The week after Easter wasn’t really a stellar week in the kitchen. We got home from traveling so late on that Sunday night, and we never really recovered. We ate out and ordered in a lot. We vowed to do better the next week.
Sunday afternoon we divided up our errand running, and hit two grocery stores between us because we were out of everything. On Sundays I like to make something that I can’t necessarily pull off on a weeknight, and I also like to make something that will generate some leftovers to start the week because I love leftovers for lunch.
These Baked Chickpeas with Pita Chips and Yogurt were perfect. I soaked the chickpeas for a few hours, and then threw them in the oven for a long bake and did some other things.
When they were nearly done, I made the rest of the components – toasted pita chips, cucumber-tomato-red onion relish, tahini yogurt, roasted pine nuts… it seems like a lot of dishes, but they were all very simple to put together.
The results were well worth it. I highly recommend this recipe. (You can even use canned chickpeas if you want, although I loved using the dried ones.) The recipe makes a lot, which is great, because this is what I had for lunch all five days of the week. I never got tired of it.
Last week also involved a lot of travel / meeting juggling, and Monday night the girls had dinner at the sitter’s while M was out of town and I had some late night meetings. Tuesday night we were all home together again and we had the Scrambled Egg Puff Pastries that we eat at least once a month.
Wednesday we had a Blue Apron box. I was really excited to have it this week because it does reduce the amount of planning and grocery shopping for the week. We had Spring Bucatini Pasta with Pea Tips, Asparagus and Mint.
Thursday’s dinner was the standout dinner from Blue Apron – Oven Braised Tandoori Cauliflower with Garlic-Spinach Rice and Mint-Lime Sauce. If that sounds even remotely good to you, I’d check out the recipe. I knew the cauliflower was going to be delicious, but I didn’t expect for the dish to be as amazing as it was. The sauce on top was chopped cilantro and mint together, mixed with honey and lime juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Incredible. Especially on a regular Thursday night.
Friday night M had a dinner for a volunteer event he does every April. The girls and I hit up Five Star Burgers for dinner, chocolate shakes for appetizers.
Saturday night we made the last Blue Apron Meal – Miso Tofu Shirataki Noodles with Roasted Eggplant and Nasturtium Leaves. This dinner was decent, but I’m really the only one in the family that loves eggplant. I’m not sure everyone else was overly impressed. Still, I love the variety of the meals, and I really feel like I learn something new with each recipe. And I’ve never cooked with shirataki noodles or nasturtium leaves, although it was funny to see the leaves on top of dishes in our local food magazines. They must be very “in” this season.
Back around to Sunday dinner. I should probably wait and include this in next week’s roundup, since we menu planned and picked up new ingredients on Sunday afternoon. I wanted to make a cake that M and I have been eyeing for a few weeks, so I kept dinner fairly simple. I decided to make a choice of toasts with a loaf of country bread from Whole Foods (my new favorite toasting bread). I made the Avocado and Six-Minute Eggs (again, I know), and I also made the Roasted Grape and Olive Crostini from Smitten Kitchen. I made that recipe right before Christmas, and if you missed seeing Deb’s post on that recipe because of the holidays, it’s worth a revisit. I doubled it this time, and we’re snacking on it as a side dish with our dinners this week.
Then I made another Smitten Kitchen recipe – her Carrot Graham Cracker Layer Cake. My sister’s birthday was yesterday – she was due on my birthday but came thirteen days late, so we almost share a birthday. Even though we’re several hundred miles away, I thought it would be fun to eat cake and celebrate with her from a distance. This cake was delicious – a great spring cake for a nice spring month of birthdays.
I hope you find something good on your menu this week. If you’re eating anything fantastic, please share!
Oh! You made the cake! It looks really great. Also, that cauliflower dish sounds right up my alley. I’m trying to get my boys to eat it so I bought the fancy purple cauliflower yesterday in the hopes that roasting that beauty will inspire them to try it again 🙂
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I did! Just a week or two later than I thought I would. 🙂
It was delicious. I’ll make it again, for sure.
Again, I strongly recommend that cauliflower dish.
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First, you know I drool and dream over everything you create, right? That said, I love when you give a reco for a good place to eat out with your girls. I forget about Five Star. That’s a good one! Keep posting ideas. I might try cooking one day. But I will definitely visit any restaurant you list!