Simple Delicacies
When you're sheltering at home, now starting our fifth week, it's important to mix-it-up on the dinner front. We're blessed that the California supply chains are operating and produce and fresh food remains bountiful. Our food sources are organic and local and we don't take that for granted for a second. Three weeks in we realized we were going to get into a food rut really quickly if we didn't start trying new recipes. It's easy to eat with relative routine when you're able to go out to dinner once, twice or even three times a week. That was often the case because we travelled so much and because we have so many wonderful restaurants in our region. Shelter in place and the ability to eat out locally or while traveling vanished completely. We also wanted to limit our trips to the grocery store so we started a pact.
On Sunday night we open cookbooks, go through our recipe collections or search on line and make a plan for the week's meals. We pick something new each night and plan the menu for the week. We make our list, check it twice, organize it into produce, meat/poultry/fish, frig section, and pantry so we can make our way through the store pretty quickly. One of us goes to the store on any given week and my husband, and I and our youngest son who is with us make the grocery run. On most nights either Greg, our son, or both of them jump into the kitchen and make that night's plan. We've had some amazing meals. From Waygu steak with jasmine rise and broccoli and ginger saute, to swordfish with fresh oregano, heirloom tomatoes and pine nuts, to chicken Harissa style with chickpeas - we have been enjoying mouth-watering meals. Last night we resurrected our dear friend's homemade chicken enchilada recipe with homemade tomatillo sauce. They were scrumptious.
If you want any of the recipes let me know. The icing on the cake is being able to break bread each night, trying new recipes and feeling like we're out in a restaurant while in the safety and comfort of our own home, while sharing conversation and catching up. As I say in Magic in the Mundane, sit down to dinner each night. It's divine.