Weekday Dinner Ideas

In a super-quick view.  Since Lucky's Longmont sale on boneless NY strip steaks for just $5.99 a pound veered us into steak territory this weekend (too bad the winds have been so nasty, they couldn't go out on the grill), I'm revamping tomorrow into healthier territory.  I'll scrap the previously planned country style pork ribs from the sale at Sprouts in favor of trying another new recipe from my organizing time over the holidays, spicy tilapia and fennel stew from last month's issue of Cooking Light.  It's superfast, so suitable for a weeknight, and readers so far are rating it five stars out of five, pretty impressive.

Tuesday will be our customary reheat of something big made over the weekend, which this week is tonight's baked rigatoni with ricotta and collard greens, also from Cooking Light.

Wednesday will be another easy one, mushroom and sausage ragu with polenta, yet another from Cooking Light.  It's easy enough as written, but can be made even easier by simply sauteing sausage with some shrooms and onion, then adding a good jarred pasta sauce.  Sprouts has hot or sweet Italian chicken sausage for $2.99 a pound through Wednesday.

With so many excellent chicken breasts in the freezer from last week's spectacular sale at the Lucky's in Longmont (also $1.99 a pound for value packs at Sprouts through Wednesday), I'll start working on those for Thursday with an improvisation I haven't made in a couple of years, curried chicken and rice.  Basically you just cook some rice, and while that's working on it, saute diced boneless skinless chicken breast with some onion and shrooms, stir in curry powder to taste and a few defrosted peas, then mix in the cooked rice.  Could not be easier.

Which quickly gets us through the week.  Maybe I should get my grocery shopping done this afternoon during the "BIG GAME," when the stores will be deserted while everyone will be watching the Broncos in the playoffs.  At least that means it's getting closer to my annual indulgence in chicken wings.