Getting Started on This Week's Dinners

Working with this week's rather uninspiring sales, I'm thinking in different directions in planning dinners for the week. First, the sun is finally back out, and soon we're supposed to have temperatures in the 80s, so the grill will be getting more of a workout. I have one last piece of salmon in my freezer from last season, so that will be coming out to hit the grill, just before we get into this year's fresh wild salmon season. Never again will I take up so much room in my freezer with salmon frozen on my own, since Sprouts across this entire past winter has had excellent salmon, flash-frozen far more professionally than I can do, available at very reasonable sale prices. To accompany the fish, some yam spears (organic yams 99 cents a pound at Sunflower) will also be hitting the grill.

Next, I've been fascinated by the pea shoots appearing at the Boulder Farmers Market, especially after being given a sample by one of the vendors last week. I don't have a recipe specifically for them, but it looks like they are a good wilting green, and they really do taste like peas, so I have an idea to try them as an addition to a pasta dish I've been wanting to do: pasta with peas, asparagus, butter lettuce, and prosciutto, from Bon Appetit. Since the dish already calls for peas and wilted lettuce, pea shoots sound like a logical addition. The pea shoots are being sold in pretty big bags at the Farmers Market, so I'll use half in this and will be looking for another option for the other half.

We need to fit in another dinner from the grill this weekend, and when I saw the lackluster new sales yesterday, I ran out and grabbed grass-fed, organic ribeyes at Sprouts on the last day of their 40% off sale. (Perhaps I'm jumping the gun after this week's media coverage of a study intimating that unprocessed beef like steak may have gotten its bad health rap somewhat unfairly. Look a couple of posts below this for coverage.) Not quite sure what else might hit the grill - most likely some ears of corn from Whole Foods. Cure Organic Farm has had some nice baby bok choy at the Farmers Market in the past week, and the current issue of Saveur, in an article on true Chinese stir frying technique, has a recipe for donggu pei shucai (stir-fried mushrooms and bok choy). An earthy mushroom dish like that sounds like a good accompaniment to a grilled ribeye.

Also, rhubarb is sprouting up everywhere at the Farmers Market and in my yard, so I'd best get started using it. My preference is just a simple stewed rhubarb, ready in just a few minutes by stewing diced rhubarb with just a touch of water and a little sugar. I prefer it very tart, especially served warm over vanilla ice cream (Boulder Ice Cream pints are half price at Whole Foods, $2 each, hope the vanilla's included).

More to think about for the week, including what else to do with the rest of a whole bunch of pea shoots, plus whatever else the Farmers Market comes up with on Saturday. After last week's Egyptian walking onions, who know what to expect.