Weekend Dinner Ideas

I need to get going very quickly on thoughts for the weekend, so here goes.

For tonight, wanting something pretty speedy, I'm thinking sauteed sausages and polenta, since Sprouts has all their fresh sausage for $2.99 a pound right now. Polenta is so easy to do from the bulk aisle at Whole Foods, combined in a 3 to 1 ratio with milk/broth/and/or water. For a more formal approach, baking it is fun. My fave is a recipe from Saveur that they unfortunately never put online, that layers prepared polenta with tomato sauce and fontina. For a similar idea, check out this recipe from Bon Appetit, adding a couple of layers of prepared pasta sauce, and heavens, skipping the cream.

On to tomorrow, this gloomy weather has me thinking back to a winter favorite, New England seafood chowder from Bon Appetit. The haddock will be from the $5.99 a pound sale at Sprouts. Finding butternut squash this late in the season might be a challenge, but I'm betting a substitution of the organic yams on sale at Sunflower for 99 cents a pound would be fine (it's almost last call for yams as well). For the side salad, if I don't make it to the Farmer's Market tomorrow for spring greens, Sunflower has organic red or green leaf lettuce for $1.50 a head.

Sunday is still a bit up in the air, so to speak, as I'm still in this rain-inspired mood. My current plan is to do quick coq au vin from Bon Appetit, using the boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale at Sprouts for $1.97 a pound (value pack). However, if our weather improves, that might morph into grilled chicken and ratatouille, also from Bon Appetit. Much as we've needed this rain, enough is enough, so I'm hoping for a weekend suited to shopping at the Farmer's Market and maybe getting a little grilling in.

So that's it for the weekend, more to come.