Menus and Grocery lists, February 11, 2014

It's time to try

defying gravity.

I think I'll try

defying gravity

And you can't pull me down.

Stephen Schwartz

Apologies to all sports haters- you may want to scroll on by, because (to lift a line from Romeo's bestie Mercutio) tonight finds me a grave woman. That is, I'm watching the Olympics and marveling at the fact that sometimes, with the right amount of raw talent and passion and hard work, some of us really can

defy gravity.

Every day for the next two weeks waiters will beam down from the U.S. Starship Enterprise

(seriously, this is a medal bearer. Or
a cosmonaut from deep spacestation nine. Or
the lead singer of a sixties band.)

and present medals to those humans who defy gravity the best.  That's what we do- we give our prizes and our admiration to those who can jump higher, fly farther, slide faster....

and we give our sympathies to those whom
gravity wallops in the end.

And the best of those who help us defy the other sort of gravity? 

we turn them into stars.

Gravity- what a great word! Succumbing to it can mean this:

or this:

but overcoming it is always a team sport. Just ask the writing team behind the comedian that you can always count on to lighten your mood. Or the parents and coaches of those high-flying athletes. 

Or the crew responsible for this gravity buster.

I'm no athlete or astronaut, but with a little help, I can still make dinner lighten up a little, and since I'm having more fun with gravity than a juggler with stock in a band-aid company...

no really, she's having a great time...

That is, since gravity rises to so many different puns, this week with the help of Cooking Light magazine (heh heh) there's a line up of yummy dinners- a few of them are one pot wonders that will make the work load lighter too.

Okay, that's enough punning around. 

some of these are falling flat.

No, really, that's enough...Let's launch into (or settle down to) dinner, shall we?

Wednesday: Oven fried rosemary walnut chicken and Roasted butternut squash

One unfortunate casualty of my computer's most recent virus has been the software that collages together photos of a two dish meal.

Which means that tonight, I can only give you a picture of this chicken, which looks yummy, and fire up your imagination about the Butternut squash. Coating the squash with more than just olive oil and salt was so fun last week, that the idea gets a replay tonight- a toss with rosemary and garlic should make the roasted squash a great companion for this chicken. 

Thursday and Friday night's dinners will need cooked chicken, so I'll be roasting 2 or three chicken breasts without the coating. 

Thursday: Chicken Curry

Here's the first chance to use leftover chicken- the leftover part isn't exactly in the recipe, but neither is the idea that if you want to, you could ignore this recipe entirely and still have a yummy chicken curry by using leftover chicken and a jar or packet of curry sauce. Which I very well may do.

Friday: Salmon and Cheese and Broccoli Souffle

Souffle! It's about time I tried a gravity defying souffle, and this one looks great, and the recipe says it's easy. The salmon recipe was chosen by Cooking Light as one of the 25 best recipes they've ever published- there's a barbecuey blend of spices rubbed on to the salmon fillet before baking that sort of melts and caramelizes in the oven. 

Saturday: Chicken pot pie

Here's a one-dish meal to hit every gravitational center, comforty if you're feeling down, reduced fat and calories if you're feeling heavy, and light on prep time if the work of the day is dragging on you. Any leftover cooked chicken snuggles in between the pastry sheets- or if you don't have cooked chicken leftover, take the advice of the recipe and shred the meat off of a rotisserie bird.

I may add a few more vegetables to this mix (if there's any butternut squash left from Wednesday, I'll start there) or serve it alongside an easy salad.

Sunday:  Eggplant Parmesan

I super duper love eggplant parmesan, and if this Cooking Light recipe can really deliver the taste without the heaviness, I will be very happy. Everything a body needs is in this pan- taste, tomatoey licopene goodness, and protein, but if it will hurt your brain to not serve meat, think about thawing out some frozen meatballs, or if you need a side, a little dark green salad would be terrific.

There's the line up- meals that are trying to go lighter and higher and faster than the week before. Time will tell whether they're winners or wipeouts.

For the rest of this week, I hope that you 

find yourself defying gravity.

I hope that this week

you feel yourself mastering

some of the invisible powers that 

shape our lives...

gravity, love, and time.

and  I hope that if

(and almost certainly when)

this week starts to get you down,

 you can find a way 

to spend some time with the loves

 that set your soul soaring.