menu of the week

We're back from our lazy weekend, and while it was nice to eat out for a few meals I'm looking forward to cooking up a storm this week. Here's the menu of the week:

one pot kale and quinoa pilaf - This one is a favorite of ours and while it's simple to prepare it packs a lot of flavor. If you want to save time, buy a package of kale that's already chopped (Trader Joe's usually has them). And don't skimp on the pine nuts. Oh, and we use goat cheese instead of feta.

pizza with homemade crust - Pizza never fails to please me. We topped one with chopped pineapple (my fave) and one with peppers and onions (Matt's fave). And there was the requisite garden salad to go along with our slices.

chicken pot pie with cream cheese and chive biscuits - I made this for friends who just had a new baby using a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods. I made the biscuits first, and after stirring together the sauce and precooking the veggies a bit, it was really just a matter of assembling. Ezra snacked on an extra biscuit (I think I made them thinner than Joy suggests) while I cleaned up.

sweet and spicy shrimp fajitas with Caribbean slaw - The bright flavors of the cilantro and pineapple contrasted nicely with the salty shrimp, but one downfall of our fajitas was an unbalanced ratio of slaw to shrimp. Next time I would add four or five shrimp to each fajita instead of just two.

roasted kale with carmelized shallots, beans, and eggs - How can you go wrong with roasted kale? Some people are shaking their heads right now, but if you haven't tried roasted kale you must. Topping those crispy green leaves with white beans and fried eggs put this over the top.

Do yourself a favor and try at least one of the kale dishes listed above. I wish we had some leftovers of the pilaf because I could really go for some right about now.