The weekly menu

This week’s menu was mostly Kyle’s requests.

Since he’s been gone for work a lot (and is gone almost all of this week too) I like making him the food that he wants while he’s here.  Last trip he got 99% of his food from Starbucks (!!).  I don’t care how much you like those wraps, nobody likes them days on end.  So here’s what he wanted…

This was my first time having buffalo sauce and I’m not sure if it was as good as the hype had made it out to be in my mind.

That said, we both really liked the dish so here’s how I made it.

Sorghum bowl with buffalo cauliflower and kefir dressing [vegetarian, gluten free, soy free, nut free]

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked sorghum (~3 cups cooked)
• 1 pint tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup corn
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1 small head cauliflower, broken into small florets
• 2-3 tbsp buffalo sauce
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp plain kefir, divided
• handful of cilantro
• salt + pepper to toaste

Directions:

Toss the cauliflower florets in a bowl with buffalo sauce and 2 tbsp kefir until each piece is well coated.  Then spread onto a greased baking sheet and roast for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees (based on how dark you like it).

While the cauli is roasting, make the sorghum.  I used the rice cooker, but it is made the same as any grain with a 2:1 water: grain ratio.

Then make the dressing by combining the rest of the kefir (1/4 cup) with cilantro (stems and all), salt and pepper and blending until cilantro is well incorporated.  Once the cauliflower is done, combine with sorghum, corn, tomatoes, red onion, and toss with dressing.

You all know I’m partial to Redwood Hill Farms’ products so of course I used their goat’s milk kefir.  It’s the best.  Kyle doesn’t even like yogurt and he liked this dressing.  Plus, it makes for an awesome probiotic packed meal.

My tomato plants are out of control.  They are producing a pint a day at the moment and they are the most perfect things ever.  You might not be able to tell the size, but these aren’t cherry or grape tomatoes…they’re bigger.  Golf ball sized in fact, if golf balls were oblong.

 

That tupperware holds almost 2 quarts if that gives you any frame of reference.  And that’s a near daily output (no exaggerating).  Kinda amazing.

Ok, back to the weekly eats.

This green bean casserole was based on a Pioneer Woman recipe.  It was the first of hers I’ve ever made actually, although I made so many tweaks it’s hardly recognizable as hers.  Still, Kyle said this was the only “real” (meaning not from canned veggies?) green bean casserole he’s ever had.

Plating is not my strong suit.  Clearly.  However, I can assure you it tasted far better than it photographed.

There were a lot of amazing smells going on in the kitchen, but lemme tell you, this was NOT a quick recipe by any stretch.  Multiple pots and pans, multiple steps.  Definitely not a make-while-you-feed-the-toddler kind of dinner.  Fortunately, I read the recipe in advance and recognized such so I made it on the late night and kept it in the fridge until it’s night of glory.

Thanksgiving in July?  Why not!

For the record – changes I made to her recipe:

1. I used coconut milk instead of dairy (milk/half and half).
2. I used bacon fat instead of butter.
3. I used GF flour instead of wheat flour.
4. I used goat’s milk cheddar instead of cow milk cheese.
5. I used diced green chiles instead of pimentos.
6. I nixed the garlic.
7. I used cornmeal instead of breadcrumbs.

Whew!

And in case you were wondering, yes, chopping the ends off green beans is the worst kitchen task of EVER.  Imagine doing it for a full freezer ziplock’s worth of produce!  Sheesh.  I’m so over green beans.

And there are still so many left!  Kyle may hate to hear this but I think I’m going to end up pickling quite a few.

We were supposed to go to a BBQ one day but our friend’s kiddo got sick and it got called off.  Kyle had ribs on the brain though, so I ended up making them in the oven.

On the side I made a quinoa salad with (what else) garden produce.

F. L. G.

We had them again a few days later with a Caesar salad.

And as if that weren’t enough meat, here’s Kyle’s skirt steak sandwich request.  Sourdough + BBQ sauce + red onion + arugula + skirt steak.  And a simple side salad of tomatoes with balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I made mine a salad instead and since we had extra meat, I made him a second sando with the leftovers for his lunch the next day.

The only night we deviated from the menu was for a social outing.  In lieu of savory waffles, we went to a friend’s birthday BBQ and I brought this chickpea wild rice salad.

And finally, let’s not forget about Kyle’s #1 request.  The breakfast strata.  Between this and the bulk breakfast burritos I make, I’m not sure he could pick a favorite.  He loves them so much and they make it really easy to pack his lunches because breakfast is already taken care of in one bulk bake off.

This one had tomatoes, spinach, and mushrooms.  And for the bread I used the extra toasted hamburger buns from the 4th of July that I’d been storing in the freezer.  Easy peasy.

This may be my last weekly menu for a bit because I’m cooking for just me for the week and then we are going on vacation, so it’s operation fridge and freezer clean-out at the moment!