Menu Plan Monday: Beat the heat

csa-may-15

This past weekend, the temperatures were in the high 90′s both days, so I am looking forward to a week with cool, easy to prepare food. Last night, we had cold soba noodles with sliced peppers and carrots, a dish that I know from Japanese restaurants. My friend Atsuko brought something similar to our TGIF block party, and I realized I could make it at home too!

For the rest of the week, I headed over to a post I did last year, Thirteen Dinners for a Hot Night for inspiration. In the Two Small Farms CSA box this week, we found Little Gem Lettuces (I traded those, too much lettuce from last week), Radishes, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Spinach, Chard, Carrots, and Baby Broccoli. So my menu plan for this week is:

Monday: Dinner out after Swim Practice

Tuesday: Thai peanut noodles with cold, sliced pork tenderloin, Broccoli salad with asian dressing (I will use the Radishes too)

Wednesday: Cheesy Beef-and-Rice Casserole (see recipe below)

Thursday: Leftovers, Spinach and Strawberry salad, sautéed Chard

Friday: TGIF Mini-block party (last week, I took a bunch of Little Gem Lettuce leaves and a tub of dip and called that an appetizer. I don’t think my neighbors were fooled!)

Cheesy Beef-and-Rice Casserole
based on recipe from CookingLight 2002

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup chopped zucchini
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 4.5 ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
• 3 cups cooked brown rice (2 scoops of dry in my rice cooker)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese

If you do not have leftover brown rice, cook the brown rice and set aside. Remember, you only need 3 cups of cooked rice, which is about 1 1/2 cups dried.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Sauté meat, with onions and bell pepper, stirring to crumble meat, until meat is browned. Add water and next 7 ingredients (through green chiles); bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Combine rice, sour cream, green onions, and milk in bowl. Spoon into a 9-inch baking dish (it sounds small, but it works). Top will beef mixture and sprinkle cheese over the top. Bake at 375F for 10 minutes until heated through. 

If you want to make this in advance, refrigerate until ready to bake, and add 10-15 minutes to baking time, or until cheese is melty and casserole is bubbly. We usually enjoy this with tortillas on the side, black beans, and a salad.