Dinners Last Week

Another week of figuring out what to make for dinner is in the books. I had it pretty easy this week, we went out a couple of times, but I made up for it by cooking Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday.

Monday – We had this delicious Garlicky Spinach and Chickpea Soup. I love this soup, it is very tasty. Modifications made for my family’s needs: Ted’s doctor told him that beans are very good for him, but they also are carb heavy, so he needs to balance them out. WTF. I mean, what is he supposed to eat? Frustrating. He had some soup, and some leftover lamb curry for extra low carb protein. This is not a sacrifice in any way, lamb curry rocks.

Tuesday – European Dinner, because I had fruit (nectarines, strawberries, grapes, and tomatoes) from the Farmers’ Market, plus some really good cheese that we wanted to use. Modifications for my family’s needs: Ted loves all cheese, but cow milk doesn’t really like him, so I made sure to have other options. We had 6 cheeses – 2 cow, 2 goat, 2 sheep. I bought some chicken sausage as well, for extra protein. Maya and I ignored that and focused on the rest.

Wednesday – Again with the tomatoes! Again with the garlic! I decided to make this Garlicky Broiled Salmon and Tomatoes. I forget about this dish, but it’s so easy and delicious, I should remember it more often, especially when tomatoes are in season. Modifications for my family’s needs: None. Maya is pescatarian but doesn’t really LOVE fish, so I half expected her to say no thanks and make something else for herself. I was very happy when she didn’t.

Thursday – We cut out of work early and went to Berkeley to see Ezra Klein discuss his new book and the problems he sees with California (the short answer is affordable housing), and we went out to dinner after. We ended up getting Persian food, which was delicious. They had several vegan fake meat options, so my daughter got to have a lamb-ish kabob, which she liked. I had a filet kabob, and Ted had a lamb shank stew. All tasty!

Friday – I met up with my friend Neva, who lives about an hour and a half from here, for Linner (late lunch, early dinner) at a small plates place we like. We shared several dishes, including tuna tartare, a tomato and watermelon salad, a tomato and spinach tart, a stone fruit salad, grilled street corn, and a cacio e pepe biscuit. We were pretty full at the end, but it was delicious! Ted and Maya had take out for dinner, and enjoyed curry and samosas. Yummy.

Saturday – Ted made two dinners. He made a delicious pasta for Maya and me, one of our favorites. It’s a simple pasta, with fusilli, cherry tomatoes, shallots, parsley, and garlic. Plus Parmesan cheese of course. We have the recipe from our Greens cookbook, and we’ve been making it for decades now. When we moved to Philadelphia back in 1994, it was the first home cooked meal in our new apartment, after driving across the country from San Francisco and eating at Denny’s and Subways along the way. His low carb dinner was steak and broccolini. We were all happy.

Sunday – We again celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving, which we do for fun and because Ted was born in Ontario, though his family moved to the Bay Area when he was 1, so of course he doesn’t remember it. We drove up to Ontario once when we lived in Philly, and saw the house where his family lived when he was a baby. The people who bought the house from them were still living there, and invited us in to look around, and we sat with them in their backyard for awhile as well. But I digress. Our Thanksgiving dinner was the Mayonnaise Turkey recipe that I made last year, though I just bought a turkey breast this time. I also made candied yams and a salad with Brussels sprouts, pomegranates, and apples that we enjoy. Stuffing (from a box) and cranberry sauce (from a can, I couldn’t find any fresh cranberries) rounded out the meal. I like celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving, getting out our good china and so on, but I do wish it hadn’t been 86 degrees outside.