Soooo Many Good Dinner Ideas!

Okay, part two of my recent eats recap is even better than the breakfast and lunch I shared in part one. So many good dinner ideas in this round up of meals. Lots of seasonal produce, farmers market finds and creative combinations!

Sausage, beans and greens pasta recipe from Bon Appetit. Fun story, I cooked this dinner while my mom was visiting and sent a text to my dad to share the recipe. I was so surprised when he wrote back that he’d made the same recipe just a few weeks prior. What are the chances that we’d both stumble on the same pasta recipe online and make it within weeks of each other.

RE: the recipe…it was good! I used a pretty head of rainbow chard that I bought at the farmers market. I thought the flavor combo of the greens, beans and sausage went together really well. The only thing I’d change if I made this again would be the pasta shape. I would use something smaller like penne or orecchiette.

Salmon baked with Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce and served alongside roasted potatoes and sautéed squash with some sliced tomatoes.

Another salmon dinner of roasted salmon seasoned with Dizzy Pig rubs and lemon slices and served with roasted brussels and mushrooms and steamed brown rice.

Thai takeout. Dumplings, spring rolls, red curry with tofu and veggies and tom kha gai soup. This was from Aroy Thai on Independence. I typically really like their food but this was a miss. I’ll definitely give them another shot in hopes this was an off night. Their curries are usually so good.

This dinner might not look like much but it was delicious, easy and one of my faves of the round up. Rice noodles tossed with sautéed green cabbage, air fried tofu and Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce. Topped off with sriracha. I am going to get a tofu tutorial up ASAP!

Trader Joe’s frozen shiitake mushroom chicken over steamed basmati rice. I added a whole extra bag of stir fry veggies to this and I think it made the dish a lot better. Definitely needed more veggies than what it was packaged with. I thought this was pretty good – the chicken was very tender. But won’t be in a rush to buy it again.

Steamed quinoa, sautéed zucchini, air fried veggie burger, fried egg, hummus and cottage cheese.

Southwestern chopped salad kit from Trader Joe’s add tomatoes, avocado and their gluten-free chicken nuggets (which I air fried).

Shredded rotisserie chicken over couscous with steamed broccoli, avocado and Marzetti’s avocado green goddess dressing/sauce.

Steamed rice with sautéed zucchini, a baked bruschetta chicken patty, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, hummus and the green goddess I linked above.

Air roasted chicken breasts seasoned with Dizzy Pig Wonder Bird and served sliced with roasted brussels, rice and hummus.

Air fried tofu over brown rice with sautéed squash and zucchini, shredded mozzarella and the green goddess dressing/sauce from above.

Honey balsamic glazed chicken over couscous with roasted broccoli and a bag of frozen mixed veggies from Aldi that I roasted up. This recipe is a tried and true one for me and it had been forever since I’d made it!

This pasta dish was INCREDIBLE! Sautéed squash, zucchini, sweet onions, cherry tomatoes and chicken sausage with kale and green onion pesto and fresh mozzarella. The pasta and pesto came from Mano Bella which is a local artisan that makes hand-crafted Italian foods. I ended up eating this for dinner three nights. Yum.

Brought back another old favorite – pizza-inspired spaghetti squash casserole and roasted broccoli.

One can never go wrong with a frozen pizza when cooking motivation is low. This barbecue chicken pizza from Whole Foods is one of my faves to keep on hand.

Finally, delicious Greek takeout on a night the power was out. My first time trying Greco Fresh and won’t be the last! I had a delicious platter of rice pilaf, greek salad, lamb, pita and tzatziki. The salad was super fresh, the meat was tender and flavorful, the rice was seasoned well, the pita was warm and soft and the tzatziki was solid.

ETC

Carrot cake and chicken salad from Laurel Market (peep Benji checking it out!). It had been too long since I had a slice of Laurel Market carrot cake and it’s great. I had also been craving chicken salad for some strange reason and it was great too. I will be back soon!

First time trying this Jeni’s flavor and I liked it. Not taking a place in my top three but good ratio of sweet and tart.

Insert drool face emoji. Impulse purchase at Trader Joe’s and two thumbs up.

Baklava on the night I did Greek takeout.

And that’s the end of a whole month of dinner highlights. Hope it gave you some good dinner ideas for end-of-summer eating. 🙂

QUESTIONS

Which pasta dish looks best to you? The sausage beans and greens, the rice noodles cabbage and tofu or the chicken sausage pesto and veggies? 

What’s your fave Jeni’s flavor? 

Latest favorite sweet treat from Trader Joe’s?