menus, August 14, 2013

“I don't buy idea of second chances.

With hope we make a lot of chances.” 

Toby Beta

Welcome to Chancelandia, where everything and everybody gets another chance. In Chancelandia, our televisions play shows that were canceled way too soon

 and our libraries are filled with books that should've been published and weren't, or should've been bestsellers, but were eclipsed by books with trendier covers.

Instead of these,

our walls are decorated with signs like this:

We even fill our desk drawers with the sort of pens that make you scribble circles with them before they wake up and start writing. Our emergency rooms welcome with an encouraging grin those who decided to take a chance on a new sport, our bookstores are full of people who've chosen to risk the disasters they might summon by relaxing for an hour or two, and our kitchens, well.

Our kitchens create wonderful dinners from what that other place, Youblewitton, has rejected:  things that didn't work the first time, recipes that were never tried because some other recipe had a prettier picture, or ideas that were passed over when they didn't fit well into a plan. Rejected recipes, disappointments due to user error, all sorts of food gets another chance in our Chancelandian kitchens. At least, this week it does. Here, I'll show you.

Wednesday: Steak Milanesa and Kale Caesar salad

Last week's misadventure with this super-thin sliced beef made me so curious about the right way to do things gone wrong that the whole week is full of try, try again type meals. The kale salad, for instance,  could have been  fantastic- if I hadn't shredded the kale so fine and if anchovy fillets weren't so hard to work with. Anchovy paste having been found, this salad gets another go. I'll be cooking a few slices of steak without breading for tomorrow night's gyros.

Thursday: Leftover steak gyros

No link here, because it's just so easy. The leftover steak will be sliced into strips and wrapped in soft naan  bread and topped with tomatoes, lettuce, hummus and tzatziki. Trader Joe's and Costco both have fantastic ready made versions of hummus and tzatziki in the fridge section, but if you, as I do, want to try one more time to get a homemade version that tastes as good as store bought, try this tzatziki or this hummus.   

Friday:  Aussie Burgers and three bean salad 

Sometimes, the hardest part of deciding what to have for dinner is really deciding what not to have for dinner. These recipes looked so yummy, and the websites are so interesting that I was a little bit frustrated when they landed weeks ago in my long archive of "links to try another day". That day is today, because last week, I noticed a bag of tri-colored beans in the freezer section of my local Kroger that will make the bean salad easy enough for a weeknight. I happen to know a few Aussies, and I'm not sure that they would endorse the entire mile high stack of goodness resting on these burgers, but the pictures and the text make me smile, and I've been craving a burger for way too long. I'll be browning a few extra burger patties for tomorrow night.

Saturday:  Leftover beef tacos, Homemade salsa and guacamole

Another easy meal spun from stuff on hand- this fantastic salsa recipe tops everything- including our list of favorite salsas. It's easy, cheap, and the heat is adjustable. About the guacamole- chances are, you already have a guac recipe you love, but if your fave recipe includes more than 5 ingredients (or if one of the 5 is mayo) give simpler a try. Avocados are so wonderful this time of year, and simple lets them shine.

Sunday: Rotisserie chicken and Out of this world pasta salad

I love this pasta salad! Or, at least, I love the name, and the way it looks, and the idea behind it's webhome. It's been sitting in the try-it-someday archive for a long time, because while it looks easy, it also looks a little time consuming. Too time consuming to serve up alongside an equally time consuming main, but maybe not hearty enough for a one-dish meal. Enter the ready-made main. Rotisserie chicken,  precooked ribs, or any number of other options make it possible to give this great salad a chance without spending all afternoon in the kitchen. Using cooked rice instead of the rice-shaped orzo pasta will  make it gluten free.


There's something so exciting about this week's menu line-up! Maybe because my little risk-averse soul loves the idea of taking a chance without gambling on anything more important than dinner.
 Or maybe because there's a gloomy sort of optimism that leads us to persist in trying to set right things that admittedly went wrong. And dinner is a place to start.
For whatever reason,
I hope that this week you take a chance (little or big) on something new.
Or maybe another chance on something familiar.
Even though it may mean failing.
Because here, in Chancelandia,
we understand that getting it wrong is how you learn
to get it right.
And second chances? To us, second chances

are only a beginning.