Weekend Cooking: Simple Dishes for Winter Evenings

Let me just say that 2020 isn't starting quite the way I had been planning. Yet despite the sadness of my mother's death, there were also moments of incredible generosity from friends and family . . . often in the form of meals. We ate like royalty the week after my mother died: Lebanese food, deli, Italian, pizza, Mexican and more. We were also blessed with delicious cookies, cakes, and chocolates.

As much as I was incredibly moved by people's kindness, I was happy to spend this past week at home. We ate fairly simple foods and mostly vegetarian. Our bodies and our souls welcomed salads and fruits and quiet moments to regroup and get used to the new reality.

Here's what I cooked this past week:

• Apple Walnut, Cranberry & Brown Rice Salad (click for recipe)
• Sweet potato curry and quinoa
• Pasta with spinach pesto
• Grilled salmon with roasted Brussels sprouts
• Sheet pan pork with carrots and broccoli

All the dishes were easy to make and just what we were craving.

Over the last five weeks, I didn't spend any time reading blogs, and I deleted most of my non-essential email. I did, however, take time to read some of the food-related newsletters I subscribe to. Here are five recipes I pinned to my cooking Pinterest board.

• We love beans, and I usually make some kind of bean or legume dish every single week. Although my go-to is chili-spiced beans and rice, I'm always looking for fresh ideas. This Spanish Beans with Tomatoes dish from the Veggie Desserts blog looks very comforting. Note that this dish is vegan and gluten free.
• I absolutely love chili verde, which is bean-free and usually made with pork. This Chicken Chili Verde from one of my favorite online food sites, What's Gaby Cooking, looks so good and warming--and easy to make too. Perfect for a deary February evening.
• Mr. BFR grew up in the Philadelphia area, where there's a large Italian community. I credit his hometown for giving him his love for all things pasta. I found this Gnocchi with Spinach and Chicken Sausage on the Taste of Home website. One of the commenters subbed kale for the spinach, and I might do that too. I'm sure any kind of sausage (even a vegetarian version) would work well with this recipe.
• You already know that I love Eating Well magazine, so it's no surprise that at least one of their recipes would show up on my list. Their Caribbean Bowls feature pork, Jamaican jerk seasoning, citrus, and black beans. I think I'm going to have to put this on my dinner plan next week.
• Finally, I found another bean dish to try; this one from the New York Times. Creamy Braised White Beans look like the ultimate comfort food. All I'll have to do is bake a loaf of crusty bread to sop up the sauce, and we'll have a simple, satisfying vegetarian dinner. One of the reviewers noted that the recipe was success with almond milk instead of cow's milk, so it'd be good for vegans too.

I'm looking forward to finally being able to read all your Weekend Cooking posts. I owe a huge thank you to everyone for your patience and your very kind words during this difficult time. Friends (and family) can get you through everything. Thank you, again.

_______

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

NOTE: Mr. Linky sometimes is mean and will give you an error message. He's usually wrong and your link went through just fine the first time. Grrrr.
_______