Thursday

Corned beef soup (recipe in the comments from March 17, 2008)
Salad
Rye bread

Hot tea
______________________________________________________________
Due to lots of crazy plans lately, we haven't been cooking with T as much. Since he and I were home together today, I decided to prioritize that and eating together. We had the broth left from the corned beef and corned beef soup is very easy to prepare and requires a lot of "dumping" ingredients in a big pot and stirring. Perfect cooking for my almost-three-year-old. The soup really is magical. Somehow the corned beef broth is so much more flavorful than a typical chicken broth and, though we add no meat, the soup is rich and satisfying. Today was sunny and brisk and somehow, soup seemed perfect. Good fun and good food was enjoyed by all.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Carrots, celery, onions
Time: 25 minutes,much of it unattended
Make ahead: The borth must be made ahead, but add and cook the noodles right before you serve.

Reaction
J: "The perfect soup."
M: "The beef that keeps on giving."

Wednesday

Tuscan chickpea soup (recipe in the comments from May 22, 2008)
Spinach salad with oranges and feta with sweet lemon dressing

Hot tea
______________________________________________________________
Since rediscovering this soup back in May, we have been singing its praises. I have suggested it to a few friends and we made it once last fall when the blog was down. It is truly incredible and tonight was no exception. I also love this salad, which is just a bit of a departure from our standard salad greens and homemade dressing. The feat and orange really capture a flavor combo we enjoy. This is a perfect example of the importance for our level of variety of writing a good side pairing down. It's in cases like this, where I would never think of adding feta and orange to a salad on a normal night when I'm on autopilot, that such notes are godsends. Anyway, a great dinner all around!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion, garlic, Parmesan
Time: 30 minutes
Make ahead: This saves really well.

Reaction
J: "I really think it's the balsamic that makes it for me."
M: "Excellent!"

Wednesday

Corned beef soup (recipe in the comments from March 17)
Pumpernickel bread
Buttered peas

Hot tea
Profiteroles
______________________________________________________________
We're back from our trip, on which everyone got some sort of horrendous intestinal virus. Yuck! This makes us glad to be home and happy to be welcomed by a freezer containing some great leftovers for easy prep dinners. Tonight is the last of the St. Patrick's trifecta, Corned Beef Soup. This is basically a simple chicken soup recipe, where we have replaced the chicken stock with the wonderful leftover stock from our St. Patrick's Day dinner. It's so easy, extremely economical, and amazingly good. It's comforting, with just enough of a twist to keep your interest up. T loves it- he's into slurping noodles lately! Normally I would have this with a salad as my vegetable, but I didn't want to go to the store right after we got home, so a frozen vegetable works fine. The profiteroles are an odd indulgence. They come frozen and were part of our Valentine's Day blow out. We had some left and I figured we'd never be in better shape to eat them than after several days of intestinal disorder. Very tasty!!!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Carrots, celery, onions
Time: 25 minutes, assuming the broth is made and defrosted (if necessary)
Make ahead: I would make this last minute so the noodles don't absorb too much liquid.

Reaction
J: "Corned beef soup for the soul!"
M: "Prolonging the corned beef magic."