Now that John has the green light to eat what he wants again he chose meatloaf. I have not made meatloaf in a long time except for dabbling in trying to make it with oatmeal once last year. Saturday’s meatloaf turned out kind of tough. I used my mom’s method for making it—ground beef, an egg, some breadcrumbs, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and garlic powder. It just did not turn out quite right. Sigh. I think I will email my sisters to get the proportions right. All in all it was just an okay dinner.
Usually I am just so-so when it comes to salmon but last night’s was really, really good. We went to Costco and bought a package of six really nice pieces. We would have three for tonight and freeze the other three. It worked out that the salmon cost about $10 for our dinner. This was Atlantic farm-raised salmon and I know that a lot of people think that it is inferior to wild caught but this salmon that John cooked in the oven for 12 minutes was silky and delicious.
John made some rice and I cooked the broccoli and made the mustard sauce. It was an outstanding dinner!
Merguez sausages with crispy chickpeas and preserved lemon yogurt
Recently Sarah got a 2-Good-2-Go surprise bag from Eataly, an Italian gourmet market. Among other things a package of six Merguez sausages was included. She looked through recipes and found one that we had all the ingredients for and made it for our dinner on Thursday. It was delicious!
Merguez is a spicy lamb sausage which is hard to find in grocery stores. I am wondering if we can make it again using a more readily available (and much cheaper) sausage. Here’s a link to the recipe she used.
We have been eating a lot of vegetarian dinners lately and this chickpea stew is one of my favorites!
Chickpeas with ditalini and kale
Ingredients 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 carrots, peeled and chopped 2 celery stalks, chopped 1 zucchini, chopped (optional) 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 sprigs thyme (or herb of your choice) 2 cups vegetable broth 2 cups water 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 1 can petite diced tomatoes and chiles with liquid (like Rotel) Parmesan rind (optional) ½ cup ditalini Big handful of kale or any type greens Salt and black pepper Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan cheese (optional)
In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion. Cook until tender and the onion is translucent.
Add the garlic and herb then cook until the garlic is fragrant. Pour in the broth, water, and the can of spicy tomatoes with their liquid. Add optional parmesan rind.
Once the mixture is boiling, add the chickpeas and ditalini. Reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer 10 minutes, or until the ditalini is tender. Uncover and stir in the greens and optional zucchini, letting them simmer until incorporated.
Your mixture will be quite stew-like. If you want the mixture to be more soupy, add some additional water. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish the bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and optional parmesan cheese..
I usually make this dish with kale instead of spinach but I felt the spinach would be softer in John’s mouth. I dressed my bowlful with the some yogurt mixed with salt and cumin and cherry tomatoes. John goes back to the dentist on Thursday and I am hoping he will give him the green light to start eating chewier foods.
It is definitely Autumn what with our changing to standard time, cool mornings and pleasantly warm afternoons. Given the season and John’s recent oral surgery it is definitely time for Autumn soup! This soup is kind of a lot of prep. There is a lot of peeling and chopping but once that is done it just burbles along for a while and when the vegetables are soft I purée it with a plunge blender. Then add the half and half or cream,the lemon, and if you like sweet things, the maple syrup.
I am including the original recipe with some deviations. For our soup today I added extra stock and cut the half and half to 1 cup. I substituted a turnip for the rutabaga and left out the maple syrup. I did not sieve the soup.
Since we are still taking it easy with soft food due to John’s oral surgery, I made a simple dinner of penne, chopped up Rosina meatballs, and Rao’s tomato and basil sauce. Not much work eating this and not much work making it either!
Well, boo, here it is Halloween and nobody came to our door. Sarah and John will have to eat the candy I bought. Clam chowder is our spooky dinner for Halloween night.
Ethiopian veggie platter plus lamb and chicken at Zeni, San Jose
Sarah’s friend Mark has been here for a few days. One of the mandatory events for his visit is a lunch at Zeni, an Ethiopian restaurant that we all adore. We ordered their veggie platter served on and with injera. We also got some lamb, chicken, and a salad. It was soooo good. I cannot make this at home since I have no source for injera, the spongy bread that is used as a utensil.
We had a great time and eliminated the need for dinner. As you can see from the picture below, we really enjoyed our Ethiopian lunch.
Omnivore 