We need a break from the Supreme Paper Mess. Maybe I'm hungry, because I'm thinking about dinner. That's the thing about food: in terms of providing a distraction, it's absolutely reliable, hands-down.
At risk of replicating one of those menu grids that work for no one, here's an outline of what's been working for us this summer when it comes to dinner:
Usually I will make one chicken-or-fish dish a week; as a former vegetarian who still prefers food of the flesh-free variety, this is about as much flesh-cooking as I can handle.
When it comes to chicken-or-fish cooking, I’m pretty much of a three-trick pony, with the chicken recipe I noted in my recent post being a favorite. I can also make ground-turkey sloppy joes, my version of which is indistinguishable from ground-turkey chili, which in turn is pretty much the same as what my mother used to call “Hungarian Goulash” although no Hungarian I’ve ever met finds it remotely Hungarian, probably because they don’t have ground-turkey sloppy joes or groud-turkey chili in Hungary. I also make marinated salmon, using Alpay’s recipe. That’s it on the flesh front. Usually whatever I make is enough for two meals for the two of us—dinner the first night and lunch the next day.
Alpay then makes his own meat dish, usually involving an animal, unlike chicken or fish, that has a Cuteness Quotient that precludes the possibility that it is suitable for human consumption, i.e. lamb or some Cow Product. He makes enough for a couple meals. On these Neanderthal nights, I’m free to suit myself. Oftentimes, I'll make something I love that he hates, like egg salad; I’m often happy having entree-sized portions of whatever sides we're having that night, or with breakfast foods like turkey bacon and eggs or berries and cream.
Once a week I’ll make a soup. In the summer, chilled soups are nice. Last night I made Vichyssoise; a couple times in recent weeks it’s been gazpacho. Cream of broccolli and roasted egglant are also reliable favorites. I’ll make a side or two to go with the soup du jour—cauliflouer “faux potato” salad to go with gazpacho, zucchini fritters to go with the egglant soup. The soup-and-sides provide a couple dinners.
Lately I’ve been making a crustless spinache quiche once a week; this works well for breakfast and for lunch if we have our dinners otherwise planned.
We’ve been trying to limit our wheat intake, but once a week I’ll boil up some whole wheat pasta. An easy accompaniment is to fry up whatever vegetables are on hand with a few minced garlic cloves in olive oil. Last week I fried some mushrooms and some garlic in a bit of butter, then pureed the mix using a little chicken stock, finishing up with a half cup or so of heavy cream. It was delicious and made for a nice lunch the next day.
Lastly, I’ll do something special about once a week: recently that’s been crepes stuffed with Turkish-style stewed leeks. In the past, the speciality has been pico di gallo with homemade tortillas to accompany chicken, or festively stuffed eggplants—the name in Turkish is “Imam Bayildi” which translates to “The Priest Fainted.”
Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables/salads round out the week’s worth of menus. On average, we spend about $150 a week, which includes cleaning supplies, paper supplies like napkins and paper towels and toilet paper, and personal supplies like shampoo and razors, as well as copious quantities of kitty litter and Fancy Feast.