Sunday, 4/12/26

 Dinner with Jodi....she came up with the idea of ersatz Reubens, with seitan in lieu of corned beef or pastrami or whatever you put in them. We also didn't have Russian dressing (OK by me) or Swiss, but we grilled up what we had in the panini press and they were pretty good (obviously I skipped the sauerkraut). Jason had made some pretzels which were both delicious and superflouous.

Saturday, 4/11/26

 We had picked up a chicken from BJ's and I used it to make chicken enchiladas, from "I Dream of Dinner".  They tasted OK, but weren't cheesy enough and were also a bit soggy. I may not actually like enchiladas that much---at least not how I make them. Served with some roasted mushrooms and zucchini.

After dinner, we were texting with Jen and John and the next thing we knew, we were over there, having a cocktail, eating popcorn and watching a crappy movie. A surprising and fun end to the day!

Friday, 4/10/26

 It was not a light day of eating....the Year of Pizza served up a flop this month (won't be going back to the Chicopee Pizza restaurant anytime soon) and dinner was chicken tenders and french fries, per Jason's request. The tenders (from Aldi and done in the air fryer) were only OK, and while I like french fries, deep frying them at home (even just the frozen crinkle cuts we use) just seems like a lot of bother. But it's only fair to let Jason pick every now and then. Oh, also there was salad. Whatever.

Thursday, 4/9/26

 I wanted to make the roasted pepper bread salad from "I Dream of Dinner" again, since I felt rushed the last time we had it. The only changes I made were to slice the stems off the peppers for easier eating, and to be a little more generous with the olive oil. Oh, and I added some roasted plum tomatoes. Excellent! A real keeper of a recipe.

Wednesday, 4/8/26

 The last time we were in Big Y, there was a sale of something ambiguously called "Chinese brand sausage", which looked suspiciously like Italian sausage. We decided to give it a try, although I had no clear idea what it tasted like (it wasn't real Chinese sausage, which is typically cured and kind of small and dry) or what to do with it. So I went with a very neutral giant sheet pan of cabbage, green beans, potatoes and onions, with the sausage nestled in, and roasted it in a hot oven. I made a chili crisp vinaigrette to go with it, and it wasn't bad! The sausage is a little sweet, with maybe a 5 Spice powder taste? Honestly my favorite part was the potatoes, especially the ones on the bottom that got crispy, but it was a easy and fairly quick meal.

Tuesday, 4/7/26

 OK, I wouldn't call lemony dumplings with peas (NYT) a total flop, but it wasn't my best work. I think I made the dumplings (more like a large spaetzle and honestly I should have just made spaetzle instead) too big, and even though I added extra salt, pepper and some parsley, they were still a tiny bit bland. The lemon butter sauce was good; Jason said there were too many peas. They just sort of flopped all around in the water....not appealing to look at. Probably won't go into rotation.

Monday, 4/6/26

 Grilled chicken with a coconut-chipotle marinade, from the NYT. After looking at the comments, I added some lime and a little fish sauce to the marinade; I skipped the step of basting and flipping the chicken, opting to instead reduce the leftover marinade in a skillet and then add the cooked chicken to the sauce. Served with rice and some roasted broccoli. I wasn't sure how this would be---the marinade wasn't super delicious on its own, but it was actually very tasty. The chicken was nice and moist, even though I subbed in breasts for thighs.