You will be pleased to know that I will not rant, complain, sigh or otherwise indicate my GREAT displeasure with the week that has just passed. Suffice it to say that Mistakes Were Made. I will, instead, look at the good stuff: we ate our first Michigan asparagus of the year, all of the flowering trees are just popping into bloom and looking and smelling so good that it’s almost surreal, the vegetable seeds that Sam and I planted are mostly coming up, I found a fantastic bread recipe, and I got a beautiful box of lemons in the mail from Eric, in San Francisco. (About which more, later). In the TMI department, I started meditating this week and found that I can sit cross-legged for 20 minutes, and that I can keep random thoughts from intruding about 10% of the time. It may not sound like much, but my mind is a busy place, and I find that my “ohms” are frequently swept away by a recollection of the picture that was taken for my London Tube pass 24 years ago, or musings about which Netflix movie to watch.
I also found a great iGoogle widget which tells me what is in season at this time of this month in my state. It may be optimistic, but I have some evidence to support it’s claim that I should be able to find Michigan asparagus, potatoes, peas, greens, herbs and rhubarb. I have made a menu centered around those as my fresh produce items, and I’m also buying the relatively little meat we need from the meat guy at the Farmers Market (along with eggs and butter). Here’s the plan:
Saturday
Potato Enchiladas, Scalloped Apples
I found the Potato Enchilada recipe on allrecipes, and while it sounds filling, tasty and delicious, it also calls for Velveeta. That is so not happening. I will change it by making a cheese sauce out of real cheese and milk, and leave other things pretty much the same. Whole foods purists take note: I am walking a reeeeeally fine line feeding two vegetarian meals a week to people who will not willingly eat tofu, tempeh, seitan, etc., and who really need to feel that they had enough dinner. First I have to make the veggie thing work, then I can move on to making the veggie dishes really healthy.
Sunday
Pasta with Onions and Bacon, No-Knead Bread, Spinach Salad
I still have bacon ends & bits from Ma Wilson’s, and I should be able to get fresh spinach at the market. Our big Mother’s Day hoo-ha (such as it is) will be brunch at a Japanese restaurant, so dinner is just…dinner.
Monday
Jerk-Marinated Chicken Thighs, Coconut Rice, Asparagus
We were supposed to eat this last week, but we didn’t. I can’t remember why.
Tuesday
Morroccan Chicken with Green Olives & Lemon, Cous Cous, Cooked Spinach
I am hoping that Farm Guy has chicken again, planning to use a couple of my beautiful San Francisco lemons, and thinking I had better find a recipe for cooked spinach that these people will eat. Preferably one that does not involve bacon.
Wednesday
Pan-Fried Tilapia, Asparagus, Boiled Potatoes with Butter and Dill
Thursday
Burgers, Fried Potatoes, and Waldorf Salad
Meat from Farm Guy, Michigan potatoes and apples. Cheating on the celery.
Friday
Curried Cauliflower & Chickpea Stew, Jasmine Rice, Fresh Peas
A recipe from the newest “Bon Apetit,” which has about 100 recipes I’m dying to try.
Also Published on Forest Street Kitchen
Ann Graham Nichols cooks and writes the Forest Street Kitchen blog in East Lansing, Michigan where she lives in a 1912 house with her husband, her son and an improbable number of animals.