If your household is anything like our crazy New York schedule, you have zippo time during the week for anything special. Tired of turning to dinner delivery from our local restaurants (who wants to really waste all that money!), I decided to take control and come up with something easier. Thus my #SidesForDays side dish packets that I just started whipping up a few weeks ago.
Using my spare weekend time (largely early Saturday morning before we start our day), I carve up the prep for some easy side dishes that I wrap in aluminum foil – if you ever went camping as a kid, this is the method you likely used to cook your food over the fire – and freeze in single serving packs for the week.
What I love the most is the easy way these sides incorporate into a homemade meal during the week. Utilizing a parchment wrapped approach for my meat (mostly salmon, cod, and tilapia in our household). I place the parchment pack along with the side pack on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for approximately 20 – 25 minutes.
This no fuss way of whipping up week day meals has transformed the amount of free time we have during the week in the evenings. Just enough time to start binge watching the latest Netflix series.
Here are a few of the recipes I whipped up this past week. Feel free to share your creative combinations on our Facebook page.
- Beets and Fennel
- Asparagus & Red Pepper
- Green and Yellow Squash with Spring Onions
Asparagus & Red Pepper
Slice A Fresh Red Pepper
Prep Your Asparagus Spears
Place on an aluminum foil sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Bring two sides of the aluminum foil up and gently role down along the center.
Roll the edges in to seal the packet.
Place in a plastic storage bag for freezing.
Beets & Fennel
Chop up the fennel removing the core first and of course use the greens.
Slice up the beets and toss into he bowl with the fennel.
Toss together with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
