Dinners for May 20-27, 2012

This week's menu was inspired by son's request for three ingredients to be use in our dinners this week: Sausage, Rice and Mashed Potatoes. I like how he neglected to mention kale as if he didn't hear my public declaration that it will be a permanent menu fixture till we make a dent in our garden.

Sunday: Turkey meatloaves with mashed potatoes and sauteed kale w/ almonds and red onion

Monday: Fish cakes (use up those leftover mashed potatoes) with roasted sweet potatoes and kale


Tuesday: I'm out for the night - Chef's (Dad's) choice: Sausage, kale and pasta toss


Wednesday: Dinner with family from out of town (Hello, Wisconsin!)

Thursday: Chicken teriyaki with Gwyneth Paltrow's Green Rice


Friday: Movie night - Pizza? Indian?


Saturday: TBD

Loving: Kale is Coming Out of Our Ears

I never thought this would happen, but we overplanted kale this year. My husband got a little excited about the options at the nursery and purchased Lacinto Kale AND Red Russian Kale for our raised vegetable beds in the backyard. (BTW - he built those beds himself using this tutorial).

Strawberries, green beans and broccoli... oh my!

Now we have kale blooming all over the place.  I've never been one to hide vegetables in my children's food, but Chocolate Kale Muffins might be making an appearance around here soon.

Below is a round up of our favorite recipes so far.

•  Kale Chips modified by me, (source: Dinner: A Love Story)

• Everything But the Kitchen Sink Kale Salad (source: Me!)
  

• Pork Chops with Kale (source: Dinner: A Love Story)

• Quinoa Salad with Kale and Feta (source: Babble.com)

• Because We Love Kale: 15 Kale Recipes (source: Serious Eats)

• Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Kale (source: She Cooks He Cleans)

Simple is Best

Every single time I make these drumsticks, I wonder why I don't think to make them on those nights when

a) BART is delayed
b) I answered my phone at work five minutes before I have to catch the 5:10 train
c) Opened up my son's backpack to discover an insane amount of homework
d) I can't muster the strength to make dinner

This dinner doesn't get any simpler. It's easy enough, my kids cheer when I make it, and I always seem to have the ingredients in my fridge or freezer. Behold! The Wonder Dinner guaranteed to stop you from putting your favorite take out joint on speed dial (not that there is anything wrong with that... Hola La Corneta!) 


Apricot-glazed drumsticks: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and lightly cover non-stick cooking spray. Place 6-8 drumsticks on the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put two heaping spoonfuls of apricot preserves in a small bowl and brush it over the drumsticks. After 15 minutes of roasting, flip over the drumsticks and brush them with more preserves. Roast for another 15 minutes.

Sauteed sugar snap peas: Heat a few glugs of olive oil, a pat of butter and a pinch of chili pepper flakes in a skillet and sautee sugar snap peas till slightly tender, about 7 minutes.

Warmed baguette: Wrap a store bought baguette in foil and throw it in the oven with the drumsticks. Remove it when the drumsticks are done.

I realize this isn't gourmet, but it's homemade and as my mom would say, "There is plenty of green on the plate." The kids were infinitely more thrilled with this meal than with my attempts to convince them that Ratatouille is actually not a rat, but a delicious vegetable stew. They didn't buy it.

Fava Beans: What The Recipe Writers Won't Tell You

Deceptive packaging

A family friend gave my mother a sack of fava beans to bring along with her while she was in town visiting us this past weekend. This friend grows them in her garden in a huge patch alongside her house. Many years ago, I house sat for her (not the same friend whose kitchen I almost burnt down) and I was impressed with the size of her fava bean garden - it was huge! I remember thinking, "Boy, she must really love fava beans." It turns out that she merely *likes* fava beans, but thinks that growing them is a good way to return nitrates to the soil. 

I am here to tell you the truth about fava beans. They are the most deceptive vegetable out there.

Alright, alright... I know that is a bold statement to say about such a great vegetable, but do you even know how many steps it takes to get them on your plate? All I can say is: Do not attempt to make these on a weeknight with two kids nipping at your heels for dinner.

I'll show you in pictures what a piece of work these beans really are.

Step 1: Fava beans come in gigantic pods (pictured above) that have small beans nestled in a fur-lined pod. Break these open and remove the beans from their pods.

Wait a second... this is all we got from those huge pods?

Step 2: Dump the beans into a pot of boiling, salted water for about 1 minute.

Step 3: Quickly strain the beans and put them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

Step 4: Remove the gray outer skin, like my mom did below (What? You think she doesn't have to work in the kitchen on Mother's Day? Think again)

Hmmm... these beans are getting smaller and smaller.

Step 5: Stare in horror and curse under your breath at how few fava beans you actually have for your Mother's Day Dinner, all 1-1/3 cups of them. Oh snap!

All this for 3 adults and 2 kids!?!

Step 6: Soldier on and cook your beans (again). We chose to sautee them in a little olive oil, a pinch of chili pepper flakes, a squeeze of lemon and some salt and pepper. Everyone got 1-1/2 spoonful of fava beans which was a comically small serving next to our steaks, but we ate every single last bean.

The moral of this story is to judge a book by it's cover. Fava beans deserve to be judged. And always buy more than you think you'll need.

And if you need to return nitrates to the soil... well, you might want to consider just buying some mulch.

Dinners for May 13 - 19, 2012

Sunday: Grilled steak, sauteed fava beans and bread

Monday: School fundraiser dinner

Tuesday: Roasted chicken with strawberry surprise salad

Wednesday: Pasta with carmelized onions, spinach and parmesan

Thursday: Dad is on his own with the kids = chef's choice!

Friday: Homemade pizza

Saturday: TBD

An Open Letter to Green Onions

 
Dear Green Onion,
  Nothing annoys me in my kitchen more than wasting food. This feeling has been passed down from my grandmother who thought nothing of cutting the mold off of cheese and serving it to my friends visiting after school (one time she mentioned this fact after we ate the cheese sandwiches, oh yes, she really did). I may not be able to smell, but you and I don't really get along too well. It's pretty obvious when you start to knock on death's door. Your green ends go yellow, your white tips turn brown and you start to emit liquids that I didn't know you had. You turn ugly fast, Green Onion.
  I've talked about some of the usual suspects that meet their demise in my fridge. But Green Onion you really take the cake (oh, if only I could put you into cake!). You pretend to be fancy by using a pseudonym like Scallion, but we all know who you really are. I resent the way you come packaged in bunches of ten like we could always use an extra one of you. I don't want more than five or six at at time, yet you put yourself out there like we want more of you. Don't even get me started on how Trader Joe's manages to put in nearly 15 green onions into one package. There was a time when I would scour books trying to plan a week's worth of meals around one measly package of green onions and it never worked. I'd start with a spinach feta quiche (six green onions gone!), then I'd do a stir fry (three green onions gone!) and then I'd lose steam and watch the remaining green onions wither away into a liquidy green mess.
  But not anymore, Green Onion. You will not break me. You will no longer be left at the bottom of my veggie drawer waiting for a turn in the compost bin, I'll leave that to the marscapone cheese and sour cream. I managed to find three recipes which used every green onion in the bunch this week and you will not be wasted for once.

Can you believe I just wrote three paragraphs about green onions? It's a slow week, people.

Sunday: Orzo Cucumber salad (three green onions)

Monday: Black Bean Tostadas with corn relish (two green onions)

Tuesday: Pollo ala Cacciatore (six green onions)


Signed,
Afraid No More

Dinners for May 6-12, 2012

I am going to start keeping our Saturday 'TBD' because by the end of the week, both my mind and the veggie drawer are empty. Something comes together but it all depends on weather, spontaneous plans and our mood. 

Sunday: Grilled chicken with orzo cucumber salad

Monday: Black bean tostadas with corn relish (I love this relish because it gets better with time so I make it the night before)

Tuesday: Pollo ala Cacciatore

Wednesday: Dinner out with family - my birthday!

Thursday: Pork chard hash (I subbed in pork tenderloin)

Friday: TBD

Saturday: TBD