I’ve always liked that the folks at Hen Waller used their site as a bit of a recipe repository. I’ve done that a bit in the past here, so I thought I’d do again, by giving an overview of what we eat for dinner during the course of a normal week. At one time, before we heard the pitter-patter of little feet, we ate out quite a bit (living across the hall from Matt did nothing to curb this), but now, given that four mouths must be fed (and two must quaff beer), we don’t get out much. ‘Tis alright though, as we eat pretty well here at the homestead.
Our staple meal is home-made pizza and greens and beans. We were always fans of pizza, so learning the art at home was a natural step, but we didn’t learn to love greens and beans until we began to frequent Enrico’s in the Strip for lunch while Jen was pregnant with Sebastien. The recipe is simple–kale is braised with white beans, garlic, and when it is around, white wine. I could eat it every night. Our love of leafy greens make us welcome at the CSA pickups last summer, as most folks tired of the greens (primarily kale and chard) after a few weeks. By the end of the summer, we were taking home bags of the stuff. A large portion of our garden this summer will likely be greens as well. Really. We can’t get enough. Our dough has evolved over the years, and currently it is a mix of white and wheat flours, oil, salt, water and yeast. The sauce is also home-made, and if we had a buffalo, I’d make the cheese too.
Another recently added staple is ravioli, made by not far from our house and sold in the Italian deli down the street. These are combined with the tomato sauce, and served with sausage (usually chicken with gouda cheese) and zucchini. Our sauce will vary a bit, but recently it has been two large cans of pureed tomatoes, onions, garlic, red wine, and a handful of spices.
A few weeks ago, I hit upon another weekly staple when trying to clean out the freezer and produce drawer. I cooked ground turkey with onions, garlic, salt, cumin, and curry powder, then added peppers, zucchini, black beans, and some salsa. This is stuffed in a tortilla with a bit of cheese. Tasty, and simply, and, though I’ve been buying specifically for it recently, a good way to clear out the produce draw.
If you are counting at home, this seems like just three days, but the pizza/greens combination is consumed two or three times a week (generally based on the size of the kale bunches). Typically, I will cook either some chicken or fish (generally salmon, as it is what the Co-op has the most consistent supply) with vegetables and some sort of starchy goodness (pasta, rice, or couscous). Given that we are never more than a half a block away from shoring up our supply of mozarella cheese, pizza is a popular crutch in case of laziness (plus the kids like it). There is almost always a bag of peas in the freezer, so and when cooked with olive oil and salt, aren’t as bland as they sound. Another hit last winter was a root vegetable stew, but I haven’t embarked on this yet, as we’ve been less than motivated to spend the time to clean pounds of potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips, and turnips in preparation for cooking.
Posted on 10 January 2007