Menus January 23,2013

In the depth of winter I finally learned 

that there was in me an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

Here's a wonderful thing: In the middle of winter, when every hour of this

 is a precious commodity, this commodity

is growing by the groveful

To me, and I think to many of you,citrus fruit is sunshine in a peel; sunshine by the pound- and it's in season in the middle of winter! When everything tends toward gloom. Go figure. 

And if you live near a farmer's market, or even grocery store that flexes with the seasons, you can reap the proverbial bounty. At least that's what I did this week at Central Market.

Behold the portals of  citrus paradise...

 And, before I learned that Central Market frowns upon those who take pictures inside the store.......

Honestly, I couldn't count all the different kinds. I lost track after  20.

I'll be playing with citrus all week, starting with
Wednesday: Crepes with lemon and sugar and chicken sausage.
Lemon and sugar on pancakes may sound like a crazy combination, but it's scrumptious beyond telling and a favorite treat of mine from days of yore. Give it a try- it won't cost you more than a lemon wedge. And you won't be topping them with any more sugar than you would if you doused them in Aunt Jemima. If you prefer pancakes to crepes, try this fantastic buttermilk pancake recipe. Costco sells some chicken and apple sausages that will go perfectly.

Thursday: Fish Tacos and sweet potato fries

The fish marinates in a nice mix of orange juice, onion, and well, other good stuff for about an hour. I'll need to remember that, won't I...( note to self.start marinating the fish a hour and 15 before dinnertime..). Our grill is in hibernation, so I'll be popping the fish under the broiler. I'll also be prepping enough of the toppingey stuff- tomatoes, cheese, onion, cilantro- for Thursday night's burritos. I know from experience that Costco and Trader Joe's both sell wonderful frozen sweet potato fries, and I may take that shortcut, though I'm hoping to give this unfried oven version a try.   

Friday: Coconut Shrimp  and citrus salad

How's this for crazy- (ready?) I'm going to use this recipe on some shrimp, but...... I'm also going to use it on one or two pieces of chicken breast. That's RIGHT!!!! I'm using this recipe to make CHICKEN NUGGETS!!!! For some inexplicable reason, this feels quite naughty, and that strikes me as quite funny. But coconut chicken? Yummy! Whatever chicken and/or shrimp is leftover will be used in a stir fry later in the week.

Now, about the salad. At the Central Market citrus fest, I sampled a really nice winter salad- about 3 varieties of citrus tossed with fennel and a simple dressing. I picked up the recipe card to show you, but I lost it. So, I made it for you.

I decided to use a grapefruit, a navel orange, and a Meyer lemon. Here, in case you don't already have a favorite method of your own, is how I take the sectiony bits out of a grapefruit:

                             1. Take a slice off of one end, so you can rest the fruit on
                                   a cutting board.

                              2. Cut off the peel (a serrated knife is easiest)

                               3.Run the knife down along the membranes that
                                   separate the sections.

                               4.Peel the fruit from the membranes. That's it.

It may seem easier to just peel and slice the grapefruit as if it were an orange, but those membranes and the white spongy part of the peel (aka the pith) are where grapefruits keep all their bitterness. That's why the extra work is important. (okay,yes. My brain just went all metaphorical and started wondering in which membranes of myself I store all my own bitter stuff. Mimi, write a poem about that, would you?) 

The salad calls for fennel, which has a mild flavor a little bit like licorice and a texture alot like celery. In fact,  the produce lady at Central Market said that celery is a great substitute for fennel. The foodies would want me to remind you, before you buy that plain ol' celery, that fennel is super hip and trendy,and as a glamour bonus costs about three times as much. (You know, it's funny/sad, but there are nights when that sort of absurdity can actually make dinner a little more fun.) Here's what it looks like:

It actually tastes quite nice.

The citrus and the fennel get tossed in a nice olive oil, a nice vinegar (not balsamic, unless it's white balsamic, or everything will go brown) a spoonful or two of poppy seeds and a little honey. Then the whole mix nestles onto a bed of lettuce.

 Viola! Winter blahs are banished.
At least they will be, if you pronounce it
banish-ed. As in "Romeo, hence from Verona
art thou banish-ed". See what I mean?
You're happier already, aren't you?

Saturday: Black bean burritos

Super fast, super easy. I'm going to drain and rinse some canned black beans and put them together with the condiments  I prepped on Thursday. Avocados are 29 cents each at Aldi this week, and if I buy them Wednesday and pop them into their paper bag avospado, they'll be perfectly ripe for eating with these burritos.

Sunday:Chicken and citrus stirfry

There are tastes in this recipe that I don't think I've ever put together, and you know what that means? I'm really looking forward to it. If there's any cooked chicken or shrimp leftover, I'll be using that.

Do you know what's been making me smile for the last two days? 

Phil Dunphy's mangling of a famous lemony aphorism:

That and the phrase of Camus that has served as a talisman through many dark winters of the soul:

 "invincible summer"

Because the world can be a chilly place. Warmed a degree or two, maybe, by our every act of nurturing kindness.

 It might not matter much.

It might not matter any more than the sight of the sun after 3 gray days of rain.

Which, you know, matters.

 I hope that this week you discover ways to gather to yourself every scrap of love and hope and peace you can find. And when you do,  I hope you feel like you're carrying the sun in your weary hands.

 I hope you feel like you're carrying into every gloom your own invincible summer.