My Week in Food

Because everyone thinks about food as much as I do, right?

Anyone who knows me well knows that food shapes my days. It's the first thing I think about in the mornings, and often the last thing I think about before falling asleep. I spend much of my free time poring over cookbooks, planning what I want to make, puttering around the kitchen, and turning out meals that bring my family together around the dinner table and give me something to look forward to each day.

Here's a glimpse at what I cooked and ate over the past week. I didn't make a menu plan; I've moved away from that in an attempt to cook based on what's on sale at the grocery store, with food prices being so astronomical lately. (I love clearance racks.) Mostly, I just hunted through the fridge and pantry each morning to get a sense of what we had, and then formulated a dinner plan based on that.

Wednesday: Soba noodles with delicious toppings

Last Wednesday, I'd just gotten back from several days in Barrie, ON, where I was recording the audiobook version of my upcoming book (post coming soon on that experience!). That meant I visited the wonderful Asian grocery store, Centra, where I stocked up on delicious goodies I cannot get in my small town.

When I got home, I made a homemade lo mein sauce, sautéed shiitake mushrooms with Chinese broccoli and carrots in sesame oil, boiled a pot of soba (buckwheat) noodles, and tossed it all together. I topped each bowl with a crispy fried egg, a scoop of kimchi, and a sprinkling of green onions. The kids loved it. So did I, and it was fast and easy.

Thursday: Moroccan chicken with lemon and olives

While in Barrie, I finally used a Christmas gift certificate for Indigo to buy Bonnie Stern's newest cookbook, Don't Worry, Just Cook. I own two of her older books and use them all the time. Her recipes are great, so I am excited to cook my way through this next one. I made her sheet-pan Moroccan chicken for an easy weeknight dinner.

It involved cutting up two smallish whole chickens I'd bought on clearance. I had to watch a New York Times cooking video on YouTube for a refresher. It's a skill I really need to improve, but note to self: the fat lines are like a guide map to all the joints!

For this recipe, the chicken pieces are tossed with spices and spread on a sheet pan with fresh and preserved lemon, olives, onions, cilantro, and more. I served it with steamed rice.

Friday: Leftover Moroccan chicken (yay!)

Saturday: Lamb kebabs, grilled zucchini, rice pilaf

It was pouring rain when it came time to grill the kebabs (another clearance deal) and zucchini, but thank god for umbrellas. I felt very committed to flavour as I stood there, shivering and flipping, wondering if I was the only person who persists in using a barbecue year-round.

The rice pilaf recipe came from Bonnie Stern and included lots of slow-caramelized onions and chickpeas. I used homemade stock made from the carcasses of the chickens I'd cut up days before and infused with saffron that I brought back from my trip to Morocco in December 2021. I use it so skimpily that it felt luxurious to put a full half-teaspoon in the pot. The result was a gorgeous yellow colour—and it made me remember the jolly seller who made us cups of steaming saffron tea and weighed out our purchases, hence the photo below:

Sunday: Grilled pork tenderloin, Brussels sprouts and kale Caesar salad, mashed potatoes and parsnips

I like a fancy Sunday dinner. That's what my family always did, often with guests. It's a nice way to finish the weekend. I was on a grilling kick, and the weather was finally gorgeous, so I rubbed two tenderloins with toasted fennel seeds, ground sage, salt, and pepper before putting them on the barbecue.

Then I tackled my current favourite salad from Ottolenghi's Shelf Love cookbook. It gets rave reviews every time, but there are so many components that it always takes longer than I anticipate. It's a combination of roasted and grated raw Brussels sprouts, soaked and softened kale, a Caesar salad dressing, red onions, basil, Parmesan, and something crunchy (I used pistachios).

Mashed potatoes with parsnips are something else I've discovered this winter—with one great tip from Food52 teaching me always to mix in something a bit acidic, like buttermilk or sour cream, to lighten the overall taste. It makes a huge difference.

Monday: Fish kebabs in chraime (spicy tomato sauce)

Technically, Jason made this dinner, but I set him up with the recipe and had done the first few steps before heading to the gym. This was a fairly quick weeknight dinner, consisting of fish patties made from frozen cod fillets sautéed till crispy, then added to a spicy tomato sauce. (Jason admitted later that he’s “not a fan” of shaping chopped fish.)

When I googled chraime, I learned that it’s a Sephardic fish dish that originated in North Africa. This is another Bonnie Stern recipe and we'll definitely do it again. We ate it with leftover Brussels sprout Caesar salad.

Tuesday: Wild mushroom pilaf and roasted butternut squash

This pilaf featured fresh and dried mushrooms (I used dried morels foraged by my sister's fiancé in the Yukon that I received for Christmas) and apricots. It's baked in the oven and looks as good as it tastes. I served it with an Ottolenghi recipe for roasted butternut squash that I've been wanting to try for a while—served room temperature, drizzled with orange peel-infused olive oil, orange segments, caramelized honey, oregano, Pecorino, and more pistachios.

We ate a lot more meat this week than usual, but I think that's because we've been so busy and short on time. Vegetarian mains tend to require more advance planning, I find.

Extras:

I did some baking over the weekend and made two recipes from the new cookbook—Morning Glory muffins, stuffed with shredded fruit, nuts, seeds, and bran, and these super cute oatmeal-peanut butter sandwich cookies, dipped in milk chocolate. They were a big hit, as you can imagine!