DAY 1
Sesame Noodles with Extras
Grade: B+
Source: Cookie
Pots: 2 (spaghetti pot and a mini Cuisinart)
Planning suggestion: Buy as many prepared ingredients as possible: rotisserie chicken, shredded carrots.
Notes: This recipe, from contributor Victoria Granof, was from a story I worked on in the previous issue of Cookie. The kids choose their own toppings, thereby giving them control. I spread all the components on the table (I didn't toss the spaghetti with the peanut sauce—the sauce was in its own bowl) and sat back to see what they'd choose. They didn't try the sauce, but they grabbed a little of everything else, so I call it a success.
SEE RECIPE
DAY 2
Adam's Spaghetti Omelet
Grade: B
Source: My friend Adam
Pots: 1
Planning suggestion: Use leftover, unsauced spaghetti from the night before—don't try this with just-cooked spaghetti.
Notes: This was my big attempt to get the kids to like (i.e., try) eggs. Abby loves spaghetti, so I called it a spaghetti omelet. Neither of them would touch it. I didn't have a back-up plan, either, because it was nearly impossible to deconstruct into pasta that didn't have egg on it. It wasn't a total loss—it could be a good spouse-comes-home-from-work-late kind of dinner.
SEE RECIPE
DAY 3
Juliette's Salmon with Tomatoes
Grade: B+
Source: Juliette, my coworker's babysitter
Pots: 2
Planning suggestion: You could prepare rice ahead of time, but this is so quick, it isn't really necessary.
Notes: This was a recipe that my coworker's babysitter, Juliette, made for the family and before long, it seemed everyone in the office was making it (when I asked her for the recipe, she e-mailed it to me in 40 words from her Treo. That's how simple it is). It's delicious and highly adaptable depending on your mood. I added capers and red pepper flakes for a little heat. Phoebe ate it right up.
SEE RECIPE
DAY 4
Braised Short Ribs
Grade: A
Source: My Aunt Patty
Pots: Like 800
Planning suggestion:: If you're having a dinner party, prepare these in advance. Andy made them on a Saturday afternoon, hours ahead of the dinner guests. That way, there was no back-and-forth to kitchen once they arrived.
Notes: This dish was for an eight-person dinner party to celebrate my mother-in-law's 67th birthday. I was going to take a night off from the new-meal-every-day mandate but then realized we were in a serious entertaining rut, too. Since having kids, we had been serving simple, unfussy crowd-pleasers (spaghetti and meatballs, minestrone), but this time, we decided we wanted to have something... fussy. I dug out this braised-short-rib recipe that my aunt had written down for me years ago. They were perfect. (The best thing about them, by the way, is that even the best short ribs are incredibly well priced; ours were about $7 a pound.)
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DAY 5
Lamb Burgers with Chutney Potatoes
Grade: A-
Source:
Recipe courtesy of Scott Snyder
Pots: 3
Planning suggestion: Peel the potatoes in the morning and keep them in a pot of water on the stove so they don't discolor. When you walk in from work, just turn on the heat.
Notes: This really worked. We decided to pull a Jessica Seinfeld and not tell them the burgers were made of lamb—since they looked exactly like hamburgers. But they couldn't be convinced to try the yogurt-cucumber topping (they went with ketchup, of course), so we gave them some slices of plain cucumber and everyone was happy.
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DAY 6
Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli
Grade: A-
Source: I based this on a favorite dish at
Osteria al Doge
Pots: 3
Planning suggestion: This doesn't require much planning. Just make sure that the sausages are transferred from the freezer to fridge the night before if they're not there already.
Notes: I came home from work a little later than usual (6:45), yet we sat down to eat at 7:17. It would have been even quicker if I made it with boiled broccoli, but because this was based on a dish that is usually served with broccoli rabe (which I knew was not going to fly with the girls), I broiled the florets for a crunchy texture and heartier flavor. It worked, even though they wouldn't eat it all mixed together; they each had two of three components, but it was simple to deconstruct.
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DAY 7
Tortilla Soup
Grade: B-
Source:
Epicurious
Pots: 1
Planning suggestion: Buy a rotisserie chicken.
Notes: The kids both tried the soup, which was amazing because they're both soup haters. But they crinkled their noses at it almost instantly, which I can understand because the grown-ups weren't too happy with it either. The soup was somehow both too bland and too limey. I should have used a store-bought rotisserie chicken (and then added some dark meat for deeper flavor) instead of boiling my own chicken, and I should have used store-bought tortilla chips instead of frying my own strips. The kids ate the chicken and chips, so not a categorical disaster—just a minor one.
SEE RECIPE
Next Page: Week Two Meal Plan
