There will be no celebrating of the Super Bowl LV in this house, and no lavish spread of game snacks to document, for which I apologize. Since I have been pretty vocal about my loathing of organized exercise for myself, I think it is a given that the watching of it is not my cup of tea either. I shall happily, and perhaps boringly, spend the day productively cleaning and decluttering, playing with the cats, being ignored by my teen, editing my novel, reading someone else’s, and drinking copious amounts of tea while enjoying the fact that I do not need to go out in the snow, only admire it from my window. I may or may not occasionally curse Punxsutawney Phil under my breath. And yes, I did have to look up the spelling of his name.
Last week was a banner dining week. Though I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to all of the meals that I had planned, operating on the basis of “needs must” due to my present dietary constraints, I actually – if I say so myself – came up with several dishes which I really enjoyed, so much so that I made the Tofu Scramble (by which I was prepared to be completely underwhelmed) twice for lunch, used the Mint-Mustard Sauce that I made for Thursday’s salmon on Saturday’s falafel instead of the customary tahini, and am making Oven Roasted Cabbage with Garlic again this week, but this time in larger quantities (since we inhaled what I thought was an exceedingly large quantity the first time this was made), and with Napa cabbage rather than purple.
I can also highly recommend the rich and tangy Palestinian Chickpea and Spinach Stew, of which I scarfed two large bowls in one seating, but this requires several esoteric ingredients in the form of preserved lemon and dried lime that not everyone has in their pantry, though I would highly recommend making them or acquiring them. Both are true kitchen workhorses.
Fingers crossed that I (and you) will get just as excited about this week’s offerings, which are based, as per usual, on the contents of my CSA box listed below. L. has been going along with all of these culinary changes like a trooper but balked at both the tofu scramble and (in advance) at this Friday dinner. I lost the tofu battle and guess I will either win him over to my tagine, wear him out into gustatory submission, or a portion of his allowance will be spent on take-out!
Herbs: a bunch each of basil and mint
Greens: a large bouquet of curly kale and a punnet of mixed baby greens for salad (some of which I snatched for use in last night's dinner)
Alliums: a head of garlic, a couple each of shallots and white onions
Vegetables: 4 Covington sweet potatoes (two enormous and two tiny), a Napa cabbage, a bunch of red radishes, 2 parsnips, 3 Jerusalem artichokes, 4 leeks, 2 turnips, a head of broccoli, 10 orange carrots (ho boy!) and 5 large potatoes
Fruit: 2 small red apples
Misc.: a dozen farm eggs and a small chunk of Pennsylvania cheddar
Remainders: 1/3 head of Romaine, 2 beets
So, with the addition of 4 avocadoes and some lemons, and minus whatever I use in lunches, these items will be transformed into:
Sunday “Pantry Roulette”; fridge, freezer, and pantry item dinner]
Green Salad
Steamed Broccoli
Baked Potatoes with Pan Juices (for some)
Monday [Wildcard; a more complex or fiddly dish than usual to test my culinary skills]
Kale, Avocado and Radish Salad
Baked Cod with an Anchovy, Caper and Za’atar Crust
Bulgur Wheat, Pickled Jerusalem Artichoke and Lentil Pilaf
Tuesday [Pasta]
Toasted Turmeric Pasta with Root Vegetables Roasted with Warm Spices
Wednesday [L.'s choice]
Sukiyaki Hotpot
Thursday [Fish]
White Rice for L.
Friday [Veggie-centric]
Mixed Salad
Roasted Root Vegetables with Tomato Sauce, Basil and Parmesan
Saffron Wheat Berries
Saturday ["Picnic"; something that is easy to assemble and easy to eat in front of a movie]
Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup Duo
Grilled Cheese for L. and the usual plain Ezekiel toast for me
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