Weekend Dinner Ideas

As we count our way to Thanksgiving, we still need to eat our way across the weekend, although lightening up even more than usual before the big feast is already coloring my plans. For tonight, chicken will make its last appearance on our table for the week, and in the form of chicken sausage, rather than the boneless, skinless breasts that are on sale for super-cheap at both Sprouts and Sunflower. (Sprouts has the chicken sausage on sale, too.) The star of the meal however will be polenta, which we haven't had in awhile. My favorite recipe for it is baked polenta with fontina and tomato sauce from Bon Appetit. Neither Bon Appetit nor Epicurious managed to get it onto their websites, but Simply Recipes has replicated it as polenta casserole (duly giving credit to Bon Appetit, good guys). Trust me, life is much easier when using an excellent jarred pasta sauce, rather than making the sauce from scratch. With the oven running, some of the $1.27 a pound asparagus from Sprouts will roast on the side.

We always make something big over the weekend to serve as an easy midweek reheat too, and with Thanksgiving looming, for tomorrow we'll opt for a vegetarian fall favorite, black bean chili with butternut squash and Swiss chard from Bon Appetit. The veggies might come from our final Boulder Farmers' Market tomorrow (sniff), although you'll find good prices on organic butternut at our local stores, too. With some fresh bread and salad with my homemade buttermilk dressing, its a comfort meal from heaven.

We need to fit in some fish somewhere, so for Sunday, I'm thinking it will be salmon, mustard greens, and potatoes with mustard-dill glaze, also from Bon Appetit. Instead of using baby potatoes, I'll chop some from my stock of organic russets that Vitamin Cottage is practically giving away at $1.69 for a five pound bag. I'm not sure where the salmon will come from - possibly the farmed Atlantic salmon that's $6.99 a pound at Sprouts. I might make a little extra glaze, and toss it with more of that sale asparagus from Sprouts, too.

And that will get us through to the weekday plans, although it's one heck of a week when it includes Thanksgiving.