The Dinner Edit (01/07/24)
Spaghetti Squash, Chicken Curry, and a brief ode to cabbage.
Happy Sunday, friends!
The Christmas tree has come down and all the bits and baubles have been put away. I often feel a twinge of sadness when the merriment is truly over, but I also love the feeling of no longer finding tinsel on every surface of my living room.
Seven days into January, and my New Years efforts are still alive and kicking. I have slept more this week than usual, I made a book list for the year; just don’t ask me if I put all my laundry away.
In the spirit of a fresh start to the week, I’m back at trying to cobble together a meal plan for your viewing pleasure. As I’ve said before, please don’t expect much of these. My main aim is to show you a real life glimpse into my kitchen thinking.
This week, I’m relying on my freezer stash of proteins, and did a big restock of produce at the store today. So, here we go!
My plan for 2024 is to send out a Sunday afternoon edition of The Dinner Edit to paying subscribers if you want to join in the mayhem. Should be fun. I’ll leave this one free as a preview for everyone who might be interested in getting on the list!
XOXO
Allison
This Week’s Dinners (Probably!)
Spaghetti Squash Arrabbiata. From Ina Garten’s Modern Comfort Food. I was flipping through Ina’s book a few days ago when I made her cheesy chicken enchiladas for Mitch’s birthday. One of my favorite cookbooks—just for the record. I saw the photo of the roasted spaghetti squash stuffed full of spicy, garlicky tomato sauce and bubbling mozzarella and knew it would make it on the list for this week.
My edit I’m considering: I’m thinking of doing ground turkey in the arrabbiata sauce to add some protein. I’m also going to cook some pasta on the side for the children.
Chicken Curry a la
. I’m almost certain I’ve linked this before, but it’s just one of our favorites. So cozy, not too heavy, just perfect for a cold January night. Planning to serve this with either braised green beans or roasted okra.Garlic shrimp with roasted cabbage rice pilaf. Have I mentioned
’s cabbage rice? Surely I have. Well my friend Diana got me onto the recipe in Small Victories, and she serves it with a quick sauté of garlicky shrimp. The rice pilaf is absolute delicious, filled with red cabbage that’s been roasted almost too long. The cabbage adds a depth of flavor, a beautiful color, and makes for a much more exciting side than plain ol’ rice. Cabbage is the unsung hero of my crisper drawer. It has a very long life in the fridge, is so cheap, and can be a great addition to a meal. Roasted and it becomes absolutely divine, quickly chopped and tossed with rice vinegar and it’s a great bright slaw to top off a dinner. I love cabbage! Eat more of it this year.Now for the curveball of the week. Last week, we ate at a great Chinese restaurant—Szechuan Bistro—with our friends. The absolute show stopper dish was the chinese eggplant in garlic sauce served sizzling in a clay pot. Oh my word. We got two orders for the table, and I would have happily eaten a third. I’ve been thinking about the eggplant since then, and flipped through my copy of The Nom Wah Cookbook, from the famed Dim Sum restaurant in New York’s China Town. I figured perhaps they’d have a similar preparation of eggplant. The book has a recipe for eggplant with garlic noodles, and sounds a lot like our dish at Szechuan. So, I’m planning a trip to Super Cao Nguyen, one of the Asian markets in Oklahoma City, to find the necessary ingredients to attempt a version of Eggplant with Garlic Sauce at home—sans sizzling clay pot. I will obviously send a report on how it goes.
It’s all subject to change, but I wrote it out and already went to the store, so I call that progress and preparation. Now if only I could learn how to stay in my grocery budget!
Lastly, If you’re looking for a method to the madness, keep looking. I’m trying to pin down my thinking too. Last week, I wrote out a meal plan. I made zero of the things I wrote down, and came up with a whole new slate of dinners as I went through the week. We ate a lot of Tex-Mex and Asian-inspired dishes last week, so I figured I’d pivot to different flavor profiles. Potayto, potahto.
What are you cooking this week?
Alright, off to make my arrabbiata sauce! Next up, be on the lookout for my 2024 Book List.
Allison