Saturday - Out to dinner at friends'

A night off of cooking! Whee!!!

Friday

Whole wheat pasta with sausage, leeks, and fontina (recipe in the comments)
Endive, oak leaf lettuce, and orange salad with raspberry balsamic dressing

Hot cocoa
Almond biscotti
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This recipe, inspired by a Lydia Bastinich dish, was our introduction to good whole wheat pasta. We had tried whole wheat pasta several times and found it to be grainy, dry, and overpowering for most sauces. As time has passed, however, whole wheat pastas have gotten better and better. We try to eat whole wheat pasta whenever our sauce is robust enough (or basic enough to be in need of a grainy kick). This is a perfect introduction for anyone who is skeptical about whole wheat. Lydia (as she is most commonly known - I had to google her last name!) has a restaurant in Kansas City that we have visited with M's mom. We're big fans of her food and food philosophy, so it isn't surprising that we like this dish. The salad (local hot house greens!) is a side that's more sustainable than last night's watermelon, so I'm more at peace with our choices!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy.
Chopping: Leek, cabbage, shred fontina
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: I would probably do this last minute, but you could make the sauce ahead and then toss with fresh pasta last minute.


Reaction
J: "I'm a whole wheat convert all over again!"
M: "Makes whole wheat sing."

Thursday

Chili relleno casserole (recipe in the comments)
Corn tortillas, red salsa
Watermelon (how's that for out of season???)

Hot tea
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This is an easy and transcendent recipe. We got the original out of Eating Well, but (as is common for us) added some fat and calories back in to make it a good dish for normal eaters. This is SO easy to put together and then you can have a cocktail and relax while it cooks. We always have this with fruit, and baby watermelons were on sale at both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. I buckled and bought one. I know, they're out of season and had to be shipped a million miles (actually only from California, which is probably where most of our salad greens are coming from these days). In case you were unclear, I'm not immune to temptation and they sure looked yummy and summery. Back to "the 5" tomorrow :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Scallions, grate cheese, watermelon
Time: 10 minutes to prep, 35-40 minutes to bake
Make ahead: When I do this ahead, I do the prep and then put it in the oven last minute (or last 40 minutes ;)


Reaction
J: "So few ingredients can't possibly make flavor this amazing!!!"
M: "Casserole en español"

Wednesday

Bean Bolognese (recipe in the comments)
Endive and oak leaf lettuce salad with rosemary balsamic dressing
Rosemary breadstsicks (the thin cracker-like ones)

Hot tea
Peppermint bark
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When you think of a Bolognese sauce, you think of a rich, meat-y sauce. This is a hearty, vegetarian version, giving you the same rich feel with a fresh vegetable taste and without as much fat. The recipe includes a can of mixed salad beans. We have easy access to these from Westbrae Naturals, but any bean mix or even a single type of bean would be fine. This is one of those recipes where we originally had it with a salad and cracker breadsticks. Since I made a note of this, we always have the same crackers. It makes the recipe seem special :)


Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, Parmesan
Time: 40 minutes
Make ahead: The sauce saves well. Make the fettuccine last minute.


Reaction
J: "I could have eaten two bowls! Mmmmmm."
M: "Mmmm, zesty beans ... and pasta!"

Tuesday

Kidney bean curry (recipe in the comments)
Jasmine rice
Salad with honey lime dressing

Hot tea
Glazed chocolate Christmas cake (it's gone!)
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Once again we're back to an Indian dinner. This is a favorite, as our love of curries and beans gets to shine. The preparation here is very simple, but the curry does take a full 30 minutes to cook and you have to add things at several points during that time. It makes it a slightly more attention intensive meal then many we do. That said, the result is worth it and the ease of preparation makes it certainly worth the extra time. Typically, we have this over rice with a cooling cucumber salad. Sadly, our cucumbers were in less than stellar shape when I opened the crisper today, so we had to punt. The salad was fine, but not my first choice for a pairing.


Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy to prepare, a bit intensive attention to cooking
Chopping: Onion, chili, garlic, ginger
Time: 50 minutes
Make ahead: Yep. You can make the whole thing ahead or make the spiced onions right up until you add the beans. Make the rice last minute (or in a rice cooker).


Reaction
J: "Why doesn't everyone love beans? Or Indian food, for that matter???"
M: "Mmmmm, zesty beans."

Monday

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

Hot tea
Glazed chocolate Christmas cake
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It's a repeat! This often happens when we make a new recipe that we like a lot. We have it again relatively quickly to cement the recipe in the repertoire. This is also just a very us recipe that I think it bears repeating and is especially welcome as we readjust to being "just us". That said, we did try it this time with whole wheat pasta and think that this recipe is best with regular pasta. We're trying to eat more whole wheat pasta, but some recipes do better with it than others. All in all though we enjoyed it again and this is firmly an M & J recipe.

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


Reaction
J: "Still good after almost two months! "
M: "Better with white pasta."

Sunday

Tortilla soup (recipe in the comments)
Radicchio and grapefruit salad with honey lime dressing

Hot tea
Glazed chocolate Christmas cake
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Well, it's just our immediate family again. As usual for me, it seems like the Christmas/New Years season both flew by and lasted a long time. How can that be? At any rate, it is comforting to be returning to normal. In so doing, M and I are returning to a recipe we first made right after we got married. Tortilla soup used to be one of our superstar meals that we had relatively frequently (more than once a year!), but has fallen off the "playlist" in the past few years. We're not sure why. Maybe because it's a bit more involved than our typical recipe (frying the tortilla strips is an extra step and the soup simmers for 30 minutes). More likely we just have been making other things. Regardless, we're excited to be returning to it. This is a spicy (not hot spicy, but rather well seasoned spicy) version and the hot soup with pureed tortillas and crunchy tortilla strips is high comfort - at least for the two of us. We bought two heads of radicchio for the salad with the shrimp enchiladas, so the salad is repeated with a new citrus tonight.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Moderate
Chopping: Onion, smash garlic, cilantro, chicken, grate cheese
Time: 50 minutes
Make ahead: Yes, and in several ways. You can prep ingredients and fry the tortillas and then hold or you can make the whole broth and puree, holding right before you add the chicken. Last, you can make the whole soup ahead. The only downside to this last option is the chicken gets a bit overcooked when you reheat, but it's not horrible, so if that's best for your timeframe, go right ahead.

Reaction
J: "Why have we waited so long to have this again???"
M: "Living in Ann Arbor,we *are* our favorite Mexican restaurant."