PrintNeed advice on menu planning (Cooking with a Friend Series)
Hi all -
I am writing a series for Serious Eats in which I menu plan with a friend and we cook together each week. The general goal is to be able to pre-cook everything on Sunday or prep the meal so that it's easy to assemble on the day of eating.
This week, I bought a CSA box for our vegetable portion (list below), and am trying to decide on menu items that will be good for next week -- any ideas?
Also - has anyone had luck with pre-cooking and re-heating frittata or other egg-y dishes?
The vegetables:
Agretti
Leeks
Nantes Carrots
Green Garlic
Little Gem Lettuces
Sunflower Sprouts
Fennel
Meyer Lemons
Spring Shallots
Chard
Cardoon
Mint
Both of us are omnivores and eat all meats and proteins --
Thank you!
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10 Comments:
I don't have many suggestions, but you could roast the leeks and fennel ahead of time and put them on the little gem lettuces to make a roasted vegetable salad (you may want to supplement with other veggies and/or cheese; goat cheese would be nice).
With the carrots I would make a simple, spring-y carrot soup (again, can be made in advance). You could use the shallots here too.
Good luck! I really like your SE series.
SEAtoNYC at 11:36AM on 04/17/09
Fritattas or Quiche reheat nicely in the microwave. I usually do 90 seconds for a slice or 5 min for the whole dish.
ChefDJen at 11:40AM on 04/17/09
I know that Biggie over at Lunch In a Box does mini fritattas and quiches for Bento boxes. They should be fine to reheat, or even eat at room temperature. Making mini ones will help the reheating, a long re-heat for a big piece will yield mushy parts....
One of Biggie's posts, with related ones below:
Lunch In a Box
engmcmuffin at 12:14PM on 04/17/09
Hmmmm, whenever I'm skeptical about reheating, I throw it in the toaster oven instead of the microwave. If you have one, maybe that'll help keep a fritata/quiche crispy on top and bottom when you enjoy it later?
erancili at 12:20PM on 04/17/09
If I have leftover fritatta-like foods, I like them cool or room temp the next day, so I haven't tried reheating. And I like them room temp as appetizers. It makes the leftovers seem like a whole different dish, even though it's the same thing.
If you really want to serve them warm, maybe the better option would be to do all the prepping ahead, pre-cook whatever needs to be pre-cooked, and leave the egg cooking until you're ready to serve.
And looking at your list, I'm thinking that several could be combined in a spring roll sort of thing. Or prepped for stir-fry.
dbcurrie at 1:28PM on 04/17/09
Great ideas, you all -- thanks. And you are right about the re-heating. My microwave died last week, and I tend to do all my reheating in the toaster oven anyway. And I forgot how much I like fritatta room temperature.
@dbcurrie I hadn't thought about spring rolls and think that's a great idea. I have a feeling the agretti would do fantastically in a spring roll.
The amount of alliums I have is a bit overwhelming. One large bunch each of green garlic, shallots, and leeks. I guess if nothing else I will spread those out for cooking over the next couple weeks instead of making a dish to star them.
Jen Maiser at 3:12PM on 04/17/09
You could highlight those alliums in a lovely onion tart!
Embackus at 4:33PM on 04/17/09
I may lose any SE cred I have earned, but I have to admit that algretti and cardoons were new to me. Having now done my homework, quiche comes to mind to use both. Nice lunch or dinner, along with a salad using the sprouts too, and a shallot-lemon vinaigrette.
AliceBlue at 7:44PM on 04/17/09
Leeks, fennel, lemon and shallots would make fine friends in a crab cake or salmon patty.
Vietnamese style rice paper rolls are lovely for spring and are easy to whip up on the spot - just roll up cooked and cold rice vermicelli with prawns, mint, carrot, (even lettuce maybe), coriander and dunk into hoisin sauce. You could also make them with barbequed chicken, duck or pork.
I'm not sure about re-heating a frittata but I'd be tempted to eat it cold (on Monday, if you cook it on Sunday) with a cold roast vegetable salad (chuck veges in a bag with olive oil, spices and herbs plus oodles of garlic then spread out on a tray and bake, allow to cool then toss with lettuce, sprouts and drizzle with eevo and balsamic and some toasted pinenuts or nuts for crunch)
If you have ginger and chili to add to your garlic and mint (along with some sugar, vinegar, oil) that would be a good sauce base for a thai-inspired salad.
beyondbeeton at 11:58AM on 04/18/09
Another vote here for an onion tart - I like one made with manchego. Kale fritattas with aged cheddar is also scrumptious!
I see what's happening, though...one doesn't want to eat eggy things all week. (Well, I do, but...)
Roast chicken w/the meyer lemons and fennel (and carrots?) might be nice over some salad and bread...
jbeach at 11:37AM on 04/22/09