30 Days of Dinner - Week Two

Week two of our challenge has come to an end, and it ended on a great note - Beef Tenderloin Steaks and Kimchi Mash. This week's grocery list was a little more expensive, because there was more meat, including the beef tenderloin. Here are my thoughts for this week, followed by our favourite recipe.

Day 8 - Saffron Brown Rice with Shrimp and Chorizo
Brent cooked this one, as I was in class all day. He said it was super easy to put together, although it was a little more time consuming than the others. Flavour wise it was great.

Day 9 - Golden Onion Frittata 
This one was really easy to make, and was by far Brent's favourite for the week. He reheated the leftovers for breakfast the next day, and made a wrap for lunch too. I liked it, but wasn't over the moon. Very easy, and served with some bread and a quick spinach salad.

Day 10 - Spinach and Chicken Soup with Parmesan
Super easy soup to make, and I was disappointed that I had lunch plans the following day so didn't have any leftovers. This does make quite a bit, but wouldn't freeze well due to the noodles.

Day 11 - Quick Moo Shu Pork
Brent made this one too, and it smelled so good when I get home I reheated some even though I had eaten a ton of sushi at my study group. Super quick and easy, and as Brent said 'we could serve this to company'.

Day 12 - Crispy Tortilla Ancho Chicken Salad
This salad was great. Even though it was just the two of us I followed the recipe for 4 servings, and saved the chicken and bean mixture to use in quesadilla's for lunch.

Day 13 - Broiled Halibut with Buttery Tomato Sauce
We cheated on this night...we were going to buy the halibut, but then the night market was happening at Shipbuilders Square, and we decided to get dinner at food trucks. I am interested in trying this recipe, as I love halibut, but am not a fan of tomato's with fish, so curious to see how it would turn out.

Day 14 - Soy-Ginger Tenderloin Steaks with Kimchi Mash
Dinner tonight was fabulous. I don't know when I would ever have purchased kimchi otherwise, but it worked really well with this dinner. I would probably cook the steaks my own way next time (start on stove and finish in oven) but overall great flavours.

The recipes this week were all great, we had a pretty busy week and again it was great to know what was for dinner every night. This coming week is even busier, and I'm looking forward to trying the different dinners. The winner this week was the Quick Moo Shu Pork. Here's the recipe!

Quick Moo Shu Pork
- 340 g ground pork
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
- 4 tsp tamari
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten (we only had 1 and it still worked)
- 4 cups coleslaw mix
- 1 1/2 cups shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
- 5 green onions, sliced diagonally
- 12 small flour tortillas or lettuce cups

In bowl, mix together pork, garlic, cornstarch, ginger and pepper; mix in half each of the vinegar and tamari. In small bowl, mix together oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil and remaining vinegar and tamari. Set aside.

In wok or large skillet, heat 1 tsp of the vegetable oil over high heat; cook eggs, stirring, just until set, about 30 seconds. Remove to plate.

Add remaining vegetable oil to work; stir-fry pork mixture, breaking up with spoon and scraping up browned bits, until pork is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

Stir in coleslaw mix and mushrooms; cook until mushrooms are softened, about 2 minutes. Add oyster sauce mixture, green onions and cooked eggs; stir to coat. Spoon onto tortillas.