Remember when I talked about making sure you can modify your meal plan and move things around? Well, my original plan for the week has been kicked to the curb and I'm creating meals as I go with just the ingredients I have on hand. Saturday I had planned on making potato salad for potluck picnic in the park with my husband's family (Happy birthday to my Mom-in-law!), but changed my mind at the last minute after finding out what others were bringing and decided to make tomato cucumber salad instead. We did have grilled Salmon as planned on Sunday, but served it with potatoes and leftover tomato salad instead of green beans. Actually, I didn't even get green beans in the CSA package, I got the snap peas. I realized I still had half a head of cabbage from last week's pick-up, so I decided to try a vegetarian stir-fry with the cabbage and snap peas. After checking out some recipes on-line, I came across one for Spicy Stir-fry Chinese Cabbage. The recipe calls for napa cabbage, so I substituted the regular green cabbage I had, and added the the snap peas in step four. Served over brown rice, it was a satisfying vegetarian meal. If you are not used to using chile paste (sambal oelek), use caution when adding it to the stir-fry. I used three heaping teaspoons because we love spicy food, but if you can't take a lot of heat, start with just one teaspoon (or omit it altogether if you're really sensitive) to start. You can always add more if needed. To make it more kid friendly for Steven, I steamed some of the cabbage and snap peas separately for him, then served it with a few splashes of soy sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. You could easily add edamame (soy beans), cubed tofu, or shredded chicken if you feel the need to add a protein.
I didn't receive cilantro I was expecting, so I decided to hold off on the shrimp pizza this week. I have a whole chicken defrosting right now, but it probably won't be ready for the smoker until Wednesday or Thursday. So, I'm thinking of moving my pasta night up to tomorrow, maybe doing something with the squash and zucchini. As expected, the raspberries disappeared pretty quickly. I served them with our Sunday morning whole wheat pancakes and maple syrup. And Paul and I devoured the Mayfield Creamery "Siberian Night" beer cheese Friday. According the Fresh Fork newsletter, this is a "French countrystyle cheese with a rind brushed with Thirsty Dog Siberian Night IPA". According to the Thirsty Dog website, Siberian Night is an Imperial Stout. Ah, tomayto, tomahto. We drank a Goose Island India Pale Ale with it and just called the whole thing off. Either way, the cheese was delicious, with a texture similar to Manchego, a Spanish sheep's-milk cheese. I will definitely be looking to get my hands on this cheese again. I guess I can say I have kicked the dairy-free diet at this point, although I'm still not using regular milk on my cereal, and I definitely keep a watchful eye on Jack after a cheese binge.
I also realized (after my mother-in-law questioned me Saturday about some of the recipes I've posted so far) that I have been taking for granted that people are familiar with certain dishes or ingredients, and that I am not explaining some things as well as I could. From now on I will try to link you to information on special ingredients and explain each dish more in depth if needed. And feel free to post questions and I'll do my best to answer them as soon as possible. For the record, muesli is served cold.
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