A Week Of Dinner Ideas

I never did get around to posting anything Friday about dinners, so I might as well back up to there.  This week's thinking is motivated by three great sale items at the new Lucky's Market in Longmont, the fresh bay scallops for $6.99 a pound, the domestic prosciutto that's $7.99 a pound, and the organic roma tomatoes that are just 77 cents a pound (plus a lot of other good deals).  Those deals, plus the fact that I have a lot of basil in my yard that's already had a near death experience as we came close to a frost, and the end of this week isn't looking good either.  Will need to start making and freezing pesto as well as the uses below.

With the above specials in mind, Friday was linguine with bay scallops, fennel and tomatoes from Bon Appetit.  I also indulged by adding about a quarter pound of sliced prosciutto at the end, yum.

Last night, halibut from Whole Foods' current weekend sale, $17.99 a pound through today, went on the grill.  $17.99 is still a lot, but halibut usually runs even so much higher, and it was so worth it.  Corn from Munson's went on the side in a recipe I've mentioned before that really needs no recipe, sautéed corn with tons of herbs.  My burgeoning herb garden and basil plants, plus upcoming frosts, were the motivations there, along with the Munson corn, of course.

Tonight we'll be back to those bay scallops, adapting bacon-corn chowder with shrimp from Cooking Light to do it with scallops instead.  Some more sliced prosciutto just might make it into the pot at the end (or if I were more ambitious, I'd crisp it then crumble it).

Tomorrow, we'll turn to Sprouts' ground chicken breast or turkey breast special at $3.99 a pound to do spicy Thai basil chicken from Cooking Light.  Yup, another use for that basil harvest.  I love that it's great served in lettuce leaves, and with a bit of edamame on the side, makes a light dinner.  Even the runners in the house like it, despite any heavy carbs.

Tuesday will be our usual reheat of a big weekend item, which this week is the bacon-corn chowder from Cooking Light, link just above.

For Wednesday, the last day of the current Longmont Lucky's sale, it will be tomato and mozzarella risotto from Cooking Light.  I'll use plenty of fresh romas in it instead of canned, lots of basil from my garden, and will undoubtedly add some of that sale prosciutto, too.

Thursday?  No specific plan, but it's always an easy one as the week winds down.  Pork chops make a frequent appearance, and they're just $1.99 a pound for boneless center-cut loin ones through Wednesday at Sprouts.  Another frequent option is the salmon burgers at Whole Foods, where there's just about always a good sale option at $7.99 a pound.

Which gets us through an entire week, which currently is looking at some pretty chilly overnight temperatures for the end of it.  Do what you can for your gardens!