Well, that's really not quite true. I've had more control over circumstances than I wish to admit .
Nevertheless, it's Friday, and I find that I've procrastinated myself into having to enter a grocery store on a holiday weekend. I have policies in place that are supposed to prevent this sort of thing.
Now, if I can only make a few more decisions rather quickly, I can at least avoid shopping on a Saturday...Hmmm..thinking, thinking thinking...what do have in the fridge...Got it!
OK. So. have you ever spent a pleasant midsummer morning (and, my fellow Texans, "pleasant midsummer morning" is not always an oxymoron) strolling around a farmers market when you spot her.
the sweet faced woman whose arms tell you
"this is a woman who knows her way around a loaf of bread"
so, you buy her loaf of fresh bread, studded with olives and garlic, and a week later, you have, to your dismay, half a loaf of stale olive bread in the fridge.
Do you throw it away? NO!
to throw it away is like throwing away $2.50! and, what's worse, it's throwing away a memory. A perfectly wonderful, edible memory. No, you send an energy beam of gratitude to the sister-in-law who introduced you to bread salad, and you pick this one:
Friday: Olive bread Fattoush with lettuce.
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/splendid-table/recipes/olive_bread_fattoush_with_jerusalem_artichokes.html
I'll be simplifying this a great deal- i'll give a quick look for a spice mix called za'atar. it may be in the imported food section, and it shows up in another recipe this week. but, if I can't find it, then any spices or ingredients that would require a trip to a specialty shop will be substituted. I'm still curious about ingredients like sumac and jerusalem artichoke, but today's not the day to hunt those things down.
Saturday: Sesame chicken strips, roasted sweet potatoes and salad.
I'll be using the sesame chicken recipe on chicken breast strips instead of wings- just a personal preference.
And, since the oven's on for the chicken, I'll be roasting the potatoes as directed by the recipe. I'll make double what I need and serve some tonight as a side for the chicken and make the potato salad on Monday.
Sunday: Falafel Salad and Fish
http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Falafel-Salad.aspx
Here's what I'm planning- I'm going to substitute quinoa for the bulger wheat (no gluten, and a bonus dose of protein). If you have couscous in the house, or even leftover rice, I'll bet that would be nice too.
If I didn't find the za'atar, and I feel like experimenting, I may try this:
http://www.finecooking.com/item/34210/how-to-make-a-homemade-substitute-for-zaatar
I'll be cooking 2 extra pieces of fish for use on Tuesday, and making it with lemon and cumin instead of chili and lime, just so the flavors of the fish and salad don't start fighting on the plate. We do try to prevent this sort of violence when we can.
Monday: Brisket, Sweet Potato salad & coleslaw
http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/mark-bittman-roasted-sweet-potato-salad-145100770.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/texas-oven-roasted-beef-brisket-recipe/index.html
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/548949
what is it about holidays that calls out to one's inner carnivore? Any anthropologists or sociologists care to offer a theory?
the brisket needs to cook a nice long time, so either
a) plan a late afternoon meal, and get that slab-o-meat in the oven around lunchtime or
b) prep the big guy the night before and set the alarm and pop him in the oven around 7 am.
remember, the size of the brisket and how cold it is when it goes in the oven can effect cooking times, so give yourself some wiggle room on timing.
here's where you make yourself feel so efficient and clever by transforming those leftover potatoes into a salad.
I'm just doing coleslaw because I have cabbage I'll need to toss if I don't. and because I like the way that the greens of lettuce and cabbage look next to the orange of sweet potatoes. I'll be using the vinegar in milk trick, rather than buying buttermilk
want a dessert? Here's one of the sweetest ways there is to bid farewell to summer peaches:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/peaches-stuffed-with-amaretti-cookies-recipe/index.html
Tuesday: Brisket tacos
Where there are mass quantities of food, there will probably be leftovers. I'm going to shreddy chop the leftover brisket into tacos. Easy.
Wednesday:
Fish cakes with salad.
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/splendid-table/recipes/fish_fishcakes.html
I can ignore the directions for cooking the fish- I already did that. I'm liking the idea of one of my fave salads with this- lettuce, avocado, mango (or grapes) and cucumber with poppyseed dressing or a balsamic vinaigrette. maybe some walnuts on top.
Happy Labor day everyone, and if you find yourself working very hard in the kitchen to fix a feast for a holiday that's meant to be reprieve from labor that celebrates laborers, stop and smell the irony. It's delicious.
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