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menu planning, week of May 17th
Before I get into the particulars of this week’s schedule and menu, I wanted to mention that the Ditalini with Broccoli & Lentils from Super Natural Simple (p. 125) from last week was amazing. My mother wasn’t a fantastic cook but there’s a few dishes she made growing up that I’ve fond memories of, a soupy broccoli with broken pieces of spaghetti being one of them.
Heidi’s pasta dish was quite different, from its preparation to the ingredients used, and yet the flavors reminded me exactly of that same pasta & broccoli dinner my mother used to cook. I couldn’t find ditalini to make the recipe, so I used a similar size pasta called gnocchette by Rustichella d’Abruzzo, a brand I love. It was such an easy recipe to make, too, a one-pot dish cooked risotto-style, meaning the pasta cooks in the skillet instead of being boiled separately.
I mostly stuck to last week’s menu with the exception of making the Som Tom Noodles with Tofu from Super Natural Simple (p. 122). I had this planned for Wednesday but also had a feeling things might go awry since work would be busy and I was going away overnight on Thursday, so I didn’t shop for the ingredients I would’ve needed (glad I thought ahead!).
This week is going to be challenging since I’m away Wednesday afternoon until Friday early evening. Monday and Tuesday will be long work days, and my future self will be very thankful to my past self on Monday night. About two weeks ago I had a pot of leftover cooked white rice and turned it into arancini, Italian rice balls. I flash-froze the arancini and tucked them away for a future night for an easy, homemade dinner. Monday is that night, along with a leftover jar of Roman-style white beans (recipe here). Yes, we eat LOT of beans around here, being a mostly vegetarian household.
The rest of this week’s menu is below. Hope it’s a gentle re-entry into the work week for everyone. I’m counting down the days until school is done and there’s one less thing to juggle around here.
Menu, week of May 17th
Monday - Arancini & leftover Roman-style white beans
Tuesday - General Tso’s Tofu (recipe here)
Wednesday - Tacos (cook a pot of beans on Monday, recipe here)
Thursday - takeout, pizza
Friday - Shabbat TBD
Essentials:Â buckwheat banana bread (recipe is here).Â
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