Dinners & Things: 4/29-5/4

 Watts is gone this week. In Spain. Eating Tapas. Drinking Cava.  Which means it's a week of girl dinners here. 

On Monday it was a solo sad girl dinner, but I cleaned out the weird lonesome veg in the fridge (one beet! one zucchini! a quarter of a cabbage head! some teeny peppers!)  and roasted them up. Then I threw some little mozarella balls on top and crisped up some white beans.  

Tuesday found me dreaming about how to use up the box of spinach that didn't have much time left. I made one of my absolute favorite sad girl dinners. Microwaved a baked potato Sauteed an onion, some teeny peppers, a bit of garlic. Threw in some black beans and spinach. Topped the potato with the veg and beans. Shredded some cheese over it topped it was salsa and chopped cilantro that's been in the fridge for a while.

On Wednesday Nuala came back from her dad's so I knew it wasn't going to be a super sad girl dinner. I had some whole milk that I've been too busy to bake with so I made this one pot broccoli mac and cheese. A long long time ago my sister gave me her recipe for crock pot mac and cheese. She said put a pound of pasta and however much velveeta it was in the pot. Like a total numpty I figured the pasta would cook in the crockpot to have fewer dishes, make it easier, you know? I worried it would be a little dry, but well... let's just say I fucked up. Majorly. This recipe makes up for that. It's truly one pot and it's really good.

Thursday was another proper summer feeling kind of day. The night before when I asked Nuala if she had any special dinner requests she asked for something vaguely Mediterranean, so I knew I'd be making flatbread and tzatziki. I also made this chickpea and tofu dish, but I also added peppers and next time I won't put honey in the dressing. Nuala was like "Why haven't we made this before?" So I knew it was a winner. 

A lot of times when the lad is home, Friday means going out especially if Nuala is working or at her dad's. I knew there was potential for Nuala to go out with friends so I was having a hard time deciding what to make for dinner. In the end she did go out with friends, but I roasted some broccolini, onion, slices of lemon, cherry tomatoes and slices of feta sprinkled with salt, pepper, cumin, red pepper flakes and olive oil of course and cooked up some pearl couscous. It was kind of perfect. A good end to a day where I obsessively tracked Watts as he rode his bike 360K starting and ending in Girona, Spain. 

On Saturday my mom, sister and niece (in from Vermont) came over for dinner. I made the family favorite Indian-ish Nachos, Indian Butter Chickpeas and.Tamarind Eggplant Curry (From Chetna's Thirty Minute Indian) and Potatoes with Fennel and Spinach.  I also made a victoria sponge cake. 

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