Thursday

Trollop pasta (recipe in the comments from November 14, 2007)
Salad with cucumbers, red bell peppers, tomatoes

Hot tea
______________________________________________________________
Well, this was not the plan for tonight. We had been hoping to have a new recipe for a quinoa salad. We hit a major snag though in that, despite both of us believing we had plenty, we had no quinoa. Since this was essential, we punted to the other recipe remaining for the week (kidney bean curry) and quickly discovered that our last onion had rotted. Curry with no onion isn't acceptable, so we had to punt, yet again. Trollop pasta has long been our go-to emergency meal. In fact, it was invented in exactly the same sort of punting situation. Anyway, this is excellent, perhaps especially when unplanned.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Green olives, parsley
Time: 20 minutes
Make ahead: The sauce saves well.

Reaction
J: "Truly a favorite."
M: "A great rescue meal!"

Thursday

Trollop pasta (recipe in the comments from November 14)
Green beans with warm balsamic bacon dressing

Hot tea
Candy
______________________________________________________________
It's a repeat!!! This shouldn't be surprising since we're just back form a trip and looking for easy things to make from staples. Also, I fessed up back in November that if we did only make ten dinners, this would maybe be two of them. I've missed it and am happy to be wrapped in its comforting yumminess. I think that every time we make this we say that it's better than usual -maybe we just can't remember quite how good it really is between times. Regardless, this is a great meal and should definitely be in your arsenal.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Green olives, parsley
Time: 20 minutes
Make ahead: Make the sauce ahead and toss with fresh pasta

Reaction
J: "Can we move in with the trollops?"
M: "Still the best."

Wednesday

Trollop pasta (recipe in the comments)
Cooked spinach in vinegar

Almond biscotti
Hot tea
______________________________________________________________
Trollop pasta (our version of pasta putanesca) is one of those recipes that was created on a night when we only had the ingredients for one dinner left (the next day was grocery day) and we just couldn't muster any enthusiasm for whatever it was. Thus, we needed something that could be made out of whatever we had at hand. This was the result, and I can safely say it is our favorite dinner. If we only had ten meals, this might be two of them. We probably eat this three or four times a year.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Green olives, parsley
Time: 20 minutes
Make ahead: Make the sauce ahead (even freeze it) and toss it with fresh pasta.

Reaction
J: "Who knew trollops ate so well?"
M: "So much better than Palio it makes me cry."