Tuesday: Veggie pasta

Whole wheat pasta with broccoli-white bean-cashew topping.

This is our usual broccoli-based pasta sauce, but for a little protein we added white beans and cashews which we toasted separately.

Wednesday: Broccoli Breakthrough

Broccoli and feta "pesto" on whole wheat spaghetti.

Some vegetables are easy to incorporate into a main dish; broccoli, on the other hand, is one of those vegetables that doesn't play nicely with others. We usually serve it a side dish, which by definition means that we must also have a main dish. But here broccoli plays the starring role, blended with feta cheese and lemon juice to create a tangy but substantial "pesto" sauce for whole wheat spaghetti.

Sunday: Seasonal Flavors

Warm spiced rice with roasted chestnuts and broccoli.

This recipe uses the traditional fall flavors of cinnamon and clove along with delicious freshly-roasted chestnuts. The warm spices draw out the natural sweetness of chestnuts even more.

These particular chestnuts are an Asian/American hybrid. Sadly, this country suffered a massive chestnut blight in the early part of the 20th century which basically wiped out native American chestnut trees, so you aren't likely to see real 100% American chestnuts around.

Thursday: Birthday dinner

Very simple late-night birthday dinner: roasted acorn squash with melted cheese, served with broccoli and quinoa.

We know, we know...not too exciting, but law school respects no birthday, and Giselle wanted an easy dinner after her court visit, client interview, and evening class. More exciting birthday activities will follow.

Monday fish meal

Here you see the Anglo-Saxon cooking style in all its glory: three neatly separated piles of protein (Arctic char), starch (quinoa), and vegetable (Spigariello broccoli).

Ok, actually quinoa is not really a grain, as we may have mentioned before. It's actually a seed, which means it's very high in protein. It's easy to cook: first rinse the quinoa in running water (a fine mesh strainer works well for this) to remove the natural bitter saponins on its surface. Then mix one part quinoa to two parts water, add salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil; simmer covered for about fifteen minutes.

As for the other stuff, the fish is just coated with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and then broiled for about five to ten minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. The broccoli was basically cooked like kale: chopped up and then boiled for ten minutes or so.

Saturday lunch

Usually on weekdays, lunch consists of leftovers from previous nights' dinners. But when we get back from the market on Saturday afternoons we often make a light meal out of something we need to use up or something that won't store well.

Today: a stir-fry of broccoli and tofu, flavored with garlic, ginger, and soy sauce; plus the leftover quinoa and summer squash dish. This local broccoli had lots of big, dark-green leaves, which we chopped up and tossed in. Broccoli leaves are apparently very nutritious, and we can vouch that they're tasty - they're flavorful and comparable to kale in texture.

Importing a tradition from the Simmons-Thrall household, this was followed by lunch dessert:



A fruit salad of local raspberries, blackberries and peaches.