To Remember which Recipes I've Used: Pasta Cookies Loaf Carrots Edition.

Recently I've made a few things that came out pretty well. And probably, I'll forget how I made them or which of the internet sites I got them from, much like I forgot to take pictures of them after I finished cooking...

I made spinach lasagna roll ups. I used a combination of two recipes: a stuffed shells one + a lasagna roll ups one. I was trying to use up some ricotta I had purchased, so I needed to use the stuffed shells filling, but used the roll ups technique. My filling was: 2 microplaned garlic cloves, 1 C ricotta, 1/3 C grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 egg, salt, pepper, crushed red peppers, 2 C frozen, thawed, chopped, squeezed-dry spinach. I covered it with sliced mozzarella cheese. So if that photo below were of the ones I made, there would be beautiful circles of cheese.

Photo from The Kitchn

There were these lavender shortbread cookies. Maybe they were a little crunchier than I would have liked, but I don't know if that was my fault or the recipe's. I used regular sugar and she called for turbindo sugar. I don't know what that is so I didn't have it in my house and therefore didn't use it. Maybe next time?

photo by Joy the Baker

Then, I made another loaf of whole wheat banana bread. I can't vouch for its flavoring because it was a gift, but I think it looked really swell if I do say so myself. Actually, it was a gift for a new mom. The idea of a breakfast snack ALSO came from The Kitchn. Roughly mine looked like (though my pan is not as cute. I would like a cute loaf pan):

Photo by The Kitchn

I also made some sweet roasted carrots with a yogurt-tahini sauce. The recipe calls for a 3/4 C of maple syrup, but I am not made of money, so I just use Turkish honey instead. This is one of those recipes that I would like to be able to recall randomly when someone is like: oh, what do you recommend I do with these leftover carrots? Or, I'd like to incorporate the sauce into my regime. Because, I don't use tahini naturally, I only use it when the recipe tells me to. It's funny how some ingredients (or flavors?) I can incorporate without thinking (paprika or cinnamon) but others are more challenging. ANYWAY, the mix of the sweeeeeeeet carrots and the savory yogurt were a really nice match. And duh, because it was a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe.

To Support Community Agriculture: Marriage & The Weekly Meal Plan Edition (Week 1)

Usually, our meal planning is willy nilly. I go to yoga a couple times a week, so that means Michael is in charge of cooking those nights, and the other nights I'll cook. Usually, we decide what to make the day of, maybe we talk about it, but usually it's a solo effort.

But, when we signed up for our CSA we realized we'd have to switch it up, in order to ensure all of the goods were used. And, Michael said, we weren't just making stuff! We'd make new stuff! We'd make a but concerted effort to try new recipes. The bonus of our CSA is that it lets us choose our crops, but going into our first meal planning, we had no idea how much we would get of each item. Quantities unknown, eagerness nowhere in check, minds racing as if we had 20 minutes on the clock to impress Aaron Sanchez & Geoffrey with his glasses, we began.

Sitting together on the couch, we had dogeared magazines: 2 recent Bon Appetits, one Food & Wine. I had an inbox full of recipes I send myself to "remember." Michael had his imagination and a cookbook or two. We knew we'd be receiving:

• Strawberries
• Collard greens
• Pea shoots
• Lambs quarters
• Sautee greens (hearty mixed greens)
• Rainbow chard

We're homebodies, generally, but this week I had two work happy hours. So Michael would be on his own for two nights. How long would things last? What went with what? Would there be leftovers? Should we make separate lunches? What the f*** are lambs quarters? But, if I'm going out, and we're trying to save money, you should eat the greens! I might have said that. I might have suggested that I have all the fun and my husband should sit home by himself eating just the greens. EAT THE GREENS. 

Then, well, strawberries would be for lunch, an easy agreement. Collards, Michael's specialty, would be for dinner. But, wait, do we cook pea shoots? I have a recipe in my inbox for stuffed collards! But, I'm making collards. Rainbow chard is sort of like collards? Can I switch them out? [Googling: stuffed chard-- yes! Yes, okay.]

natural ombre.

Our marriage will survive meal planning, right? I asked. Maybe we should stop talking about this for now, I said. Then, I forgot about that BUT THANKFULLY remembered that there was a pea shoots recipe IN bon appetit! And, I could serve them with fish! Actually, not a bad idea. Things were coming together, and even though I was desperate to have the WHOLE. WEEK. PLANNED. Michael assured me we could go to the market again during the week and not just on Sunday and things would be okay. Spoiler alert: they were okay, great even! I mean, I did not make enough stuffed chards for the week because they were itty bitty. And we went to the grocery THREE times (compared with 5? 6?) But, we're alive to tell about it. In conclusion, Michael is planning this week alone. (It's not so dramatic; he has the week off of work, etc.)

So, here's what we ended up with:

the sautee greens are unaccounted for in photos too! michael sauteed them for me for friday lunch with my herby rice.

Monday: Roasted chicken & collard greens

Lunch for some of the days: Swiss chard stuffed with rice

including chard stems. + so many herbs. don't use basmati rice.

stuffed with this rice + made this way. next time, i'll insist on collards. unless the chard leaves are bigger.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Lambs Quarter Pesto Pasta

Friday: Crispy pea shoots with gremolata + hake.

shoots with garlic & shallots. gremolata with the same + mint + parsley + lemon zest.