Chicken breast with stock, butternut squash, b. Sprouts, cranberry chutney
Originally I had planned for duck tacos tonight but I was done with rich food and John wanted to make a “Peking duck” leftover meal so I decided on some chicken warmed up in chicken broth and the leftover sprouts, squash, and chutney. Our daughter finished off the mashed potato casserole and onions.
Although we were just three people (our household), we had a lovely Thanksgiving full of all the foods we like best. Of course, not having eaten rich foods for over a year, dining royally meant that I felt sick all night, slept little, and gained weight (but actually less than a pound.) Here is what we had—
Our dinner table with our daughter’s homemade rolls and potato casserole
Cranberry chutney- bittersweet with a touch of spice. John called it the star of the dinner.
Delicious roasted creamed onions
Brussels sprouts lined up and ready to be cooked with some butter and dry sherry
Duck breasts that John cooked perfectly. Hey, Pilgrims did not live on turkey alone!
A picture of my plate which includes chipotle spiced roasted butternut squash
Warm Indian pudding with melting vanilla ice cream, not the traditional pumpkin pie. Warm and bittersweet against cold and sweet, divine!
We managed to touch all our Thanksgiving bases for just the three of us. We were thankful that everyone in our family has stayed healthy and that we are without the food insecurity that is ravaging the US. John was great and did the dishes. We ate at 3 PM and managed to stay awake until 8 PM. It was a lot easier cooking for three than ten but we missed the hubbub and companionship. Next year hopefully we will all be vaccinated and celebrating together!
Afghani masoor dal, white rice/cauliflower rice mix, and sautéed zucchini, mushrooms,onions, and peppers
Tomorrow is our big Thanksgiving feast for the three of us so we wanted something fairly light for dinner tonight. These red lentils cook up in 15 minutes and are flavored with ginger, onion, garlic, turmeric, cumin, and cayenne. A squeeze of lemon at the end of cooking brightens up all the flavors.
While the lentils were cooking I sautéed onions, garlic, poblano pepper, and mushrooms. With a few minutes left before the lentils were cooked I added thinly sliced coins of zucchini. The rice was from last week and we just heated it up in the microwave.
Scallops with rice and snow peas and a parsley-caper sauce
Yum, scallops! John does such an incredible job cooking them and they are just so sweet and tender. He lets our cast iron pan heat for five minutes with just minimal oil and then the cooking process also takes about five minutes. Cook them on one side until there is a nice sear, turn them over, and then finish cooking for a minute or so until they are just barely cooked through. Is there anything sadder than an overcooked scallop?! It is a waste of a beautiful product.
Along with my usual cauliflower rice/white rice mix and sautéed snow peas, I made a kind of loose parsley and caper tartar-ish sauce. John pronounced it delish! Ingredients are light mayo, yellow mustard, parsley, capers, a little olive oil, lemon juice, red onion, a splash of water, salt, pepper, and sriracha. Just keep tasting it until you like it!
Wednesday’s dinner will just be a simple lentil dish with more rice mix and some spinach as we prepare for our Thursday Thanksgiving feast. Preparations have been going on for several days! I hope our pandemic Thanksgiving and yours will be filled with wonderful food and memories.
Swiss cheese, spinach, onion, and mushroom omelet with a tossed salad
I love easy Sundays! No thinking,little prep, and a satisfying outcome. I sautéed some onions, mushroom, and spinach and laid that mixture and an ultra thin slice of Swiss cheese on my forming two-egg omelet. When the bottom egg mixture was set, I flipped over half of it and let it cook another minute to make sure that the inner egg was cooked. I paired the omelet with a simple, bright salad and, voila, supper was made.
On Sundays John and I each make our own egg dish which makes my Sunday supper even simpler. His omelet was a lot like mine except he used three eggs and included ham in his prep.
Whole grain penne with mushrooms and asparagus
I realize that my menu said we were having orecchiette with broccoli and mushrooms but John saw some good looking asparagus at the store so we changed directions. Penne is a great look-alike when paired with asparagus cut on the diagonal. And the hearty taste of whole grain is great with any vegetable.
I used a couple of teaspoons of oil to sauté the vegetables and some pasta water to make the sauce. Easy-peasy and dinner made in less than 30 minutes!
Usually Thanksgiving is a large family gathering but this year we are celebrating as just our household in order to keep the virus at bay. Instead of the usual turkey we are having duck breasts with a cranberry chutney and then the usual fixings. I need to keep the rest of the week fairly light so that I do not end up gaining too much weight from our feast on Thursday. With that on mind, the rest of the week is mostly seafood or plant-based.
Pasta puttanesca with mushrooms
Tonight was supposed to be Leftovers For Dinner but my ceramic knife broke and a piece came off of it around the time when I was cutting up onions for the Chana dal I made earlier in the week. I could not find the broken piece and in my totally hyper way I imagined it hiding in the leftover Chana dal among the onions. So we threw it out and made pasta puttanesca instead.
For the sauce I used a can of diced tomatoes with chiles and I added the usual olives and capers along with onions and garlic. In order to bulk up the sauce I sautéed some mushrooms which added a nice meaty texture. The whole grain linguine was dumped into the sauce when it was quite al dente and finished cooking while soaking up the sauce. I added a little pasta water to keep the sauce on the loose side.
Both of our dishes were finished with the last of our basil from the patio. John gilded the lily by adding some good olive oil and Parmesan cheese while I just enjoyed the unsullied flavors.
Rhode Island style clam chowder
According to NY Times Cooking, this Rhode Island rendition is a “Clear clam chowder originating along the southern coast of Rhode Island, where it is a local delicacy much to be preferred over the creamier version of Boston …”
Of course, The NY Times recipe is much more complicated than mine. I use bottled clam juice, canned chopped clams, and small new potatoes unpeeled. In fact my potatoes were multicolored so it did rather spoil the pristine whiteness of the soup. I add two or three tablespoons of heavy cream but you can add more (but not too much!) The recipe is below.
CLAM CHOWDER WITH CROUTON. Serves 3-4
Adapted from a recipe by Gabrielle Hamilton
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
2 ribs of celery, minced
2 leeks, dark, woody green parts removed, ¼” coins
10 ounces golden new potatoes, medium dice
2 sprigs thyme, picked
2 sprigs tarragon
6 ounces dry white wine
2 bottles/16 ounces clam juice
Juice from 2 cans chopped clams (~8 oz.)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons heavy cream
12 ounces chopped clams (2 cans, reserved liquid, see above)
3-4 slices hearty bread, toasted
Step 1
In the Dutch oven, heat the olive oil, and add onion, celery, leeks, potatoes, tarragon, and thyme, stirring to coat. Season with salt, and cook over low heat until the vegetables have just started to soften, taking care not to brown, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with white wine and then add the clam juice and reserved clam liquid. Simmer until potatoes are al dente.
Step 2
Stir in the cream, and simmer until vegetables are cooked through, taking care not to boil. Add the chopped clams, and season to taste with salt and ground black pepper. Remove from heat.
Step 3
Toast the bread until golden, and place each piece in a bowl. Add a ladleful of chowder around the toast. Add another ladleful partially covering toast.
Whole grain penne with corn, tomatoes, and zucchini
Looking for a way to make your dinners more plant-based? Pasta is an excellent start. John and I frequently have pasta plus. Plus? Plus broccolini, plus asparagus, plus almost anything from the plant kingdom! Tonight’s dinner was whole grain penne with a sauté of onions, garlic, corn, tomatoes, and zucchini. In the summer I might have done this with fresh tomatoes and corn but frozen corn and canned petite diced tomatoes worked almost as well. I also added some red chile flakes for a bit of zing, basil, and a squeeze of lemon for some acidity.
The term “meatless Mondays” makes it sound like you are missing something. Why not try to incorporate “plentiful plants” more than once a week!
Omnivore 