It is an outright bummer that larger gatherings aren’t happening for you. It’s much the same for us.
Anyway, I make this salad throughout the year (living in Southern California means various salads are on the menu year round). I shred the cabbage, green onions, and whatever other veggies I’m including and keep them in a tub in the fridge. Dressing goes into a jar (also refrigerated), and the crunchy bits into another container (not refrigerated). Then I can make myself a bowl of it, plus added protein (usually plant-based “chicken” or something of that ilk) if I’m so inclined. And the crunchy bits - the best part, I think - stay crunchy!
Very popular in Saskatchewan community cookbooks, but cabbage, sugar, instant ramen, and usually no chicken!
I was craving a Tao Tao type Chinese chicken salad this past week (no ramen), and so disappointed by the takeout Taiwanese chicken salad that was probably more authentic
Too authentic for me Needed more chicken, and more sugar!
I failed to make the Thomas Keller quiche last week. I severely overestimated the amount of time I would have to dedicate to something that intricate. Between garden harvest and preparing for in-laws who are coming soon for an extended visit, time has gone out the window. This week’s plans are less ambitious.
SAT: DH making smash burgers on the grill. I’ll make some kind of chopped veggie salad to go with.
SUN: A repeat of NYT’s infinitely riffable recipe for baked salmon. This week I’ll try it with oregano, and Greek inspired sides.
MON: Caprese BLT on homemade French bread. ATK’s cold oil fries.
TUE: A new-to-me recipe: Hawaiian Mochiko chicken. Cukes in vinaigrette. Long grain rice. There are many recipes for the chicken on-line. I’ll probably use the one from New York Times, but here’s one from All Recipes.
WED: A repeat of the caprese BLT’s.
THUR: Crying Tiger beef with jaew dipping sauce, from Serious Eats. A summer favorite. Thai cucumber salad.
Tue: a fried oregano lemon veal t bone that one DC did not like, a non-breaded eggplant Parmesan that the same DC did not like. DC mentioned not liking the texture of veal t bones, and preferring chicken, pork or beef. I had planned on lamb souvlaki. The store only had Australian lamb which I avoid, so I had chosen the veal. Same DC mentioned liking zucchini fritters and asked why I didn’t fry eggplant. So- I figured out, that crispy eggplant or eggplant popped with bechamel in moussaka or papoutsakia is the way with DC, who also didn’t like the ginger garlic eggplant last week, or stuffed eggplant on Monday.
The same DC can’t eat brassica, greens or carrots, but also wants veggies each night, so I rely on parsnips, squash, sweet potatoes and eggplant, and eggplant is one of the few vegetables that is tolerated that I have not tired of yet.
Wed
Duck legs with a plum conserve , leftover eggplant parm rolled in Parmesan-panko and baked, zucchini fritters
I made the NYT mochiko chicken a few weeks ago - it was good but not great. To be fair, I did not deep-fry it (I don’t remember whether I pan-fried or baked). We liked the taste though!
Hello everyone and happy Friday. I went for a lovely dinner out last Wednesday to a Southern Indian restaurant and had some fabulous food. Our meetup organizer contacted the restaurant owner in advance and arranged a tasting menu for our group. I really enjoyed tasting different dishes that I’ve never had before and the neelagiri mushroom was hands down my favourite dish. I didn’t like the king fish curry too much - I love curries but I discovered that I am not a fan of king fish. I hope to join another dinner sometime this fall. In the meantime, a couple of meetup groups I am in are starting to schedule more events then my film society starts up at the end of September. It’s nice getting out of the house. Onto my menus for this week:
Today: Take out lunch from a nearby deli. I ordered a porchetta sandwich with garlic mayo and I can attest that they did not skimp on the garlic! Good thing I am working at home today! Tonight I will have a Greek salad for dinner.
Saturday: Chicken cacciatore. No salad on the side since there will be a few veggies in the sauce.
Tuesday: Chicken gyro salad inspired by Smitten Kitchen: I have some pre-made chicken skewers purchased at Costco and I will be buying tzatziki and pitas from the Persian grocery store so the only part I will make myself is the salad.
Wednesday: Hamburger casserole. I found the recipe in my recipe file but I didn’t make note of where I found it. It consists of ground beef sautéed in a skillet with zucchini, green pepper and tomato. I will have some egg noodles on the side.
Thursday: pasta with tomato, goat cheese and basil. Side veggies TBD.
Saturday afternoon will be spent shopping in Chinatown and Sunday morning I will be going on a walking tour of centretown and we will be learning a little about the architectural heritage of the area.
Hi, all! Cooking for 2 in Chattanooga, where we’re looking forward to next week, when it’s supposed to change from “dangerously hot” to “awesome” weather, according to the local paper. We’ll see…
Breakfast: Cinnamon raison bread from Joy of Cooking
Saturday, August 26: Scallops with corn
Sunday: Braised chicken, rice pilaf, grilled romaine, plum tart
Monday: Spicy pork with noodles; maybe sautéed zucchini on the side
Tuesday: Pizza and trivia
Wednesday: Black bean and veggie wraps
Thursday-Friday: TBD. We have agreed to “cater” a friend’s party with BBQ ribs and such next Saturday (they remember the ribs we made for them 5 years ago!), so we may be busy with prep…
Have a good week, everyone! Happy cooking!
Hi, everyone, I didn’t post last week as our vacation in Southern California was accidentally extended by a week due to my husband coming down with Covid on the day we were supposed to fly home. We holed up in a hotel for him to isolate and recuperate, and survived on underwhelming delivery food - enough said about that. We’re safely home now, and the pantry and fridge are restocked courtesy of Instacart. School starts on Weds and I’m saving my mental energy for the trip to Staples.
Feeding two adults and a teen in the Boston burbs - hooray for cooking and being home!
Tonight: penne with meat sauce, peas for them/salad for me.
SAT Garlic-lime steak noodle salad
SUN Garlic-mustard chicken skewers, baked potatoes, green beans
MON Baked feta with chickpeas and cherry tomatoes, GF focaccia
*I’m pretty sure DH will not enjoy this as a main dish, so I will make extra chicken on Sun and he can call it a side dish
TUES Nachos - DS’s chosen “night before school starts” meal
WEDS Waffled bibimbap, sort of - rice, Asian slaw, ground pork (assuming I can find pork in the freezer - I thought I had beef but could not find it when I looked today - not sure if I am misremembering or just too tired to see what’s right in front of me)
Looks like a delicious week. Best of luck as you school shop. One popular chain-store was out of pencils! I saw a Mom and son double check their almost completed list and using her phone to locate an in-stock supply nearby.
I am actually excited about cooking again - the closest I got last week was combining yogurt with granola. It will be a while before we want to eat restaurant food again! (Further complicating last week’s meals was that I have celiac disease and there weren’t a lot of good gluten-free options in delivery range. One night we ordered pizza from a highly recommended chain, and the GF medium cheese pizza looked a lot like the regular medium cheese pizza… I made DS taste both and confirm my guess, because neither pizza was labeled!)
Actuals for Aug 21 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where wild temperature swings are normal. It’s 56 F. this morning, but was 99 F. Tuesday. Soup and salad weather, just on separate days.
Mon: Salmon, Zucchini farro haloumi side
Tues - Breakfast - experimenting with batch cooking/freezing breakfasts Breakfast burrito rollups - and decided we like this egg/potato casserole better without the tortilla wrap. Dinner - Chopped 3-greens salad with turkey & pepperoni, hb egg, peas, tomatoes, black olives, cheese, croutons. Toasted rolls on the side.
Wed : carryout Pizza Hut pizza – husband’s birthday dinner choice
Thu: a family favorite - Liver & mushrooms in white wine sauce, over rice, broccoli. Dessert - Microwave vanilla pudding w/ lemon mini-Bundt cake
Fri: Last of the Liver & mushrooms with rice and also skillet Greek-seasoned Chicken breast, with broccoli
Sat: Breakfast for dinner - Baked Egg & salsa assembled with cheddar cheese/ham on English Muffin (more batch breakfast experimenting, froze the other breakfast sandwiches from batch for quick breakfasts or lunches)
Sun (today): Garlic-marinade sirloin (grocery meat dept), sweet potato, salad. Supper - Soup
I severely overestimated the amount of time I would have to dedicate to something that intricate. Between garden harvest and preparing for in-laws who are coming soon for an extended visit, time has gone out the window. This week’s plans are less ambitious.
Good thing I am working at home today! 