Saturday

Farfalle with almond tarragon pesto (recipe in the comments from April 18, 2009)
Sliced tomatoes with chives

Hot tea
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We tried this earlier in the spring and LOVED it. I knew it would be perfect when our summer tarragon plant was going nuts. Since the tarragon overwintered and began growing earlier than any of our annual herbs, we're already at the point where it needed a dramatic haircut. This was it. The pesto was again wonderful and, if anything, better with the freshest possible tarragon. I think the flavor was more intense. This is also SUCH an easy dinner. T and I made it this afternoon for a lovely family dinner. He picked the chives and insisted we use them, so I credit him with the side dish "recipe". The same cookbook this pesto is from has one for a tomato pesto an I expect we'll be trying that before too long here :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Tomatoes, chives
Time: 20 minutes
Make ahead: I think it would be fine to make the pesto early.

Reaction
J: "The benefits of homegrown herbs."
M: "Summer-y goodness."

Monday

Polenta with spinach, black beans, and goat cheese (recipe in the comments from February 18, 2008)
Canteloupe

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This is a favorite quick meal in our household and we thought tonight (the night after my first class for the summer session) might be a night for a quick dinner. This one is highly unusual - sun dried tomatoes, black beans, spinach, cumin, and goat cheese. The result seems to have no distinct flavors of any particular region, but manages to blend into a wonderful product. Also, I can never quite believe how quick this is to prepare. It's also typically a favorite of T's, who is almost always up for goat cheese!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, pears
Time: 20 minutes
Make ahead: You can do the spinach mixture whenever and put it over hot polenta.

Reaction
J: "Perfectly quick."
M: "Still yummy!"

Sunday

Soba noodle and tofu stir-fry (recipe in the comments)
Asian greens

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I've been looking for a way to make soba noodles, as M loves them and I haven't eaten them often. They're made from buckwheat and good for those of us trying to add more whole grains. The thing is I just haven't found many recipes that sound very interesting. SO, when I found one that sort of tickled my fancy I hopped on it. Now the inspiration for this recipe had chicken, fewer veggies, a slightly different sauce, and a radically different cooking technique, but still it got soba on our table. Everyone love the results, so I'm sure they will be back.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Zucchini, garlic, ginger
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: I'd do this last minute.

Reaction
J: "Perfect soba!"
M: "Unexpectedly different and excellent Asian!"

It's been crazy in the week since we returned from vacation:

• 2 separate guests
• T started a new daycare
• J finalized a new course and trained her new teaching assistants
• M worked like crazy
• We all tamed a yard gone crazy with weeds since our departure

These events explain my delay in returning to Ten dinners?, but just so you don't feel deprived here's what we made last week. The new recipes are in the comments.

Sat: Almost no cook tacos, whole grain tortilla chips, canteloupe

Sun: Vegetable tagine (recipe in the comments), whole wheat cous cous, pineapple

Mon: Penne arrabbiata, Kohlrabi with lemon and salt, yellow grape tomatoes

Tu: M & J's famous purple pasta, fresh sweet peas sauteed with balsamic, salad

Wed: Chickpea curry with yogurt (recipe in the comments), Whole wheat naan, Cucumber salad

Th: Date night at Merge :)

Friday: Crockpot brisket (recipe-less), Grilled yam fries, Roasted green beans, Salad

Sat: Rotisserie chicken, tabbuleh, grilled vegetable melange

All in all it was a good week for eating in our household. Look for more regular posts from now on. No more travel for quite a while!

Well, we leave town on Wednesday for a trip to see my parents. We'll be eating leftovers tomorrow to clean out the fridge, so no need to post. Ten Dinners? will be back up and running the weekend of the 20th. Enjoy early summer and we'll see you then!

Monday

Mock risotto (recipe in the comments from April 7, 2008)
Arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette

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This is one of our favorite short cut recipes for risotto - a food we love. It also has far fewer calories than a typical risotto and, yet, maintains a lot of the traditional risotto character. Last, it's made with brown rice, which builds our whole grain profile - always a bonus. I was working from home today and so started this in between projects, finishing up with T after getting him from daycare. We all enjoyed the cooking and the eating :) That said, I think this is best made all at once and eaten quickly after production. This isn't really a downside, as this is so much faster and less labor-intensive than regular risotto.

Note: We made this with fresh asparagus. Just stem it and chop, tossing in with the peppers.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion, garlic, asparagus, bell pepper, scallions
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: Best fresh.

Reaction
J: "Food made with T is the best food."
M: "Asparagus rules."

Sunday - Out to dinner at Anderson's

We're apparently having a need to walk, because we once again walked to our dining establishment tonight. This time with T in tow. We went to a local place known for frozen custard and roast beef and just generally amazing, casual American fare. The real reason for this was to get custard afterwords, but, as the main dishes are very good too, the whole experience was great. We go to Anderson's pretty regularly for lunch, but hadn't been for dinner. It was great fun to walk with Theo, have dinner together, and walk home chatting with all the neighbors who were out in the warm weather. What a great summer night!

Saturday

Cavatappi Nicoise (recipe in the comments)
Herbed goat cheese toasts (recipe in the comments)

Hot tea
Raspberries!
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This is a new recipe and one that will definitely be a keeper :) I love the salad and it evokes all the greatness of a salad nicoise without being quite so difficult to prepare. The toasts are exquisite and a wonderful addition. Of course, few meals are as wonderful as those that end with fresh berries. It was a home run all around - especially because it makes plenty for a picnic outside our art museum the next day!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Moderate
Chopping: Green beans (halved), grape tomatoes (halved), olives, shallots, parsley, thyme
Time: 40 minutes
Make ahead: This was GREAT the next day!

Reaction
J: "Truly sensational summer!"
M: "The salad is great, but the toasts are transformative!"

Friday

Peppered swordfish (recipe in the comments from May 25, 2008)
Wild rice pilaf
Balsamic asparagus and shallots

Hot tea
Heath bars
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Once again proving that we are on some sort of schedule, we last had this last May. I think it may have been prompted by the same event - the onset of the Northern asparagus season. While the fish here is lovely, the star is the balsamic asparagus and shallots. Our market re-opened two weekends ago and LOVELY asparagus is on display. It was incredible. This is a super easy recipe and even if you fear grilling fish, this is a no brainer! I promise.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Shallot
Time: 25 minutes
Make ahead: I would make the dressing ahead, but do everything else last minute.

Reaction
J: "Asparagus season is short so that I long for it all year."
M: "Easy grilling magic."

Thursday

Thai tofu (recipe in the comments)
Rice
Cucumber salad

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This is one of the VERY first recipes M and I made after we started cooking together. The cookbook has ingredients highlighted that we needed to buy at the grocery store! We originally made this sauce over noodles, from a vegetarian cookbook. We didn't think it had enough heft, so we started serving it over sauteed chicken. It was a mainstay for many years, but kind of fell off the grid around 2001. I just re-discovered it and we have re-vamped it as a GREAT sauce over No Fail Tofu. This is a conversion recipe for those tofu skeptics in your life!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Ginger (chunked), pepper (seeded and chunked), basil (then everything goes into the mini chop or blender)
Time: 30 minutes
Make ahead: Make the sauce ahead (even freeze) and serve over fresh tofu.

Reaction
J: "Re-vamping an old favorite."
M: "Breathing new life into this one!"

Wednesday - Out to dinner at The Irishman

Everyone is feeling mostly better now, so we're back to the weekly date night. Tonight was a walk to a local restaurant we've only been to for lunch, the Irishman. We ate at this restaurant the day we signed the contract on our house and have been back (lunch-wise) several times. The food is good, though mostly not very Irish. The decor is great though and the staff is friendly. We've been meaning to go for dinner for a while, as the menu is more interesting and it's only a short walk from home (Ahh, I love living in a village!). The results were excellent. We were both ravenous and shared a decadent appetizer - the Irish quesadilla. I know, it sounds terrible, but it was lovely. Two tortillas stuffed with colcannon mashed potatoes, irish ham, black and tan infused cheddar, and scallions. This was a WONDERFUL creation. I had a grilled shrimp salad to be a bit more reserved with the main course and M had the very well regarded "Bangers and Mac", house-made sausage and mac n' cheese made with the aforementioned black and tan infused cheddar. It was INCREDIBLE. We will be back.

Tuesday

Black bean soup (recipe in the comments from February 22, 2008)
Salad with yogurt blue cheese dressing
Grainy rolls

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I truly love this soup. One of the best things about it is that it seems to work in any season. One of the labels from the last time was "Soup is the best winter food", but here it is June 2nd and this soup still seemed perfectly in keeping with the season. This is a big T favorite and all the kids we've ever served it too agree. We've recently discovered Wegman's yogurt dressings and, though we don't usually use bottled dressing, we're really loving this one. It's been great on chopped raw veggies as a dip and also makes a great leafy dressing. Yum.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion, garlic, scallions
Time: 30 minutes
Make ahead: This saves beautifully.

Reaction
J: "Soup for any season!"
M: "Excellente!"

Monday

Penne with broccoli and gorgonzola (recipe in the comments from November 10, 2007)
Baby lettuce salad

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We discovered this recipe shortly after our move to Ann Arbor and it remains a true favorite, probably recurring 2-3 times a year. Regular readers will know that indicates a true love! I think we love it so much because it manages that delicate feat of being light and rich. Also, both of us really love blue cheese and we don't have enough recipes that really incorporate it. At any rate, this is a deceptively easy and truly fabulous.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Broccoli, grape tomatoes
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: Probably best not.


Reaction
J: "I think this is officially a favorite! "
M: "Despite the name this is light!"