It’s kind of a mash-up between that Zuppa Toscana that was a thing on the WFD thread and a wild rice soup I have been making forever from the Culinary Institute of American Book of Soups (a great resource if you ever run across a used copy).
First cook your wild rice in lightly salted water or broth. That can take up to an hour depending on your wild rice. I usually just make about 1/2 cup of dry rice for about 4 servings. ETA: but you can cook more and freeze some for future use, either as a side or in more soup. It freezes beautifully.
Separately, take your favorite sausages out of their casings, crumble and brown in a dutch oven or soup pot, breaking up into small pieces. Remove and in the remaining fat sauté allium of choice (I prefer leeks when I have them) and chopped carrots and celery or whatever takes your fancy. Add some broth and simmer a bit, then add sausage back (and I added a can of white beans this time), add the cooked wild rice and any greens that need actual cooking and simmer some more. Taste for S&P or any other seasoning you like - I keep it simple because the sausages I use are so nicely seasoned.
When time to serve, add cream (or preferred dairy) to taste. I have been using baby greens and just put a handful in my bowl and pour the hot soup over to wilt.
I just had a bowl of yesterday’s batch for dinner. The canned white beans were a good call. But because I added them and doubled my normal carrots, celery and greens amounts (all super breezy you understand) to ensure I got enough veggies this week it was no longer a wild rice soup but a soup with wild rice. Tasty, but not what I want. Luckily I have in the freezer a fairly large side dish portion of wild rice that I can use to rectify that. And yes, with all these additions there are going to be more than 4 portions. Happily it is cold enough to keep the soup pot “refrigerated” on the screen porch.
Finishing out March: WonderCon was fun. Disneyland was great. I want to live at Galaxy’s Edge, thank you very much. But now it turns out I need to be on campus for much of my Spring Break to do work others cannot/will not do, so I’m glad I had this time off-planet. Meals will be easy to prepare, instead of trying new recipes as I’d hoped.
For two adults in San Diego/Anaheim:
This week’s breakfasts: Chocolate chip scones.
Th-Su: Disneyland (noshed at various places, and yes, the churros are excellent), food trucks at the convention center, Downtown Disney. These are also the only places within walking distance from the convention center that have reasonable outdoor dining.
M: (tonight) Curry leftovers from the freezer.
T: TJ’s chicken tamales with beans
W: Chicken tortilla soup
Th: TJ’s roasted red pepper and tomato soup with bread - vegetarian
F: Stir-fry noodles with veggies and shrimp - seafood
I have been struggling with the 3 meals a day and very little reliable affordable takeout available. Even Domino’s doesn’t deliver… probably a good thing.
We actually tried recommended supermarket frozen pizza twice and its just as horrible as I remembered, although Aldi take and bake is quite decent they are not conveniently located for takeout
Thursday we had Wagyu cheeseburger and they are too rich for us but the dogs loved the leftovers.
Friday fried fish for me and leftover stuffed peppers for DH.
Saturday baked mac and cheese with leftover ham and roasted cauliflower… there will be two frozen future meals
Sunday no interest… we had Panera soup and crackers
Monday chicken cacciatore and baguette
Tuesday (today) store bought papparadelle and alfredo with shrimp and broccoli
Wednesday meatballs and sauce with spaghetti for dinner and to be frozen for the Easter weekend visit from grandchildren , bagged caesar salad
Thursday stuffed zucchini
Friday smash burgers and chopped salad
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
166
Meals for two, in a damp and chilly North Cheshire.
Friday - burgers
Saturday - Purple sprouting broccoli with anchovy dressing. Followed by chicken with a mango salsa and saffron roast spuds (Delia Smith, How to Cook Book 1). Cheese for afters (we have Single Gloucester and Worcestershire Hop)
Sunday - Lamb chops, houmous, Gazan Salad (Yasmin Khan, “Zaitoun”)
Sunday was leftover takeout Syrian mezza, homemade Lebanese-style fried garlic tomatoes and lamb meatballs.
Monday was homemade shake & bake chicken thighs and quarters, pasta with Carbone brand marinara, chard with garlic and vinegar, Waldorf salad, German-style dill cucumbers (to last all week). Strawberry rhubarb pie from a grocer.
Tue: stuffed eggplant, protein to be determined. Potatoes to be determined.
I do agree, having eaten a lot of different frozen pizzas over the pandemic. The most palatable (to me anyway) was CPK (bbq chicken, but there are others), which while not “real” pizza in the takeout sense, is tasty as its own food group.
If you ever go to TJs, they have a couple of frozen flatbreads that are good.
I wish we lived near a TJs … when we did we often had one for a quick lunch on weekends.
DH does not like thin crust either so that rules out several good options for a quick slice.
Actuals for the last week of March, cooking for 2 in MN. Where I was at last able to retrieve the (Christmas decoration) artificial garland from the mailbox pole, just before we got another 6 inches of new snow - Mother Nature’s April Fools gift. Lots of large-batch mains with reheats and rotating sides again this week.
Mon - Coronation chicken – Chutney chicken over spinach and brown rice. Half recipe.
Tues - reheat Tater tot, green bean, ground beef casserole.
BAKED Orange Yogurt Scones
Wed: noon - Pork & sweet potato w navy beans chili. Kings Hawaaian rolls.
Wed dinner - John Wayne casserole (half recipe) with prepared cornbread stuffing as topping in place of biscuits as crust, and w/o the 2 shredded cheeses. Base was great but that stuffing is too salty for me, and I added cheese to the leftovers. Guac, tomatoes, and corn chips.
Thurs - reheat Pork & sweet potato w navy beans chili. Kings Hawaaian rolls, shredded apple/carrot salad on spinach, red grapes
Fri: (Schwans) frozen breaded fish, brown rice, (bag) salad, red grapes
Sat: reheats - lunch - Pork & sweet potato w navy beans chili,dinner - John Wayne Casserole
Sun (today): Salmon, peas, deli potato salad
I broke my foot and am on crutches with no weight bearing, so my ability to cook is extremely limited for the next 4-6 weeks. I can just about manage simple dishes if I am able to balance in one spot and have someone collect ingredients for me. My DH is doing more cooking lifting, so I’ve got a grocery pickup order ready with convenience foods; he can cook but time and energy are limited between full-time work and wrangling our almost 6-yo. Here are my easy ideas (unspecified veg sides will come from CSA):
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
174
Sorry to hear that, Christina, and hope you recover quickly.
When I had my knees replaced and was similarly using crutches. a friend loaned me his “perching stool” which allowed me to rest my backside on it and still be at a height I could cook somewhat. I needed to be more organised than usual, making sure I had everything within arms reach before I perched.
@ChristinaM so sorry to hear that! I’ve been there - had good luck with putting a smaller desk chair on wheels (like this) in the kitchen, so I could roll around rather than walk between the fridge, stove, and sink.
Bummer! Sounds like you have aced the menus. Hope there is wine time scheduled and you have a pile of books you have been waiting to read. Please take it easy!
oh gosh Christina! I guess you will get some enforced rest…sending best wishes for a speedy recovery! Maybe your son can help out with handing ingredients and opening the oven. I wish I were nearby so I could drop off some food and entertain your son for a while. And I hope you can get some good food delivered.
