Fish, Legumes, Veg, Veg

Menu: Roasted salmon with green chile salsa, cherry tomatoes, and pepitas * Pink-eyed pea salad * Sauteed spinach with sea salt and garlic

(All the pieces of this supper have appeared before.)

Salmon:
Preheat oven to 450. Place remainder of Saturday’s farmers market cherry tomatoes (red and gold) in bottom of a small glass baking dish with drizzle of olive oil. Toss to coat. Place 2 salmon filets atop; spread Austin Slow Burn Salsa Verde over; sprinkle with roasted pumpkin seeds. Bake 17 minutes.

Pink-eyed peas
Reheat last of leftovers for M; have last of leftover at room temperature fr me.

Sauteed spinach
Heat 1 T olive oil in bottom of deep non-stick skillet or wok. Add 1/2 large tub baby spinach; stir. Grind garlic and sea salt over; stir-fry/saute.

Chicken, Pasta, Veg

Menu: baked lemon-rosemary marinated chicken * oven-roasted zucchini romanesco with parmesan shavings * trecce dell’orto pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh basil * vanilla yogurt with fresh blueberries
Wine: Famega vinho verde

I made my grocery run this afternoon to provide main dishes with the farmers market veggie sides this week. Tilapia and salmon from Sam’s, marinated chicken breasts, marinated pork tenderloin, and a flank steak at Central Market.

Zucchini romanesco
1 large-ish zucchini romanesco, purchased from the fine water-challenged growers at Tecalote Farms

Preheat oven to 400. Slice zucchini in half; place cut side down on oven rack. Roast 30 minutes.

Roasted cherry tomatoes
Three dozen cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Drizzle oil on nonstick rimmed baking sheet. Add tomatoes; shake to coat. Place in oven with zucchini. Roast 25-30 minutes.

Chicken
1 large split boneless chicken breast, marinated in lemon juice with chopped garlic and rosemary by the fine butchers at Central Market
Olive oil
Drizzle olive oil in glass baking dish. Set marinated breast in; place in oven for last 15 minutes of zucchini and tomatoes’ 400-degree baking. Turn oven heat to 375. Continue roasting until chicken reaches safe poultry temperature of 165.

Pasta
Note: this is the same pasta I cooked last week, and last week I completely mis-read the package. Trecce dell’orto, not trecce dell’oro. Which makes it, rather than “braids of gold,” “braids of the vegetable garden.” It’s a specialty pasta whose multi colors come from vegetable. I love “braids of the vegetable garden” (or, to make it even more fun, “braids of the kitchen garden” or “braids of the market garden”). Boil water; add pasta; cook 10-12 minutes. Drain; toss with butter and fresh-ground salt. Chiffonade a handful of fresh basil leaves.

Plate a zucchini half for each person; grind fresh salt and garlic over, add parmesan shavings and basil chiffonade. Plate a pile of pasta; top with cherry tomatoes and basil chiffonade. Plate chicken. Serve.

For dessert, a handful of blueberries with Brown Cow organic vanilla yogurt over.

Chef’s sustenance:
vodka-tonic (still no gin) with Beemster graskase (a Belgian pilsner for M)

Chef’s soundtrack:
final round of the U.S. Open, play-by-play provided by M as I cooked

How did it turn out?
I loved all of it. M felt the zucchini was bland. I thought it was intensely zucchini-flavored, and loved the rich note of the parmesan, but could experiment next time with a shake of cane vinegar or lemon juice for him. Would have tied it in nicely with the chicken. That chicken, by the way, is now on my standby list of Things To Pick Up At Central Market To Cook Quickly In The Evening. Very nice. And I am convinced that you just cannot go wrong oven-roasting (or sauteeing) cherry tomatoes. It really concentrates the flavor.

Would I make it again?
Yes.

Friday night

Menu: burgers with cracked pepper and garlic * oven fries with rosemary and sea salt * cucumber and cherry tomato salad with smoked tomato ranch dressing * Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy

H-E-B provided much of our dinner again tonight. Their meat department has a whole series of burgers, from this cracked pepper-garlic version to a fresh poblano-cheddar patty. The Alexia potato line in the freezer case yielded the oven fries. The farmers market was the source of the cukes and tomatoes. We finished them up tonight, leaving the crisper drawer ready for tomorrow’s expedition.