Houseguests have departed. I am getting my hair trimmed and my grays browned. These two things have nothing at all to do with one another.
As is usual for me, an introvert, after six days with someone-other-than-my-husband-or-child in my home, I feel scooped out. Like a spaghetti squash. (Which I don’t eat, incidentally, because I think I have an intolerance to it.) Thinking about making food sounds… not great. And yet! We all must continue to eat!
Old standbys are usually good for getting through this kind of meal planning blockage. But not even tacos sounds appealing. So I will go in the opposite direction and find totally brand new meals to hopefully spark a little cooking excitement.
Okay, here’s what I’ve come up with:
Dinners for the Week of March 6-12
Roasted Cauliflower, Lentil, Currant & Herb Salad: I honestly have no idea where I will find currants, but this salad sounds AMAZING. (Plus, the addition of roasted cauliflower makes me think of Nicole – HI NICOLE!) I just… cannot wait to try it. Will my husband eat it meatless, or will he require some sort of shredded chicken to go with it?
Thai Ginger Chicken: I am always in the mood for a stir fry, and this one is new to me and sounds fresh and tasty. I will probably throw in some green beans or broccoli or snow peas, depending on what looks good at the grocery store.
15 Minute Curry with Chicken and Peas: YUM. I mean, I haven’t tried it yet, but it sounds good! And anything that claims to take fifteen minutes (I will believe it when I experience it for myself) is worth a try in my book.
Lemon Garlic Veggie Pasta: I have had a serious pasta craving lately and this looks so fresh and delicious. I will probably add a little sprinkling of parmesan at the end. And way more garlic.
HI SUZANNE! Mmm, those recipes look great. I am roasting cauliflower tonight to go with pasta! Cauliflower twins!
So many recipes are “15 minutes” or “30 minutes” and I always quibble with that. I guess if you don’t count the chopping of the vegetables or the making of the sauces…
But maybe this will be THE recipe that will actually be 15 minutes!
I hope you can get some rest and recharge time!
Peas are pretty easy, from a preparation standpoint, so I have high hopes!
Yum yum yum. Everything on your menu sounds very fresh and spring-like.
Uh yes, mega skepticism anytime a recipe claims to be 15 minutes.
It’s similar to the claim that onions can caramelize in 15/30 minutes. YEAH SURE.
Well, you’ll have to let us know if that recipe really did take 15 minutes! It does sound good- I would sub something for the chicken, but now I’m craving Indian food.
That salad sounds delicious!!!
This is my vegan friendly favorite when it comes to quick, easy, super delicious Indian-style flavors: https://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/blog/chickpeabowl
I may try that cauliflower salad.
Hope you’re feeling replenished soon.
It sounds so yummy doesn’t it?
Thai Ginger Chicken with snow peas sounds amazing! I might have to try that at some point. We are doing Greek Chicken Bowls with sundried tomatoes and farrow and slowcooker BBQ chicken to have on salads and in quesadillas in between late-day activities…
Yum! Those all sound good!
Mmm, that first cauliflower dish sounds especially good. Hopefully you can find currants. I had to buy them for a carrot salad I made years ago when we used to do something called “Julia Child Night” and made a bunch of French recipes. I was able to easily find them by the raisins.
You are good at finding new/interesting things to make. I have not made a new recipe in quite some time. I need to check out a couple of the recipes you posted this week, though. The 15 min one sounds good to me – I love dishes with peas in them.
This week we will get by on leftovers to start, then I am making a turkey tamale pie dish, and then chicken enchiladas with leftover rotisserie chicken. So both recipes are Mexican’ish!
Okay, Julia Child Night sounds amazing and I would love more details! I would never have thought to look for currants by the raisins, so I will keep an eye out!
I am going to try the ginger chicken next week– that sounds awesome. I usually have to just sub raisins for currants but sometime I can find dried cherries. We also had a busy weekend with others, and I, too, have no desire to plan eating. Boo.
Well, raisins are an abomination (in my opinion!!! not a fact!!!) but I think I could do dried cherries in a pinch. Thanks for the idea!
I am interested in this fifteen minutes claim. I do not believe it at all. Please report back.
I am skeptical as well. I will try to report back but I am terrible at following up on the meals I make.
Yum. Your meal selections always sound SO good.
And I know what you mean – prepping food often doesn’t seem very appealing to me, but we must eat so life marches on and meals continue to be prepared!
Those recipes all sound so yummy. And because of all the discussion about “15” or “30” minute recipes, I thought I’d share this: https://www.elizabethrider.com/taco-soup-recipe/
I’ve made this a few times in the past couple of months as most of the ingredients are easily available. I timed myself and it took 25 mins prep + simmer time. That included chopping a bunch of tomatoes as you can’t get diced tomatoes in Mexico. It is delicious!!! Although sadly Suzanne I know you don’t like tomatoes. I think you could easily leave out the ground beef and add more beans for a vegetarian version.
That stir fry sounds yummy. We had Italian Beef leftovers this week. Pizza casserole leftovers this week. And chicken tacos in the crockpot. I’ve had a challenging week, to put it mildly. Tank is struggling while studying abroad and that is all I can seem to focus on. Yesterday ranks as one of the top 10 hardest days as a mom. In fact, Ed and Mini are on their way home right now. They fly to Ireland tomorrow for their spring break and I just realized that I have absolutely nothing planned for dinner. Yikes. Oh, but there’s a turkey in the fridge. I could make that. Easy and delish. Hmm.
I feel exactly the same after guests depart. For some reason I got out of the stir-fry habit – finally made one last week and it was really good. I’m alone this week so I forewent grocery shopping and am emptying the fridge and fruit bowl eating weird combinations of things for lunch and dinner.
I echo NGS – I want to hear feedback on the 15 minute claim!
Mark Bittman wrote a cookbook called How To Cook Anything Fast, and I loved that he included the time to prep/chop everything into his recipe times, even telling you in certain recipes whether to chop something before you turned the stove on or whether you could chop while things simmered – it seemed like a better way to set expectations. (oh, I see the recipe you linked to does the same… I like it when recipes can help you gameplan!)
I love cauliflower, but my Husband always makes a face whenever I say I’m making it. He thinks it’s bland, but then ends up liking it, so I keep making it an putting up with his “Bland food!!!” face. If your cauliflower salad is a hit, here’s another one that I love:
https://www.thekitchn.com/roasted-cauliflower-salad-with-chickpeas-feta-and-herbs-246204
Already saved the cauliflower salad recipe. YUM!
(I would be SO relieved the guests are gone, too… so draining, isn’t it?)
You found some tasty-sounding recipes. I understand that you’re drained after so much company.