Greek Fisherman’s Stew. 8/25/25

Greek Fisherman’s Stew

In the past we have tried making a Mediterranean fish stew following a recipe by Rick Stein. It was very fussy with an array of seafood that cooked at different times and loads of vegetables which needed chopping. It included fennel and Pernod and came out tasting very licorice-y which is not a favorite flavor of mine. I see by looking back through my blog that after several attempts we gave up making it in 2021. When I saw this Greek fisherman’s stew on the NYTimes Cooking site it seemed much easier and I thought I would give it a try.

I have changed up the recipe a bit to cater to our tastes and am posting it below. I took some advice from the comments made on the Times website. I think using clam juice or fish stock imparts more flavor to the stew. Also make sure your potatoes are cooked before putting your fish in. The fish cooks very quickly and cannot wait for the potatoes to be done. BTW, I used humble tilapia and it turned out really good.

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Weekly Menu August 25-31, 2025

Now that my friend has gone home it is time to get back to my usual posting of a menu and following through with it. John is having a surgical procedure on Wednesday so our cooking options will be limited with no grilling and no complicated meats.

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Grilled NY strip steak, baked potato, broccoli. 8/18/25

Grilled NY strip steak, baked potato, broccoli

Another great dinner while my dear friend is visiting. This one is so easy! John seasoned the strip steaks and cooked them to perfection on our gas grill. He also put some grill marks on the baked potatoes. I steamed up the broccoli and added some butter.

To top everything off we opened a bottle of 1998 Chateau St Jean Cabernet Sauvignon. It was delicious and made the whole dinner special.

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Lasagna! 8/15/25

Lasagna

Sarah made delicious lasagna for our dinner tonight. Who doesn’t love lasagna!? Luckily we were able to hold ourselves enough in check that we will be able to have a leftovers dinner on Sunday.

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Chickpea stew. 8/13/25

Chickpea stew

This delicious chickpeas, vegetables, and pasta stew can be easily made vegetarian or vegan.

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Posted in American, Legumes, Pasta, stew, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Grilled hamburger and salad. 8/12/25

Hamburger and salad

John’s grilled hamburgers are a favorite at our house. We like ours medium rare with mayo, ketchup, and red onion.

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Grilling, Hot weather meals, Salad, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Rotisserie chicken dinner. 8/11/25

Rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy, broccoli and cauliflower

Just an easy home style dinner tonight. John warmed the sliced chicken breast in chicken gravy and I made instant mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

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Sesame shrimp bowl 8/10/25

Sesame shrimp bowl

Next in our dinners that don’t heat up the kitchen too much is sesame (BLANK) bowl. Sunday night’s bowl featured shrimp but we also make it with salmon and tofu. In the bottom of our bowls we put pre-made rice heated up briefly in the microwave. The vegetables come next – shredded cabbage, thinly sliced cucumbers, and edamame. Then we add quick cooking sautéed shrimp. Our dressing is a soy vinaigrette with lots of ginger. Finally on top we put a drizzle of sesame oil, furikake, green onions, jalapeños, avocado, and cilantro.

It’s a delicious salad with an interesting dressing that does not heat up the kitchen! Here is my recipe for the soy vinaigrette.

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Posted in Asian, Hot weather meals, Legumes, pescatarian, Recipes, rice, Salad, Shellfish, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Gazpacho and salad. 8/9/25

Gazpacho and salad

My friend, Sophia, is visiting me for the next two weeks. Of course I want to make her all of my best dishes. But it is really hot here. Probably close to 100F today so I cannot make anything that involves heating up the kitchen. My solution? Gazpacho and salad. I make my gazpacho thick and hearty ignoring the directions to put the soup through a sieve. The soup is a combination of fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, a can of Rotel, a cucumber, some onion and garlic, salt, and a little olive oil. I spin it in the blender until it has the consistency of a thick soup. I garnish it with chopped cucumber, cilantro, and olive oil. A nice salad rounds out the meal.

Posted in Easy, Hot weather meals, Mediterranean, Salad, soup, Uncategorized, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Banh mi take-out. 8/8/25

Chicken banh mi (credit Leah Maroney from Spruce Eats)

Friday was a conserve-energy day which means that between 4pm and 9pm you are supposed to turn off the A/C and other electricity. PG&E made this easy for us since we had a power outage twice during that period. So it is a good thing that we planned ahead for take-out.

Each of us have a favorite sandwich. Sarah likes the grilled chicken, John likes the pâté one, and my favorite is vegetarian. These Vietnamese sandwiches are on a French roll and have pickled vegetables, sometimes a smear of pâté, cucumber, jalapeño, and some sort of dressing. They are so delicious that I forget to take a picture.

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