Weekday Dinner Ideas

Well, we already have through the holiday tomorrow planned out, but might as well finish off the rest of the week's plans, since time permits.

We usually make a big casserole or chowder over the weekend that serves as an easy weekday reheat, but somehow with all this grilling, that just isn't happening this week. So since Tuesday's dinner will have to be made from scratch, I'm thinking of an easy rice dish of my own invention (or perhaps it was from the back of a can!), that's kind of a clam risotto. Basically, saute some onion and a fair number of sliced mushrooms, and use that as the base to cook a cup of rice. However, for part of the usual broth for the rice, substitute a can of clam sauce, such as Cento. Add some fresh parsley at the end, and if you don't follow the rumored Italian proscription against combining seafood and cheese, finish it with a grating of parmesan.

For Wednesday, I'm thinking of returning to mushroom and sausage ragu with polenta from Cooking Light. Sunflower has all chicken sausage on sale through Wednesday, and Sprouts has their Italian chicken sausage on sale. I love polenta, but this makes a great sauce to serve with pasta as well. Not sure which way we'll go with it.

By Thursday, I'll be in the mood for an experiment, an intriguing recipe from last month's Cooking Light, paella with soy chorizo and edamame. Edamame are a freezer staple staple around here, and this doesn't look too complicated for weekday cooking.

And that will get us through until Friday's planning. Happy long weekend!