Thursday is the day for making new beginnings. The madness of the first three days of the workweek are over. On most fronts – things are usually cruising along effortlessly by now. And it is the best time to push yourself to change an old habit or embrace a new one.
On Thursday you want to experiment. You want to introduce healthy new ingredients into your recipes that you have never used before (but always wanted to). But of course you can’t afford to spend all day in the kitchen executing your experiment because after all it is a working day!!
So the menu for Thursday must be made up of recipes that are new – but tried and tested by someone you trust. And that is exactly what we have for you.
Challenges With Planning The Thursday Menu –
1. The meals of the Thursday menu must be balanced to include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals
2. The meals must include one or two new healthy ingredients but they should not be difficult to cook.
3. The meals should have a fun element attached to them. They should not be boring because when you are introducing a new taste it must excite the family – not put them off.
Thursday Menu Breakup
- A healthy breakfast
- A wholesome 11 am snack
- A packed tiffin with a treat
- A satisfying and strengthening lunch
- An energizing 4 pm snack
- A nourishing dinner
Weekly Meal Planning – Day 4 – Thursday
This menu is designed by Simran Oberoi Multani with nutritional and parenting inputs from Dr Debmita Dutta
Breakfast – Sooji Upma with peanuts
10 am snack – Buckwheat crepes with banana filling
Lunch box – Arbi (colocasia) and quinoa tikkis
Lunch – Tuvar Dal Sambhar, Palak kodo millet rice, Arbi stir fry
Evening snack – Baked mint flavoured baby potatoes and carrots
Dinner – Spinach whole wheat pasta
Also see The Monday Menu , Tuesday Menu and the Wednesday Menu, Friday Menu
The Features On The Thursday Menu
-
- Different sources of carbohydrate are used in each meal. They look feel and taste different to avoid monotony. They also deliver different nutrients.
- The meals focus on building immunity with their focus on vitamins and minerals
- Fiber is in focus at every meal to ensure a cleanup of the digestive system
- Proteins come from different sources and join the carbohydrates in a very subtle way
- Three different fat sources have been included in the menu
- The meals are designed to energize the body but prevent a sugar spike
- Two key ingredients are mixed and matched to make the meals interesting and easy to cook.
The Theme For The Thursday Menu
The key ingredients for Thursday are Spinach puree and Arbi or Colocasia. Both ingredients are rich in vitamins minerals and fiber. The Spinach is used at lunch and dinner. The puree is made once and reused. This saves time. The arbi is used at lunch and in the lunch box.

Thursday menu by Simran Oberoi #CookHealthyMealsEveryDay
Recipes For Thursday
Breakfast
Sooji Upma with Cashew
Ingredients
Sooji 1 cup
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Ghee 1 tbsp
Curry leaves 2-3
Grated coconut 1 tbsp
Roasted cashews 1 tbsp
Water as needed
Salt as per taste
Red chilly powder as per taste
Onion chopped 1 mid sized
Garlic Ginger paste 1 tsp
Method-
- Sauté the mustard seeds and curry leaves in ghee for a few seconds.
- Then add the onions
- Allow them to cook well
- And add the ginger garlic paste
- Keep stirring well
- Add the sooji
- Dry roast till the aroma starts coming
- Add the cashew and continue to stir to prevent burning
- Then add water
- Salt and pepper powder
- Keep mixing until the upma thickens for about 7-8 minutes
- Then add grated coconut
- Mix and switch off the stove
- Cover for 5 mint
- Then serve hot.
11 am snack
Buckwheat Crepe with banana filling– Add some savory variant too
Ingredients
Buckwheat flour 1 cup
Egg 1
Milk ½ cup
Melted butter 1-2 tbsp
Jaggery 1 tbsp (can be avoided if the bananas are sweet)
Mashed bananas 2 small
Method-
- Whisk these well together.
- Add a light drizzle of oil on the pan.
- Spoon the batter into it
- And allow it to spread into the pan.
- Cook it well on either side
- And serve with a sweet or a savory filling.
For sweet you can use honey and banana/any other fresh fruit. For savory you can use grated cheese/shredded spiced chicken/spinach and corn mixture.
Lunch box
Arbi/Colocasia Tikkis with Quinoa
Ingredients
Boiled arbi 2-3
Cooked quinoa ½ cup
Chopped onions ¼ cup
Coriander ¼ cup
Salt
Jeera powder
Amchur
Paprika
Oil 1-2 tbsp
Method
- Mix the above ingredients well except oil.
- Shape them like tikkis
- Shallow fry them until they become crisp
- And eat
Lunch
Tuvar Dal/Sambhar,
Ingredients
Tuvar (toor, arhar) dal , washed ¾ cup
Onion chopped well ½
Tomato chopped well ½
Green chili chopped 1 small
Turmeric powder (haldi) ½ tsp each
Jeera ½ tsp each
Red chili powder ½ tsp each
Salt as per your taste.
Curry leaves 2-3
Crushed garlic pods 2-3
Gingelly or Groundnut oil 1 tbsp
Method
- Boil the dal
- With the Onions, tomatoes, haldi, red chilly powder, salt
- And 1 1/2 or 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker
- Then heat the oil in a pan
- Add the green chilly, the cumin seeds, the crushed garlic and curry leaves and sauté
- Add the dal to this
- Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes
- And it is ready.
Palak Kodo Millet Rice
Ingredients
Kodo millet rice 1 cup
Spinach or Palak puree ½ cup,
Water, Salt and Red chilly powder as needed
Grated coconut
Gingelly / Groundnut oil 1tbsp
Jeera 1tbsp
Chopped onions ¼ cup
Method-
- Heat the oil in a pan
- Add the jeera and onions
- Allow the onions to cook through
- Add the rice, sauté it for a bit
- And then add the spinach puree slowly
- Let it cook in the puree for 3-4 minutes
- Then add water, salt and red pepper
- Allow the rice to cook through well
- Top it with grated coconut or even dessicated one if you prefer
- And serve hot.
Arbi Stir Fry
Ingredients
Arbi ½ kg
Haldi 1 tsp
Amchoor 1 tsp
Dhania powder 1 tsp
Red chilly powder 1 tsp
Garam masala ½ tsp
Salt as per your preference.
Gingelly / Groundnut oil 2-3 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Or for more flavor the panch phoron spice mix
Hing 1/3 tsp
Coriander chopped optional
Method-
- Clean and peel the arbi
- Cut into thin slices
- Heat the oil in a pan
- Add the mustard seeds/panch phoron mix
- Then add the hing and haldi
- Add the sliced arbi and stir fry for sometime
- Add the rest of the spices – salt, dhania powder, chilly powder and amchoor
- Keep mixing it 2 else it may stick to the bottom
- When it becomes soft then add garam masala and mix well
- Stir fry for a minute
- Top with coriander
- And serve hot
4 PM snack
Baked Mint flavoured baby potatoes and carrots
Ingredients
Baby potatoes sliced into half 8-10
Mint (some leaves and 2 tsp dried)
Salt
Paprika
Olive oil 2 tbsp
One carrot thinly sliced.
Method-
- Boil 8-10 baby potatoes
- Add them onto the baking tray along with the sliced carrots
- Mix the oil and seasoning
- Drizzle and toss the potatoes and carrots in it
- Add the fresh leaves too
- Bake for 20-30 minutes at 200 degrees C
- And serve hot.
Dinner
Spinach Whole wheat Pasta ( Spinach can be prepped at the same time for this and the rice in the afternoon)
Ingredients
Whole wheat pasta 1 cup
Water as instructed for that brand
Spinach puree 1 cup
Cream 1 tbsp
Grated cheese ¼ cup
Crushed garlic 2-3 pods
Spring onions chopped well 2
Salt, Black pepper, Thyme
Olive oil. 1-2 tbsp
Method-
-
- Boil the pasta
- Keep it aside
- Heat the oil
- Add the crushed garlic and spring onions.
- Let them cook well.
- Add the spinach puree, and some water (if you any veg or chicken stock lying you can use that too).
- Put in the salt, pepper and thyme.
- Keep stirring until it thickens a bit.
- Add the cream
- Put in the boiled pasta
- Stir until it is coated well with the spinach sauce
- And then top with grated cheese, before serving
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