find great comfort in being able to have some of their amazing flavors right at our own kitchen table.

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Sausage and Spinach

Suddenly I noticed the almost-forgotten sweet potatoes on the counter. Whoops! It was time to use them. One of our favorite sweet-potato focused dishes is from the book Cook90 by David Tamarkin, but due to ingredient constraints, we riffed on the “stuffed sweet potato” concept we discovered in this excellent book.

For this dish, we roasted sweet potatoes (how many times can I say this?) and then topped them with a “filling” of sautéed hot Italian sausage and spinach. Yum! Fairly non-traditional, but it definitely tasted good. To add a crunch to our dish, we toasted GF panko and sprinkled it over everything. Toasted panko makes every dinner more delicious; I guarantee it!

Also, I am living by a “more is more” mentality when creating dinners right now, so I whipped up a sriracha mayo to go with our meal. Not an obvious choice, but again, it was surprisingly yummy (the mayo works for so many meals, FYI).

This dinner was a mish-mash of sorts, but I fully support it and highly recommend it due to its versatility. No sweet potato? Use a russet! No spinach? Use any other leafy green. Not in the mood for sausage? Use ground beef, or chicken, or even crumbled tofu. It’s a versatile meal for these unexpected-grocery-bag times. Make it your own!

Italian Chicken with Spaghetti and Homemade Sauce, Roasted Asparagus

Oh hello, repeat flavors! We made Italian chicken again because repeats are no longer banned and enhanced the protein with everyone’s favorite carb: spaghetti! Our original plan was to only have chicken and asparagus, but after a busy work-at-home day and a workout (in the gym AKA living room), I knew the veggie wouldn’t be enough. Also, how can you have Italian chicken with red sauce without spaghetti? It might be a crime.

It was another night of a slightly unconventional trio, but as I’ve said many times before: cook what you want. Make your favorite flavors. Enjoy those cravings - it’s OK. And encouraged! I do think the asparagus looks like an afterthought on my plate (see photo above), but it’s actually the spaghetti that arrived last to the dinner party.

I must admit the dinner was quite delicious and truly hit the spot. My red-sauce-cravings don’t show up too often so this was particularly satisfying. For the record, that sauce was in our freezer from last summer! Homemade by Seth and just waiting for the perfect meal. Tomatoes freeze very well.

Next time we consider a dinner like this, I’ll be sure to check for fresh mozzarella and parmesan. This dish was millimeters away from being a decadent plate of chicken parmesan. ;)

Crispy Chicken and Roasted Sweet Potato (The Easiest Meal)

There was a moment when I almost didn’t include this dinner. It’s basic, boring, not photogenic, and not exciting. However, I want to keep things completely honest around here and yes, this is the dinner we made on Friday night. I had no idea what to cook, I didn’t want anything very involved, and we needed to use our last sweet potato and chicken portion. So! We did the bare-minimum which led to a delicious, albeit unexciting, dinner. Hey, it was Friday night. Cravings rule and hard work is not necessary.

Admittedly, panko chicken will always be a great dinner protein. It’s so yummy! And so easy. We added world’s biggest sweet potato (roasted in the oven) and ta da! Dinner. Sure, we’re missing a proper vegetable and my choice of wooden plate was not ideal (hi, the 70’s want their dinner back), but at that moment, this worked for us. And I am sure that many of you are doing the same thing at least once a week. Totally acceptable.

Dinner should be delicious; that is the main focus. If it’s not beautiful and fairly boring, no one will mind. In fact, I told Seth that night, as we crunched on panko and added (extra) butter to our potatoes, that this meal was exactly what I wanted. :)

Sheet Pan Nachos (Saturday night treat)

Saturday night surprise: we made nachos! One of my always-favorite food, nachos make everyone smile and make everyone happy and excited for dinner. Sure, it’s more of a bar snack than a real dinner, but who’s looking? We couldn’t go to a bar so we made it at home. Seth prepared a couple of marvelous margaritas and we indulged with this platter of nachos. Man, what a divine dinner!

Nachos are an awesome dinner option for these times because they are just so versatile (that word is frequent right now). Throw your preferred tortilla chips on a foil-lined baking sheet and then top them with whatever your nacho-loving-heart desires. Way too much cheese? Go for it. Refried beans and crispy pork? Yes, please. Then more cheese and avocado? Why not?!

Tortilla chips are a blank canvas for creating the nachos you want (and deserve) right now. The options are only limited by what you have in the pantry or what you remember to buy at the grocery store. Editor’s note: remember to buy sour cream and jalapeños next time. ;)

Veggie and Pesto Pizza (The new Sunday ritual)

And finally we arrived on Sunday night. What have we here? More pizza! Yes, I think we’ve created a “ritual” or “tradition” in these tough times and that is Sunday night pizza. It’s easy and delicious and let’s say it all together, very versatile. You need barely anything to make a great pizza and despite my creations being topped to the ceiling, I’d be A-OK with a far more minimal pie. I just don’t want a plain cheese one. Sorry.

On this particular Pizza Sunday, we made a veggie-focused pie topped with basil pesto, sautéed mushrooms, mozzarella, chopped tomatoes, broccoli, and crumbled feta. So many flavor and so much yum!

We used our favorite Zeia Foods GF crust and it came out beautifully. I have no shame in saying how much fun I have while topping pizzas. It’s an art form, right? Right. And this veggie pizza was seriously delicious.

Sunday nights, for us, have become focused around pizza. Is there a certain dish you’re making on repeat on a particular night? Or is there a specific food you’re craving more than usual right now? I’d love to know. We are all in this together. :)

Enjoy, stay home, and be healthy.

Mollie and Seth

Stay Home and Cook: Week Two