Weekend Dinner Plans, Including Easter

If it's Friday, it's time to get going on some dinner plans. For tonight, I'm hoping to do an "Alfalfa's surprise," some impromptu idea I expect to get while surveying the goods at the grand opening of the new Alfalfa's sometime today. Failing that (which I doubt), I'm also thinking about the haddock that's on sale for $5.99 a pound at Sprouts. It would make a fine scrod, and with so many runners in this town returning from the Boston Marathon earlier this week, scrod strikes me as a suitable way to fete them. It could be done in a pretty classic New England style, such as scrod with herbed breadcrumbs from Bon Appetit. I'm also intrigued by a heretical spinoff from Gourmet, scrod with chipotle butter and black beans baked in parchment, which is a hilarious play on the classic fish with a side of baked beans.

Moving on to more solid plans for tomorrow, I'm doing a preemptive strike against a potentially heavy Easter dinner Sunday by going vegetarian with Cooking Light's much lightened, yet very delicious version of fettuccine Alfredo. With a quick side salad, you have a wonderful dinner.

For Sunday, we're thinking of going with a classic ham, although where it's coming from I haven't decided yet. (I'd love to do a price smackdown across stores on hams, but that might not happen, between time constraints and the number of choices each store will offer. Just remember to check the labels for potential preservatives, if that's a concern for you, as they can be found in some of our natural stores.) Cooking the ham should require no further guidance than checking the label or consulting a basic cookbook like Bittman's How To Cook Everything or even my antique Joy of Cooking. For the sides, I'm planning on golden potatoes with caper brown-butter crumbs from Gourmet magazine. This is equally fabulous with organic russets instead of the Yukon Golds called for, and you can find russets on sale at both Sunflower and Whole Foods this week (cheaper by the five pound bag at Sunflower this week, details here). I'd never (sigh) make it with the stick of butter called for either, substituting Earth Balance as a great no-cholesterol alternative to lighten it up. I'm also considering asparagus with balsamic tomatoes from the current issue of Cooking Light, and radish, arugula, and red onion salad with tangerines from the current issue of Bon Appetit. Arugula will certainly be available at tomorrow's Farmer's Market, and maybe radishes will have made their appearance as well (failing that, the stores will serve just fine for them). Since dessert doesn't figure much into our plans (see this post for help in that direction), that will get us through the weekend.

More to come soon for weekday ideas.