January 18 - 24, 2025 Meal Plan

With a quick steak dinner, lamb ragú, and seared ahi tuna over udon noodles.

If you made a commitment to cook more in the new year and have fallen off the wagon already, you’re not alone. The second Friday in January is “Quitter’s Day”, when most people have already abandoned their resolutions. Don’t let that discourage you.

Maybe you overcommitted. Maybe life just got in the way. Maybe January isn’t a good time for you to try new things. Whatever happened, it’s okay. Evaluate where you are, what you want, and what you can realistically commit to going forward.

Can you cook one dinner a week? Two? Great. Start there. Once you have a handle on that, you can add another one. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.

Let me know what you’re going to make in the comments and what feedback you have after you cook. If you modify the recipes I’d love to hear what worked.

Programming note: Kale is on the menu twice this week because my grocery store had humongous heads of kale that were way too much for one meal. If you want to make both recipes but don’t want to eat kale twice, you can substitute spinach, broccoli, or Brussels sprouts in the steak recipe.

-Pam

January Special

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Jump To A Recipe

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Lemon-Garlic Chicken Pan Roast With Potatoes and Kale

Scallion-Ginger Udon with Seared Ahi Tuna

Cinnamon-Curry Skirt Steak with Couscous and Kale

Penne with Lamb Ragú, Eggplant, and Feta

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Lemon-Garlic Chicken Pan Roast With Potatoes and Kale

Serves 2

Lemon is having a moment right now. I’m seeing it as a key ingredient in recipes everywhere and NYT Cooking recently published an ode to lemon which featured this recipe for Lemony Greek Chicken, Spinach, and Potato Stew. It reminded me of this pan roast which has similar ingredients so I added it to this week’s menu.

If you don’t like dark meat, you can use chicken breasts instead of drumsticks. You can also use chicken thighs instead of drumsticks if you prefer. If you do either, wait to add the chicken to the pan until half way through the cooking time.

If you have a cast iron skillet, use it.

Ingredients

1 ½ lb chicken drumsticks (4-6 pieces, depending on size), cut into 1-inch pieces

3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (about 12 oz)

4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced

¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper

½ tsp smoked paprika

Neutral oil (such as olive or avocado)

1 lemon, zested then cut in half

1 bunch kale

salt and pepper

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 450º.

2. Make a deep cut to the bone in each drumsticks at the thickest part to make them cook faster.

3. In a medium bowl, combine lemon zest, cayenne, paprika, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, and 1 tbsp oil. Add drumsticks and toss to coat well.

4. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the pan and let cook for 5 minutes without moving.

5. Add the potatoes to the bowl that held the chicken. Toss to coat in the remaining oil.

6. After 5 minutes, turn the chicken and add the potatoes to the pan, arranging around the chicken. Add the lemon halves, cut side down, touching the bottom of the pan.

7. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 20 minutes.

8. While the chicken cooks, wash the kale and strip the leaves from the stems. Cut or tear into bite size pieces. In a bowl large enough to fit the kale, mix 1 tbsp oil, ½ tsp salt, and all of the garlic. Add the kale and toss to coat.

9. After 20 minutes, remove the skillet from the oven and check the doneness of the chicken. If it is not cooked through, return to the oven for 5 minutes.

10. When chicken is fully cooked, move drumsticks and lemon halves to a plate. Stir potatoes and add kale to the skillet. Return to the oven for 5 minutes.

11. After 5 minutes, remove the skillet from the oven. Return the chicken and any resting juices to the skillet. Check the roasted lemons for seeds then squeeze juice over the kale and potatoes.

12. Serve drumsticks with kale and potatoes on the side.

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