Despite mall displays of mannequins draped in cozy jackets and the mysterious birth of a few Christmas aisles in the craft stores, in Texas, it's still summer.
and will be, until about 3 days before it's winter.
Even I though, am growing weary of salads, so this week's menus include some hopefulreminders that the not-horribly-hot-or-cold time we Texans refer to as autumn is on its way
First up:
Thursday: Vegetable curry with rice and chicken.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/27/vegetable-curry_n_1057247.html
Curry recipes abound on the internet, and if you master a from-scratch one in under an hour or two prep time, let us all know, ok?
Until then, I'll be doing as the recipe advises: opening a packet of curry paste (also available in jars) and adding it to a can of coconut milk. Jars of curry sauce are a good option, though slightly more expensive.
A recipe like this gives you lots of playspace- not in the mood for chick peas? leave 'em out. No white potatoes around? fine. That last carrot in the veg drawer? In it goes. I'll be using cauliflower (it's low carb, nutritious, and .99 a lb at Aldi) with some onion, sweet potato and carrot.
Remember too, if you've a pint sized culinary purist at the table (let's refrain from using the perjorative phrase 'picky eater', shall we?) the components of a meal like this can be brought to the table separately, to be combined on the the plates of those who, you know, don't mind so much when one type of food is touching another.
Friday: Praline glazed salmon and Broccoli salad
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/praline-glazed-salmon-10000000630046/
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/broccoli-grape-pasta-salad-50400000115388/
here's a little cooking conundrum I like to ponder. How much must one do to an otherwise brilliantly nutritious food- say....fish, before it's nutritional value is entirely negated?
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know what I mean?
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wanna pretend with me? because salmon's back on sale at Kroger, broccoli's on super sale at Aldi, and these recipes look great. I'm leaving the pasta out of the broccoli salad. Because in food magic land, leaving out one thing you like justifies including two things you like even better. It's simple foodrithmatic:
b+s= -p
in this case, for example, butter + sugar = the removal of pasta.
(see kids? Algebra has real world applications after all)
Saturday: Chicken Parmesan and salad
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-parmesan-10000000577243/
It's the first sighting since winter of one of my best, most versatile kitchen players, red sauce.
I'll make a big batch, use some tonight, some on Sunday, and freeze the rest.
you'll find a recipe on smitten kitchen, or you can just do this:
combine
4 28-32 oz cans of tomatoes in juice, diced or whole, san marzano style if you can afford (or find) them
1 onion, halved
1 stick of butter
1-2 cups of red wine or broth
that's it. It'll look like this at first:
but in about 4 or 5 hours (that's why it's a Saturday thing, or a whatever day you're home thing) it'll simmer down nice and thick. Run it through a blender, and you have a base for an amazing variety of really good goodness.
I decided not to hunt for the Italian breadcrumbs listed in the recipe. I'll save a little money by spinning some stale crackers and sliced bread in the food processor with some garlic powder and italian seasoning.
just a simple bag of salad- pounding and coating the chicken was work enough for a Saturday, don't you think?
for the dressing though- take about 1/4 cup of the red sauce (cool it off a bit first) and whisk it together with enough olive oil and vinegar to get it to dressing consistency. Your taste buds are going to stand up and applaud you, and anyone else you're feeding should do the same.
(a note to those cooking for purists- if you cut the chicken into bits before you dip it in crumbs, cook it and serve it without sauce, you've pretty much made chicken nuggets, haven't you? yay you!)
Sunday: Tomato Basil soup and grilled cheese-
You know that red sauce that made your house smell so amazing yesterday?
Put a cup or two of it in a roomy saucepan and heat it up, Now, turn down the heat and wisk in some half and half or evaporated milk, just till it's a color that looks yummy to you. Now add a handful of cut up basil. Make a grilled cheese. You're done.
A word about the milk:
Remember the trick of making buttermilk out of milk by adding vinegar? Well, the acid in the tomatoes will do the same thing if you let it, and you'll have a funny, kind of curdlely looking, yet still (if you close your eyes) tasty, pot of soup.
Avoid my past mistakes by
1. Using either evaporated milk, fat free half and half, or something with high fat, like cream or half and half. Regular milk will, most likely, curdle
2. Whisk as you pour in your dairy stuff of choice
3. Once the dairy stuff is in, be gentle with the heat and don't let the soup get hot enough to boil.
Monday: Shrimp and Avocado salad
http://www.avocado.org/recipe-details/view/31607/creamy-california-avocado-mixed-greens-with-shrimp
Avocados are still blissfully on sale at Aldi; if you buy them before Saturday, they'll be ripe for this easy peasy Monday salad. If you'd prefer to skip the shrimps, then slice up some leftover chicken, our thaw some frozen artichoke hearts, or flake on some leftover salmon. Any one of those will mimic the mild taste and tender meatiness of the shrimp quite nicely.
I'll be substituting Greek yogurt for half the mayo in the dressing for this salad and for the broccoli salad on friday-
check out this handy dandy substitution chart from chobani!
http://chobani.com/community/blog/2011/04/chobani-kitchen-conversion-chart/
Hope the shopping is not horrible, the cooking gives you a moment or two of creative energy, and the eating is deep-down satisfying.
We'll catch up this weekend-
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