It's shaping up to be one of those weeks. You know, the kind of week where the days fly by and you have no idea what you accomplished, but you suddenly look at the clock and realize you should have started dinner half an hour ago. And, quite frankly, you really have no motivation to make the meal you originally planned for the day. My original menu for tonight: Grilled chicken marinated in lime juice, olive oil and cilantro, fingerling potatoes sauteed with herbs and garlic, and braised spinach. What I made: Wilted spinach, steamed potatoes, and a fried egg. The day didn't start too badly: my three-year-old, Steven, actually slept past 6:30 am, and 6-month-old Jack was generally happy and took a decent morning nap. Cut to 12:30 pm when I go to pick up Steven from Itty Bitty Fun Camp. Apparently It was a little too much fun today and Steven refused to leave with me. In fact, he had a complete meltdown and began screaming and crying for me to "go away". He might as well have been yelling "stranger danger" because it probably appeared to the teen helpers staring at us that an abduction was taking place as I struggled to carry him to the car. By the time my husband arrived home shortly after five with a full propane tank for the grill, I was mentally fried. I didn't feel like chopping onions and garlic, or stripping tiny leaves of thyme, nor did I feel like standing next to a hot grill in this humidity. No worries, though, we couldn't get the propane tank hooked up properly anyway, hence the fried egg. The moral of the story: days don't always go as you planned, and neither do meals! Don't be afraid to change your game plan, and simplify or substitute as needed. My meals so far this week have been fairly basic: A taco salad with lettuce, ground beef (seasoned with cumin, smoked paprika, and chipotle chile powder), green onions, tomato, guacamole, salsa, and the most delicious corn chips from the CSA; and sauteed chicken breasts, glazed radishes (delicious!) and roasted zucchini. One of the best parts about joining a CSA is the fact that you really don't have to do much to the food to make it taste great. It's all in season, fresh, and full of flavor.
A number of people in other CSAs have remarked about the abundance of "lettuce" they received thus far, and that they are getting tired of salads. I for one love greens, but I can see that preparing them only as a simple salad would get old quickly, especially when you have an abundance that needs to be used in a short amount of time. Since I don't seem to be do much creating this week, I thought I would share some ideas and recipes for what to do with all those greens. Orrecchiette with Mixed Greens and Goat Cheese from Giada De Laurentiis is an easy dish if you have some baby lettuces or mixed salad. Or try making a pizza and putting a salad dressed with a lemony vinaigrette on top, such as in Ina Garten's White Pizza with Arugula (one of my favorites!). Remember, you don't have to have the exact lettuce or greens the recipe calls for - experiment! You can even try grilling lettuce slightly and dressing the wilted greens with your favorite vinaigrette (check out the newest edition of Cooking Light magazine for a grilled salad recipe). Create new dressings with different vinegars and herbs; if you have a vinaigrette recipe that calls for lemon juice and basil, try replacing them with lime and cilantro. Sautee spinach, swiss chard or other greens with onions and mushrooms for a taco filling (see my first entry) or wilt them into an omelette, frittata or quiche. Create a hash with greens, potatoes and your favorite sausage or eggs such as in Fingerling Potato-Leek Hash. I hope that's enough to get you started - please feel free to share your ideas and creations.
Tomorrow promises to be another busy day, capped off with about 20 women at my home for a meeting. That, and the need to demo my kitchen in preparation for my new countertops, means the theme for the week will continue to be simple. Some readers have requested I share my food "philosophies," so look for those along with meal ideas for next week on Thursday. For now, I will retire with my glass of vino, a piece of dark chocolate with sea salt, and a little Rocco's Dinner Party on Bravo.
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