Weekly Menu

First off a recap and review of last week’s menu:

The Salmon dish was 5-star good. Again, we used Arctic Char instead, and removed the skin. Instead of 1/2 of a cup of panko, all we needed Was 1/3. Instead of 3 cloves of garlic we used 2. Instead of the evaporated milk, we used 3/4 of a cup of 2% milk plus 1 TB butter.

The Paleo Dim Sum was both a hit and a miss. Not wanting to have to eat in batches, we broke down and bought a 3-tiered bamboo steamer. Very good idea—this way we actually sat down and ate together. What didn’t work was the cabbage: no matter how floppy it was, I couldn’t get it to make a pocket, so they ended up looking more like green unsealed potstickers. The filling was excellent and we will make it again, using only wonton wrappers.

The Sardinia Minestrone: too much a good thing. By this I mean I made the recipe as called for (also adding two parmesan rinds and the unused boiled cabbage from the dim sum). We had our house/cat-sitter over for dinner, along with her husband (both young hungry marathon runner-types). I served assorted bowls of homemade pickled vegetables (another post for another time), two baguettes with goat cheese and butter, as well as a few ears of steamed corn. Even after we each took a second serving of the soup (some took three), there was enough left over to invite the people who live next door—but I didn’t because, well, they annoy me. I ate it for lunch the next day. And the day after that. And…I finally tossed another 2 or more servings. Suffice it to say: you should half the recipe, or only make it when you are inviting 10 of your friends for dinner.

The Spinach Tofu Indian Dish: no idea—we ended up eating a smorgasbord of leftovers and found items (including that darn minestrone) on Thursday night. I will add it to this week’s menu, which is as follows:

Sunday-Because Victor and Loy just now arrived home from a weekend of canoe camping, I had no idea what Victor’s post-work meeting schedule looks like, so I am going to shop for the rest the week tomorrow, serving for dinner tonight our go-to last minute/no-ingredients-in-the-house meal: tuna fish sandwiches and roasted tomato and red pepper soup from a box (I prefer the TJ brand to the other organic brand). To the tuna I will add chopped fresh dill, carrots, a green onion, celery, a few capers, a splash of white vinegar, a dollop of Dijon, a pinch of sugar, and the requisite salt, pepper, and mayo. Loy and I will eat ours rolled up in raw green cabbage and kale leaves. Being the gluten lover that he is, Victor will eat his on bread. For the soup, I’ll give it a brisk shake then heat it on the stove.

Monday– We’ve got a huge spaghetti squash that I will cut in half, bake, scoop out, then sautée with oil and top with Parmesan. The main dish, though, is the Santorini Farro Salad. We’ve had it before and it’s fantastic. I will not use the tsatziki sauce included in the recipe, since it’s overkill.

Tuesday-My pal Rebecca Raskin and her family will be here for dinner that night. I will make the aforementioned Spinach Tofu dish, and dal, and will also add a side of sautéed shredded carrot, cilantro and mustard seeds, also known as Koosmati. Rebecca is bringing homemade flatbread.

Wednesday-No school today. We might head to Montreal, but if not, I’ll make Martha Stewart’s shrimp shumai (yeah: those pork ones were that good). I have two heads of broccoli from last week’s CSA that is begging to be roasted with garlic.

Thursday-Open house at school tonight so it needs to be easy and quick. We pick up our CSA so we will eat whatever lovely vegetables are offered, then supplement with some fancy cheese and bread.

Not so inspired this week, I know, and quite eclectic, but the summer produce is winding down and we need to take advantage of the quickly diminishing freshness available to us Vermonters. Any questions—just ask.