Skip to content

Top Navigation

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Recipes
  • Cooking 101
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
SUBSCRIBE
Pin FB

Explore Cooking Light

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 31-Day Healthy Meal Plan

      Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Read More
    • Dinner Tonight: Quick and Healthy Menus in 45 Minutes (or Less)

      Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. Read More
    • Our Favorite Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

      Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? Read More
  • Recipes

    Recipes

    See All Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Recipe Makeovers
    • Quick & Healthy
    • Diabetic
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cooking Light Live
  • Cooking 101

    Cooking 101

    See All Cooking 101
    • Essential Ingredients
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Meet the Chef
    • Cooking Resources
    • Budget Friendly
    • Smart Choices
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living

    Healthy Living

    See All Healthy Living
    • Weight-Loss
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Home
    • Travel
    • Nutrition 101
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Recipes
  3. Sunday Strategist: A Week of Healthy Dinners — February 27-March 3

Sunday Strategist: A Week of Healthy Dinners — February 27-March 3

By Kimberly Holland February 25, 2017
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Credit: Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez
If you like having a healthy meal plan but want something customized to your dietary or caloric needs, check out The Cooking Light Diet. It’s a calorie-driven weekly meal plan—breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner—based on your dieting goals and food preferences.
Start Slideshow

1 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Monday: Half-Moon Browned Omelet + Spinach Salad

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey
View Recipe: Half-Moon Browned Omelet

It's another Meatless Monday, but you don't have to trade going sans meat for feeling full after dinner. Protein-rich eggs are a great go-to option, and an omelet is a fun way to serve up a little creativity at dinner. We use olive oil to sauté the veggies and cook the omelet because it brings mild fruity-grassy taste to the dish and keeps saturated fat in check. There’s just a tablespoon of cheese here, so we chose sharp cheddar: It melts nicely and packs a flavor wallop in a small dose. The recipe makes an omelet for one, so you can customize each person's omelet and serve to order with a side dish of spinach salad, home fries, or fruit.

1 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Tuesday: Pan-Roasted Pork Chops with Cabbage and Carrots + Rice

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey
View Recipe: Pan-Roasted Pork Chops with Cabbage and Carrots

Super-succulent pork chops are browned on the stovetop before being finished in the oven for tenderness. Roasted carrots are paired with vastly underrated cabbage to create a vibrant vegetable medley that is equal parts flavorful and nutritious. This meal is pretty enough to showcase, yet fast enough for weeknight cooking. Enjoy it with a side of wild rice or roasted potatoes for a well-balanced meal the whole family will love.

2 of 6

3 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Wednesday: Fluffiest Multigrain Pancakes with Almond Butter Drizzle + Bacon

Credit: Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez
View Recipe: Fluffiest Multigrain Pancakes with Almond Butter Drizzle

Hump Day is the perfect day for some brinner. These pancakes are wonderfully hearty, thanks to old-fashioned oats and white whole-wheat flour, yet their texture is still fluffy and light, with a beguiling creaminess in the middle. Instead of dousing this short stack with syrup, we opt instead for a nutty sauce of maple-sweetened almond butter—cutting about 27g added sugars from the typical pancake breakfast. (Feel free to sub any nut butter you have on hand). Soaking the oats first softens them and helps create that creamy interior texture. As they soak, you can make the almond butter sauce, measure out the other ingredients, and cook bacon in the oven for the perfect side.

3 of 6

Advertisement

4 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Thursday: Korean-Style Pork and Rice + Slaw

Credit: Photo: Jenn Causey
View Recipe: Korean-Style Pork and Rice

Gochujang is a spicy, deeply savory sauce made from Korean chiles, fermented soybeans, and salt. It adds a mild heat to the finished dish so kids can still enjoy. The pork mixture in this dish would also be fantastic in an East-meets-West sloppy joe: Pile on a toasted hoagie roll with a carrot and radish slaw, sliced green onions, and a squeeze of fresh lime. If you prefer this dish served as is over rice, use the slaw as a crisp side to blunt the pork's heat.

4 of 6

5 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Friday: Beef Tenderloin with Balsamic Asparagus

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey
View Recipe: Beef Tenderloin with Balsamic Asparagus

Beef tenderloin steaks are often considered a special-occasion cut, but when they go on sale (or you're ready for a splurge), this classic preparation is foolproof. Use a timer rather than turning, prodding, or overcooking the steaks, and set the timer again while they rest so you don't slice too soon. You could also use two (8-ounce) strip steaks, or 1 (1-pound) flank steak. Balsamic glaze has been reduced until syrupy. Look for it in the vinegar aisle to save time, or simmer 1 cup balsamic vinegar in a saucepan until reduced by half, about 20 minutes.

5 of 6

6 of 6

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Brunch Bonus: Bloody Good Bloody Mary

Credit: Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez
View Recipe: Bloody Good Bloody Mary

You can't wing it with Bloodies. Random recipes might yield a crazy-thick throat-coater or a thin, insipid glass of blah. And many bottled mixes are sodium bombs. Here's a Bloody blueprint you can trust. Our streamlined version is zingy and sippable, with a fraction of the sodium you'll find in most others. Get mixing; its noon somewhere. Pickle juice is the secret weapon here, delivering briny tartness. We've tried pickled okra juice and dill pickle juice—both work. Add little cracked black pepper if you like.

6 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Kimberly Holland

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 6 Monday: Half-Moon Browned Omelet + Spinach Salad
    2 of 6 Tuesday: Pan-Roasted Pork Chops with Cabbage and Carrots + Rice
    3 of 6 Wednesday: Fluffiest Multigrain Pancakes with Almond Butter Drizzle + Bacon
    4 of 6 Thursday: Korean-Style Pork and Rice + Slaw
    5 of 6 Friday: Beef Tenderloin with Balsamic Asparagus
    6 of 6 Brunch Bonus: Bloody Good Bloody Mary

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Cooking Light

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    MeredithCooking Light is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Cooking Light. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.cookinglight.com

    View image

    Sunday Strategist: A Week of Healthy Dinners — February 27-March 3
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.