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!
Using pantry and freezer components makes this dinner a snap. The meatballs are Rosina’s home style and the sauce is Rao’s tomato and basil. The meatballs defrost while cooking in the sauce which I supplement with chili flakes, garlic powder, and dried oregano. We always buy Barilla pasta which was on sale this week at Smart and Final for $.50/lb.
By the time the pasta is al dente the meatballs are warmed through. I remove the meatballs and finish cooking the spaghetti in the sauce with the addition of some pasta water. I put the sauced pasta in the bowls, followed by the meatballs. Then I put a dollop of residual sauce over the meatballs. The final touches are grated Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and a rosette of basil.
Making a sheet pan dinner is really easy and the clean up is a snap. The vegetables I included were onions, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and carrots. They were seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, and ground garlic. I preheated the oven to 400F and cooked the sausage and the vegetables for 30 minutes.
Omnivore 