menus, March 5, 2014

“THE HUMMING STATE OF NOT-QUITE-THIS-AND-NOT-QUITE-THAT”

Lisa Pearson

That's the fantastic phrase that editor Lisa Pearson used to introduce her anthology of pictures that are almost text, and written words that are almost pictures. It's the sort of thing I was thinking on Monday, as I crunched through a sleet-covered front yard

to pick daffodils.

It's the sort of thing I was thinking, but my mind wasn't saying it nearly so well. Instead, my mind was tossing around ways to fuse the word winter to the word spring...

Sprinter, or Wing....
I can't decide which I like better.

It's not quite Winter, but it's not quite Spring either. It's as if March decided to take a walk on the edge of spring,

just for the fun of falling back into winter.

Or it's  like March is a bike rider who's forgotten how to change gears

and stalls on an unfortunately placed patch of ice.

And that little metaphor makes me wonder...when a weather front stalls,

who does it get a lift from?

It looks as if for the next 6 days the weather here will remain undecided, throwing down one wintery spring day after another, and since it's so difficult to decide what to cook up for a week full of these wingy sprinter days, it seemed fun to let dinner dither too- even if it does go almost oxymoronic.

(Which makes me wonder- have you ever wished that the word oxymoron

had something to do with dimwitted cows?
Me too.)

That is, this week dinner is a collection of warm salads and  springy soups that will have me grinning through these days that seem to be stuck in the transition from one thing to another.
Here's what I mean:

Wednesday: Roasted chicken and Lemony pea soup

I've linked to the America's test kitchen roast chicken recipe, which is one of the best I've found, but we might be settling for a grocery store rotisserie bird. Desperate times call for desperate measures my friends, and its a desperately busy week. Home roasted or store roasted, we'll be using chicken twice more this week. this soup looks so bright and happy! I can't wait to give it a try.



Thursday: BBQ Ranchero chicken salad

Here's a super-hearty one-dish meal salad. If there are any nice tortillas hanging around the grocery store, I might invite them over and turn this salad into soft tacos, or if the day is really cold, a plate of nachos along with this salad would be amazing.





Friday: Salmon and Butternut Squash salad

Here we are, way into March, and the not-really-resolution to try maybe to have fish once a week is still in place. If only I could consistently cook tasty fish, Fridays would be a lot more fun. This pan-fried Salmon recipe from instructables lays out a step by step process that may help me out. This salad is terrific as is,  though if you don't like or don't want to pay for arugula, fresh spinach is a good substitute.



Saturday: Chicken Stroganoff and broccoli

This is the use-it-up dinner for any leftover cooked chicken, and I haven't committed myself with a picture of the broccoli because I haven't actually committed to the broccoli. I'm not so secretly hoping that the last-of-winter first-of-spring asparagus will be on sale somewhere, and if it is, that's what we'll be having. 





Sunday: Easy Pho and Asian Slaw

If there's a soup that's good for all-weather comfort, it's pho. Warming broth, crispy veg, and light rice noodles. Combine that with a summery salad made with a winter vegetable, and you have the best of both worlds

And I think it would be wonderful if this week
you have all the best of all possible worlds.
I hope that the most difficult choices you make this week
are between one good thing
and another.
And I hope that in the times between times-
the times that are not quite an end
and not yet a beginning-
that those you love remember 
just the right way
to keep your wheels from coming off
and keep your gears from grinding
and that you find yourself pedaling 

straight toward something wonderful.