Getting Started on This Week's Dinners

Since it's Friday already (yeah!), it's time to get started on the dinner plans. I hate to be so predictable, but Sprouts' flash frozen salmon has been excellent in my experience, and since it's $8.99/lb this week, it's on deck for tonight. And with temperatures pushing towards 80 this afternoon, it's going on the grill one last time for the season, albeit in the dark. With avocados just 49 cents each at Sprouts, and organic apples on sale everywhere, invent your own salsa, tossing in some chopped roma tomato, parsley or cilantro, lemon or lime juice, whatever you feel like. I'll be roasting an assortment of winter veggies on the side, chunks of acorn and/or butternut squash (49 cents/lb for conventionals at Sunflower, 69 cents/lb at Sprouts), along with some parsnips, organic baby carrots ($1.25 a 1 lb bag at Sprouts, $1.50 at Sunflower), and organic onion wedges ($1/lb at Sunflower).

For tomorrow, to capitalize on the chicken breasts on sale at Sprouts for $1.97/lb, we're planning to try a recipe from the current issue of Bon Appetit, quick coq au vin. Wow the reviewers have given this recipe four forks out of four, which is a real rarity. Although it has "quick" in its name, appears in the Fast, Easy, Fresh section of the magazine, and purportedly takes 45 minutes to make, this looks complicated enough to be a weekend dinner only, at least in this household. To me, a 45 minute estimate translates to well over an hour in reality.

Then what for Halloween? I'm thinking a seasonal favorite, black bean chili with butternut squash and Swiss chard, will be perfect. This recipe proves beyond a doubt how delicious a vegetarian dinner that's full of veggies can be. Since the butternut gets peeled, I'll probably opt for the conventional squash that's only 49 cents a pound at Sunflower this week, and a big salad will go on the side (organic red or green leaf lettuce $1 a head at both Sunflower and Whole Foods).

And that at least will get us through the weekend, and through Halloween!