The Rest of This Week's Dinner Ideas

It's time to get started on weekday dinner planning, where simplicity reigns. A nearly vegetarian rice dish will be appealing after tonight's ribeye indulgence, and since I'm continuing to capitalize on Sprouts' 99 cent a pound asparagus sale, tomorrow will be asparagus and leek risotto with prosciutto from Bon Appetit. The prosciutto adds flavor depth with very little meat, and Whole Foods (at least at the Pearl Street store, maybe elsewhere) has chunks of prosciutto for cooking at nearly half the price of the thinly sliced product. A nice side would be sauteed chard with a bit of garlic and red pepper, with the organic chard just $1.50 a bunch at Whole Foods.

Then of course we have a midweek reheat, this time the big penne casserole, which I did simply with cooked penne and sausage, jarred Muir Glen pasta sauce, and grated mozzarella, baked to heavenliness, no recipe required (although baked penne recipes abound).

Continuing the midweek simplicity, it will be pork chops on the grill pan, since loin chops are $2.99 a pound at Sprouts this week ($3.99 a pound at Sunflower if you're there and don't want another store to visit). Baked sweet potatoes will go on the side, and more asparagus, to celebrate the last day of the 99 cents a pound sale at Sprouts.

Finally, we should celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit on Thursday, and with chicken tenders just $1.97 a pound at Sprouts through Wednesday (note the need to buy ahead of time) and organic green cabbage 99 cents a pound at Sunflower (ditto re Wednesday), I'm thinking it will be Chinese chicken and cabbage stir-fry, adapted from "Restorative Recipes." The combination of cabbage, carrots, dark leafy greens, and edamame (always in the freezer), served over brown rice, sounds like a great way to kick off the Chinese New Year.

And that will do us until Friday's next set of plans.