Dinners & Things: 3/18-3/24

 Monday. And all I could think about were enchiladas. That's not really true, but in my noon class my stomach started growling so loudly and all I could think about eating was something cheesy. Enter enchiladas filled with sweet potatoes and black beans.  I make the sauce by sauteing an onion and pepper with a clove or two of garlic. Then I put it in the food processor with a can of diced tomatoes and one chopped chile from a can of chipolte chilis. Voila.

Tuesday was the first day of Spring. I guess because it's leap year it arrived a day early. March 19th would have been my parent's anniversary. They would have been married 47 years. It's also St. Joseph's day, the Italian follow-up to  St. Patrick's Day. Because of that (but not really) I made Pasta Amatriciana-ish. I chopped up half a pack of bacon, cooked that. Took it out. Sauteed an onion in that bacon fat. Added a large can of crushed tomatoes. Threw the bacon back in along with some salt, red pepper flakes and pecorino.

Wednesday could not have arrived soon enough. I spent a lot of the day telling students their essays were crap, but in nice words. Then I saw that the tastings at The Tasting Room were all from Italy. AND that the nice weather meant it would be outside. I made a veggie dinner of sauteed cabbage and tofu and a non-veggie dinner of sauteed cabbage and chicken inspired, but definitely not followed, by this recipe.  Then I walked up to the shop to meet Watts so we could head over.

On Thursday I had a To Do List that made me shudder. It started with a 7am orthodontist appointment for Nuala and ended with a 5:30pm trip meeting for her. Sometime in between I made dinner when I got home from work. I had started seeing recipes with asparagus pop up with it being spring time and everything. Soooo I boiled some bowties, sauteed some chopped asparagus in olive oil and garlic. Threw in some white beans. Then, once the pasta was cooked, threw that on top. Mixed it up with some lemon juice and feta. A winner of a dinner.

Friday was Nuala's last day of school before spring break. Since we don't have the same spring break, she's not going to get to go on any adventures, but she did choose dinner and so we went out to Kiosco for Mexican. Small victories.

Saturday we invited some friends over that we hadn't seen in a while. To start, we had a noshie board with Za'tar Fire Crackers. There was also cheese from Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, VT. Then I made Ratatouille Lentil Soup, Wine-Braised Chicken and Artichokes, Roasted Red Potatoes and Broccoli Raab and Kale Raab sauteed in garlic. For dinner, there were whoopie pies and oatmeal cream pies. 

On Sunday, we ate leftovers.