Itasca Meal Planning 101: High Protein Meals
As many of you know, I love trying new recipes! The following 4 were some of my summer 2024 faves…
Meat & Cabbage Salad
Serves 8
I discovered this recipe in April and finally had an opportunity to give it a whirl. It was another smashing victory and perfect for a warm summer evening with plenty of leftovers to spare. The original recipe calls for chicken breasts. We used pork tenderloin as Cascade is allergic to chicken. Turkey tenderloins, thighs, or breasts would also be fabulous but they are very difficult to find (Harmony does sell them). We served with a side of roasted sweet potatoes as the starch. We had some leftover rice in the fridge so I served mine over 1/2 cup rice and mixed with some hot sauce for a bowl variation!
Dressing Ingredients:
2 Tbsp garlic, minced
2 Tbsp ginger, minced
4 Tbsp olive oil
8 Tbsp Dijon mustard
4 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
8 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp black pepper
Dressing Instructions:
Put all ingredients in a pint jar. Lid and shake.
Additional ingredients:
2 # meat (skinless/boneless chicken breast, pork tenderloin, or turkey breast/thigh/tenderloin)
Salt
3/4 c slivered almonds (we used chopped pecans due to almond allergy in household), toasted
1/2 head purple cabbage (about 10 oz), cored, thinly sliced or chopped
4 baby bok choy, thinly sliced crosswise (we used Napa cabbage although I discovered the baby bok choy at the Park Rapids Farmer's Market the next day!)
6 scallions, thinly sliced
2 8 oz cans water chestnuts, drained & quartered
1 7 oz bag mung bean sprouts (can be found at Hugo's and Coborn's)
Instructions:
1.) Place meat in a large glass baking dish, single layer. Spoon about 1/4 of the dressing over the meat, flip to thoroughly coat, and either marinate overnight or for at least 30 minutes.
2.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3.) Toast nuts either on stove top or in oven (we used castor iron pan on stove; alternately put nuts on large rimmed baking sheet and toast 8-10 minutes, tossing halfway through). Set aside.
4.) Cover meat and bake until cooked through; chicken should take 30-40 minutes (the pork tenderloin I baked for one hour); let cool then cube or shred.
5.) Mix vegetables and meat in large bowl with remaining dressing. Taste and season with salt.
6.) Serve with toasted nuts.
*Marinade can be made 2 days ahead.
*Meat can be marinated 12 hours ahead.
*Meat can be baked 2 days ahead.
*Vegetables can be sliced 1 day ahead.
Dill Pickle Potato Salad
We served this side dish alongside grilled chicken and boiled wild rice brats (Hugo's). It would make a great side with any grilled protein. Cascade generally dislikes potato salad but she loves pickles so was willing to try it. Because Cascade is allergic to celery and egg yolks, we 1.5X the recipe then set 1/3 portion aside and did not add the eggs or celery to Cascade's portion. Unfortunately the crispy coleslaw recipe I chose was a dud so I will not be sharing that recipe with you. Ideally you would also have another non-starchy vegetable side dish alongside this starchy side to make a more complete meal.
Ingredients:
2 lbs organic potatoes, cubed
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 c mayonaise (we used Hellman's vegan mayo (egg-free); avocado oil Mayo is another excellent choice; or light mayo if you are trying to restrict fat macros)
1/4 c light sour cream (you could use a plain non-dairy yogurt as a replacement if you are DF)
2 Tbsp dill pickle brine
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1/2 tsp organic cane sugar
1/3 c dill pickles, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced (chives may be substituted)
1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped (if using dry, 1 Tbsp)
4-6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped. (These may be skipped if you need to avoid eggs).
Paprika, to taste.
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Instructions:
1.) Cook potatoes in salted simmering water until just tender, about 10 minutes (avoid over-cooking to maintain integrity) (alternately you could roast the potatoes instead of boiling).
2.) Drain potatoes; toss with vinegar and salt. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
3.) Whisk together mayo, sour cream, brine, mustard, sugar in a large bowl.
4.) Stir in pickles, celery, scallions, parsley.
5.) Add the potatoes and hard-boiled eggs and toss.
6.) Season with paprika, salt and pepper.
7.) Cover and chill.
8.) Garnish with additional paprika and parsley if desired
Shrimp with Dill Sauce Recipe
Serves 4 (we did not double since we do not love most leftover seafood dishes)
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp butter or ghee
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 lb peeled, deveined raw shrimp
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp dill (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
Instructions:
1.) Melt butter & oil in large skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallot and garlic, stir often until soft, about 3 minutes.
2.) Add shrimp to skillet in an even layer and sprinkle with salt. Increase heat to medium and cook until shrimp are 50% opaque, about 1 minute. Flip shrimp, add lemon juice and mustard. Reduce heat to low.
3.) Once shrimp are opaque, remove from heat and stir in dill.
4.) Add additional salt and/or dill if desired.
Serve with a non-starchy vegetable (as I recollect we steamed some kale from the farmer's market) and a starch (we roasted sweet potatoes, but it would taste delightful served over rice/quinoa/millet/wild rice.)
*Too prevent over-cooking, flip them over when the color changes from slightly blue to slightly orange. They will begin to curl and when they do, turn down the heat.
One-Pot Salmon Mushroom Rice Quinoa
We made this during the work week and it was delightfully simple and resounding smash hit according to my husband and daughter! The ratio of grain carbs to salmon and mushroom was a bit high but I was reluctant to modify it too much. Next time I plan to decrease the amount of rice and water by half for a better macro ratio. We are just using the remaining grain for leftovers.
Ingredients:
2 c white rice, rinse until water runs clear
1/4 c quinoa
1 Tbsp sherry cooking wine (original recipe called for sake or mirin)
2 tsp + 3 Tbsp soy sauce (we have been using the non soy tamari and love it, I found it at Hugo's; Chris and Cascade do well with soy but I do not, this one is pea based and I seem to tolerate it with no problem)
5 oz mushrooms (original recipe calls for shiitake, we used portabella; any fresh mushroom will work)
3 (4-6 oz) skinless salmon fillets
Sea salt
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
5 scallions, thinly sliced, divided
*All the hot sauces
Instructions:
1.) Stir rice, quinoa, wine, 2 tsp soy sauce, and 2.5 c water in a small Dutch oven or medium heavy sauce pan with a tight fitting lid (we used a large skillet as I did not have either of the listed options). Layer mushrooms on top (do not stir into bottom layer). Place salmon fillets over mushrooms; season with salt.
2.) Set pot over medium-high heat, partially cover (leave lid partially askew) and cook until small bubbles appear along the sides, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, cover pot tightly, and cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. Remove from heat (do not remove lid) and let sit 20 minutes.
3.) Meanwhile, mix vinegar, oil, half of scallions, and remaining 3 Tbsp soy sauce in pint jar. Shake and set aside.
4.) Uncover rice mixture, letting any water from the lid drip back into pot. Using a rice paddle , heatproof rubber spatula, or flat-sided wooden spoon, carefully break apart salmon fillets into smaller pieces and fold into rice mixture. Mix in remaining scallions. (We skipped this step since there was too much grain; instead we used large bowls and mixed our portions separately.
5.) Transfer rice mixture to shallow bowls and serve with reserved scallion-soy dressing alongside for spooning over.
6.) The meal is tasty as is, but adding hot sauce made it even better. *We have a ridiculous amount of hot sauces so I mixed and matched with each bite until I found my favorite and doctored up the rest of my bowl.
Rachel Oppitz, ND
