After a busy day of hiking and shopping, Jonathan made his fancy scallop dinner. This consists of mashed potatoes, scallops, braised leeks, mushrooms, and asparagus with a beurre blanc sauce. I helped with the chopping of onions, mushrooms, and peeling and chopping the potatoes. Jonathan did all the cooking with John helping by mashing the potatoes. It was as delicious as it looks.
We spent all day Saturday, 11/2/24, driving to St. George, Utah with our son, Jon, for a week full of golf (for Jon), and some tennis, perhaps some hiking, and cooking together. The night we got in we went to the local grocery store and bought some sushi for dinner. It is easier not to get too inventive on the first couple of days so we also provisioned ourselves with some ground beef for hamburgers on Sunday,
On Sunday Jon played golf at Coral Canyon while John and I spent the day mostly recovering from twelve hours in the car. We worked on a menu for the week and made up a shopping list for the next three days. Our condo is well provisioned with plenty of kitchen utensils, pots and pans, and an array of spices. We have brought along other essential things we might need.
Even though John was cooking on a strange grill he did a masterful job grilling the burgers and I took care of the tater tots. Tomorrow we are planning on Jon cooking his fancy dinner. Can’t wait!
Two healthy dinners in a row! John marinates the fish briefly in a citrus, sumac, turmeric, salt, and pepper bath and then roasts it for 12 minutes at 450F. I add chopped up tarragon from Sarah’s garden to the already prepared rice and heat it briefly in the microwave. I also cook the asparagus in a little water, butter, and salt. We have made this tasty dinner in a half hour!
This is a great vegetarian dish, or vegan if you use vegetable broth and leave off the Parmesan cheese. Today I served it with the kale as a base wilting in the hot broth. It is really terrific. You feel healthier just eating it!
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..
We have a house guest for a few days. This means that we have to be more flexible in what we are eating. Today we ended up eating out twice!
For lunch John and I went to Bangkok 101. We always sit at the same table and order the same dishes. Today when we walked in we were motioned to our table. Then the server said, “Two Thai eggplant with crispy tofu medium spicy!”
Later we picked up Sarah’s friend from the San Jose airport. He lives in Belgium now and misses some of the food from around here. When he visits we always try to include some of his favorites. Ethiopian food is something we all love.
What a great food day! All the food was interesting and out of the ordinary. I wish I could make these dishes at home!
This is kind of like a mini Thanksgiving on a weekday night. It consists of a sliced rotisserie chicken breast heated gently with the jus from the chicken bolstered with some “chicken gravy” from a packet. Instant mashed potatoes with herbs and some steamed broccoli are the sides. I am only missing cranberry sauce!
Tonight’s dinner was easy to make but seemed pretty fancy. John grilled the steak and the baked potato. I guess I should say microwaved potato. I cooked the potato through in the microwave and then split it in half, seasoned it with salt and olive oil, and handed it off to John to give it some char on the grill.
Another really tasty part of our dinner was the roasted cauliflower. I turned the oven on full blast, 550F, tossed the cauliflower in a plastic bag with olive oil and salt, and started to let it roast on a sheet pan when the oven hit 350F. The oven continued heating up while the cauliflower roasted for 20 minutes. It was really delicious!
Weekly Menu October 21-27, 2024
Monday
Salmon with mustard/tarragon sauce
Rice, Brussels sprouts
Tuesday
Grilled steak
Baked potato, cauliflower
Wednesday
Classic chicken
Mashed potatoes, asparagus
Thursday
Out to dinner
Ethiopian cuisine
Friday
Scallops
Broccoli, rice
Saturday
Family party
Taco bar
Sunday
Breakfast for dinner
Eggs, vegetables
John did a superb job cooking the salmon in a 400F oven for 12 minutes. I was in charge of making the sauce which is the same as my mustard sauce from last week with the addition of fresh tarragon from our daughter’s garden, heating up the rice, and cooking the Brussels sprouts in a large frying pan cut side down so they would brown in the butter and sherry.
Great dinner!
Omnivore 