Like a true introvert, I got a little excited when some of our weekend plans fell through because I was in need of a low key couple of days. We had some fun stuff planned (a local kids production of A Christmas Carol, church, farmer’s market, the usual…) but no dinner events. Which meant I was free to shop for what I was in the mood for in that very moment.
Kyle felt like salmon and we hadn’t had it in a while, so that was how Saturday’s dinner came about.
We also had cilantro and parsley that I wanted to use up and I’d been really craving the seitan chimichurri from Candle (way back in the day readers will know what I’m talking about) so I decided a chimichurri was happening for Sunday. I waited until I was at the store to pick out a protein to go with it. I was kinda hoping to find a decent seitan, because I wasn’t in the mood to make one myself, but no such luck. So I got skirt steak instead. To Argentina we go!
Here are a few more notes about the meal, as well as the others that led up to it…
My sister got me an air fryer for my birthday but I hadn’t yet gotten around to using it because we were out of town and then it was Thanksgiving craziness and and and anyway. I decided to break it in with some good old fashioned french fries. We’ve had a bag in the freezer for SO long it’s almost embarrassing (the date was questionable, but does it really matter if it’s frozen?). Since I’m still on my mission to clean out the overstocked food situation in our house, I decided it was definitely time to make these. Especially with my new appliance!
All I did was dump the bag out and push the “fries” button. I didn’t even add oil.
They smelled insaneeeeeely good and the kids came into the kitchen the second I mentioned lunch with wonder in their eyes over what I put on their plates.
How does this magic work?? How do they get so crispy and cook so fast without any oil? It’s definitely amazing. They tasted like freshly deep fried potatoes! Wowzers. One point for the air fryer!
I made myself a Thai salad, which I already showed you, but here it is again in all it’s avocado and peanut goodness.
We got home from our afternoon fun a little later than expected so I had to hustle with dinner. I did the rice in the rice cooker on the quick setting which usually has a 20 minute turnaround time. Then I decided to make broccoli in the air fryer rather than the oven since I’d had such success earlier with the fries. Only to end up scorching the living daylights out of them…
Oops! I guess it’s not totally idiot proof! I used the same setting as the potatoes (which were frozen to start!) but that was obviously too high or too long or both because they were quite charred.
Luckily our whole family actually likes them that way so it was actually not a problem.
I used up two jars of sauce for the dish, which was a delight! I added some of the sweet Thai chili sauce on the side of everyone’s white rice and coated the salmon with the leftover home-made hoisin sauce (a nom nom paleo recipe).
Perfecto! 
With a little Lula’s goodness for dessert 🙂
After everything in the kitchen was cleaned up I made the chimichurri for the next day. Sauces always taste better when they’ve had longer to mix and I figured it would save me time the next day. Even if it meant more time to watch football. Lazy weekends are the best.
Thai salad again! This was the very very last of the cilantro though (I actually had the foresight to leave myself a bit when I was making the chimichurri because I knew I had enough dressing left for one more salad).
After this lunch I was all out of sweet potatoes, dressing, cilantro, and avo. Time for some prep!
I roasted some butternut squash while the kids were napping and then V and I did some baking once she was up. P was at a birthday party, so we had our own fun…little did she know she was actually helping me get a leg up on some of the week’s meals. In addition to the pie, we made a few loaves of pumpkin molasses bread for their teachers.
Eventually it was time for dinner.
Both kids begged to get this when they saw it at the store, so obviously I had to give in. When your kids are begging to try a new vegetable you don’t say no. You figure out a way to include it in the meal plan. I was going to roast cauliflower to pair with the chimichurri anyway, so this just added to the cruciferous game plan. We are brassicas lovers in this house.
I know the lighting is terrible (yay Winter!) but don’t they look lovely. I stuck with the oven this time around to make sure it was a success.
Meanwhile I grilled the steak on the Lodge grill plate. Indoor grilling for the win!
I like my meat well done, but Kyle prefers his more under, so it was nice to have a piece of flank meat with a thicker end. That way I gave him the end that was less cooked and I was a happy camper with my edge piece.
Kyle’s birthday present to me was a new cutting board, which I’ve (we’ve) been so desperately needing.
Since I was vegan when I registered for all my wedding stuff (which is where a large portion of our kitchen came from) I never got big carving boards or roasting pans or other cookery you’d normally need for a carnivorous family. Alas, I’ve slowly been accruing it thanks to various holidays and birthdays. And now I have a proper cutting board with a juice groove.
Beautiful.
It’s by Indigo True and so pretty to look at, in addition to being functional. It dries fast, which is a big deal for me because I use cutting boards soooo many times throughout the day. And is pretty affordable compared to others of it’s size. Not an ad, just saying!!
The chimichurri recipe I based mine off of was from ATK’s Just Add Sauce and was so good I have to share.
Chimichurri
Ingredients:
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1 cup parlsey
- 3/4 cup cilantro
- 3 tsp minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Add the dried oregano and salt in a blender with the hot water to let it soak for a few minutes (this soften the oregano and dissolves the salt).
Then add the fresh herbs, garlic, red pepper and vinegar to the blender and do a few quick pulses. Next add the oil and pulse a few more times (not over pureeing).
You can make it in advance, just be sure to bring it to room temp and stir it up before serving.
It was SO good!
Finished off the weekend with something sweet.
Oh man, that seitan chimmichurri from Candle is legendary!! The rare occasion i can deal with the columbus circle whole food i stock up on it at the deli case, not all the nyc WF locations have it any more. Uptons Naturals makes a good seitan that wiuld work well, but it’s expensive enough it’s annoying, especially since it’s a smallish size package. Making seitan always sounds so intense but actually isn’t-although I generally don’t make it myself either. Probably worthwhile if your fam would be into it too.
Fun with the air fryer! It’s supposed to be great for baked tofu also, don’t have one myself but they sound like fun.
I know right??? I always got it at the columbus circle WF. And the (new at the time) upper west side WF had it too. You’re totally right though, making seitan is actually super easy and kinda idiot proof. I should do it w the kids!