A Summer Jam
For weeknight cooking I tend to do a lot of consistent year-round cooking. What does that mean exactly? It means that I mostly eschew farmer’s markets and overly seasonal fare for tried and true recipes I can make whether it’s July or January. This is not that I don’t love a good farmers market (spoiler alert, I love a good farmers market) - but because my planning brain doesn’t really work that way. I try and plan weeknight cooking on the weekend, and I typically tend to plan around things I know will be in the grocery store (this is especially true for sides; it’s way easier to grab a bag of pre-trimmed green beans from Whole Foods, which you know will be in store, than the farmers market ones.
I know this is sacrosanct to many people and yes - ramps are amazing, but if you’re meal planning on a Saturday or Sunday, the extra effort to sift through recipes that use a super seasonal ingredient (cough cough fiddleheads cough cough)just isn’t worth the time for me. The effort to find a quick recipe that uses an ingredient that is in stock for like two weeks of the year ruins any of the fun.
That being said - about 8 months ago I went on a sheet pan obsession and found this recipe for sheet-pan chicken and plums. Because I was at the height of said obsession, You can get a grapefruit all year long, but if you want a stone fruit outside of summer you are SOL. I don’t know why this is true, I dont’ make the rules, bu know why; I’m sure it’s about the agricultural and transportation cost of growing stone fruits off season but regardless…
So a year ago - I fond this recipe and had already missed plum . So whilst i usually eschew seasonal recipes, this week I’m going all in on the season; between the aforementioned Chicken Sheet Pan and plums, I did a giant deep dive into the NY Times XXX. As they say, tis the Damn Season.
Monday: Scallops with jammy tomatoes. This seems like something that would be incredibly easy to make in winter when you can use frozen scallops and when the quality of tomatoes doesn’t really matter as much; you’re just going to break them up anyway. I’ll probably throw together an arugula salad with some endive. If you ever want to feel like you’re running a classy establishment throw in some endive. Orzo would also make a great side if you’re looking for something else.
Tuesday: Chicken and Plums.
Wednesday: Turmeric-Black Pepper Chicken With Asparagus. This is another recipe that was featured in the NY Times Cooking Summer Food article, but honestly - this is something that seems trusty all year round. Again, consistent cooking.
Thursday: I typically I make cauliflower gnocchi from Trader Joe’s once a week. I’m secretly afraid someone is going to tell me it’s terrible but I find on it’s a great end of week meal. I’ll throw in some pre-made sausage for protein and add in a homemade tomato sauce (recipe below).
Super Simple Tomato Sauce