May 23 - 27

Oh, it's in that wild end-of-the-school-year time, when Dairy Queen for dinner (not after dinner, not with dinner -- for dinner) suddenly becomes totally acceptable. And yet, I know that planning ahead makes life easier, and removes the last-minute decision making (should I make a salad, or just drive out for a Cappuccino Heath Blizzard?). So I'm planning ahead. Wish me luck!

Sunday

Phil's hankering for ribs. We had two little packs in the freezer: one of pork spare ribs, the other lamb ribs. So we're doing a combo. The lovely Marnie gave us the recipe below. We'll also make coleslaw and saute some corn with red pepper and onion.

GRILLED TANGY PORK RIBS

1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
3 lbs pork ribs
1 tbsp chili or veggie oil
1 onion, finely chopped
6 scallions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 red chili, chopped
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp sweet sherry
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp chinese chili bean sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice (or a little more)
2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

preheat oven to 475. Combine salt, paprika and pepper in a baking dish then add the ribs. Turn them in dish to coat well. Cook in center oven for 1 3/4 - 2 hours, then remove, lift ribs and drain off fat and set aside.

Heat oil in skillet. Add onion, scallions, garlic, ginger, and chili - stir fry over high heat 1 min. Add herbs, sherry, sugar, chili bean sauce, tomato paste, rice wine, vinegar, orange juice, and soy sauce. Stir in large pinch of salt and season well with pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for 15-20 mins, stirring occasionally.

To BBQ ribs, coat them in the sauce, then grill over hot coals for 7-10 mins on each side, or until cooked through, turning them frequently and basting with more sauce as necessary.

Monday

Fried rice with scallops: One of my favorite random things dinners!

Saute onion, thin-sliced carrots, celery, red pepper, mushrooms, broccoli, whatever. Add some scallops, cook quick. Add cold brown rice. Pour in some soy sauce, chile paste with garlic. Heat and eat!

Tuesday

Pizzas on Naan flatbread (I'm thinking fresh mozzarella, basil, onion, other yummy stuff)

Salad

Sliced tomatoes with balsamic drizzled atop

Wednesday

Nachos with pork and pinto beans

(Got the idea from this recipe, but will probably veer quite a bit from it. But you get the idea)

Thursday

Emu steaks (marinate in Worchestershire, garlic, ginger, pepper, olive oil, then grill hot and quick)

salad

yummy sourdough bread

Have a lovely week! I promise to try to limit my ice cream to dessert only!

May 16 - 20

I'm a little obsessed with extra-crunchy peanuts from Costco. I just can't stop eating them.

And in dinner news...

Sunday

A grilled dinner (less dishes that way!):

Filets

Sliced sweet potato, wrapped in foil with olive oil, grilled

Broccoli (in a foil packet on the grill)

salad

Monday

Swiss steak-style venison:

In a slow cooker, put browned venison steaks, 2 onions large-chopped, 4 cloves of garlic, one package of mushrooms, a cup of water, a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cook all day.

Sauteed green beans

Tuesday

Broiled cod, maybe with spicy spices

Asparagus

salad

Wednesday

A big ol' salad with grilled veggies: portobello mushrooms, bell peppers, Vidalia onion. Also, feta cheese and balsamic dressing. Mmmmm...

Thursday

A lovely omelet with feta and tomato and onion. Delicious salad to go with. This dinner just screams for a lovely chilled white wine.

Have a lovely week!

May 2 - 6

Happy May! Here's dinner (the theme this week is simple, simple simple, because May is always crazy, crazy, crazy):

Sunday

Flatbread pizzas (naan bread, sauce, random toppings... onion, mushroom, roasted red pepper, artichoke, spinach, maybe some chicken pesto sausage if there's any left in the freezer, mozzarella)

Salad

sliced tomato with balsamic vinegar drizzled (I know it's not actual tomato season yet, but I'm getting antsy)

Monday

Grilled portobello, bell pepper and goat cheese sandwiches

sweet potato fries

salad

Tuesday

Salad with grilled venison strips, blue cheese, sliced pears and balsamic viniagrette

Good bread

Wednesday

Catfish tacos (I'm thinking a bit of cornmeal breading and light frying of the catfish, but the rest of the taco is the way we usually do it... lots of other taco-ey type stuff stacked in a tortilla)

Thursday

Salad with a fried egg on top

toast

Have a lovely week!

Scallops!

We're using the scallops tonight. Banana pancakes just didn't sound good. It's so sunny and lovely, so we're making a beautiful salad instead. And scallops with barbecue sauce.

Just wanted to share the scallop news.

April 25 - 29

I'm ready to eat stuff that's fresh-grown... I keep checking the secret asparagus spots, but it's still a little too early, I think. Our rhubarb has come up, though, so I found a recipe we can use for dinner. Yay for the first home-grown produce of the season!

Sunday

Lamb chops with strawberry rhubarb sauce (this comes from the book Simply Organic by Jesse Ziff Cool): rub some lamb chops with garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper. Let them sit. In a pan, saute some chopped red onion, then add some thinly sliced rhubarb, then some balsamic, then some sliced strawberries, sugar, and nutmeg. Simmer. Broil the chops, then serve with the sauce.

We'll also have mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Monday

The 8 minute dinner:

Venison chops: super-quick sear/saute in a pan, just a bit of salt and pepper

salad

bread

Tuesday

Pasta with zucchini, mushrooms and tomato sauce

Wednesday

Grilled sole with capers and olive oil -- do it on a piece of foil, and it gets sort of browned and crispy and lovely, then sprinkle a little lemon juice right at the end.

asparagus

couscous

Thursday

Banana pancakes (with a shout-out to Alan and Rachel, who introduced us to this wonderful, wonderful thing)

turkey sausage

fruit

And for the weekend...

As of now, the paper says rain for next weekend. So already I'm thinking big pot of weekend soup. With actual soup bones, and hours of simmering, and stuff like that. If the forecast changes, the plans might change too. But for now, that's what we're going with...

April 18 - 22

The Big Scallops Confession:

Scallops seem to show up quite a bit in the plans. They're yummy, they're quick, it doesn't take much planning to thaw them out... so I usually plan to have them on a night when I know things will be rushed. I feel the need to confess that I've planned to use the same bag of scallops about five times, and haven't yet. Last week we planned them with salad. But by Wednesday, we were out of anything green and leafy that could be used to make salad. So we went out.

But someday, someday, I will use those scallops. Promise.

So here's the plan for this week (but if we run out of green leafy things earlier than we thought, all bets are off!):

Sunday

Pan-Seared Shrimp and Arugula Risotto: This will be my first try at making risotto. I'm excited but a little nervous. It seems like a high-maintenance food -- all that stirring. Hence, we're giving it a go on a Sunday, when we'll have a bit more time.

Monday

Pork tacos: simmer a pork steak in spicy taco-ish spices and some water, maybe add some sauteed onions, peppers and garlic, then put in a tortilla and top with all the usual taco suspects: diced tomato, lettuce, salsa, avocado, etc.

Tuesday

Omelet with spinach, onion, red bell pepper, mushroom, and canned salmon. Yummy bread and salad to go with.

Wednesday

Gnocci with spicy Italian turkey sausage and tomato sauce

Salad (if we have any left!)

Thursday

Lo mein-ish noodles with venison steak, broccoli, onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper, garlic, etc.

Saute all the veggies, cut the venison into thin strips and add that to the saute. Add some cooked noodles (I have some rice noodles I'll probably use), and my favorite chile paste with garlic to make everything spicy and wonderful. Soy sauce and maybe a little rice vinegar. Stir it all in, give it a taste and adjust the seasonings. This makes lovely leftovers, so lunch on Friday will be a happy thing.

April 11 - 15

So, we cleaned out the freezer yesterday. I had some idea of how much meat-type stuff we had, since we've been trying to keep an inventory on a sticky note on the fridge. But I was a little bit amazed by all the veggies and fruit that I've just sort of forgotten about... the stuff that I blanched and froze last summer and fall. Some of it totally surprised me, and I had only the vaguest sense of ever having seen it before -- like pumpkin puree. I did this? What did I do with it? And why, why, why, do I have SO many lentils in the freezer?

So last night we had a side dish of lentils with our barbecued salmon and asparagus. I think there will be lots of sides of lentils in the near future...

I also made pumpkin muffins with the pumpkin puree. Haven't tasted them yet -- I'll try one at breakfast tomorrow.

So, here's our menu for the week. We're also looking to use a bunch of dried red beans that I had in the freezer...

Sunday

We're playing with the rotisserie again. This time, we'll try it with one of the venison roasts.

Also, roasted sweet potato.

And some red bean and corn salad:

1 lb dried beans, soaked and cooked

chopped red onion

chopped red bell pepper

chopped garlic

corn

parsley

cilantro

cumin

cayenne

salt and pepper

olive oil

lime juice

This salad gets better the longer it sits. So we'll have it again tomorrow (and until it's gone!).

Monday

Venison tacos (with the leftovers from our rotisserie roast)

Bean and corn salad

Tuesday

Lobster ravioli (found some at Trader Joe's and I was hungry, so now we own it) with a sauce with, probably, mushrooms, spinach, pesto, parmesan cheese

Salad

Sauteed green beans (from our garden last summer... they've been waiting patiently in the freezer)

Wednesday

Sauteed scallops over salad

Thursday

Hamburgers with sauteed peppers, mushrooms and onions

Sweet potato fries

Salad

And of course, lentils may or may not make an appearance at any point this week. I like them best with some onions and pepper, and a bit of balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. Yay, lentils!