Weekly Menus: Week of 7/17/2011

This Sunday, I have been met with a vegetable drive-by. If you don’t know anyone with a garden, let me show you what it looks like.

Vegetable Abundance

So I’ll be producing a full-out Sunday dinner later, and sharing as well (looking at you Complicated Veggie). It’s great to be back in the kitchen, even if I still feel hungry for dinner at 10 pm EST, courtesy of my jet lag.

Weekly Menus this week:

Weekly Menus 7/17/2011

Four-Square Grocery List (which I’ve already shopped for, efficient!):

Four-Square Grocery List 7/17/11

CSA from Brinkley Farms:

1 lb tomatillos $3.00
2 lbs regular eggplant $3.00
2 pablano peppers $1.00
1 red seedless watermelons $5.00

Which means:

Sunday: Sunday Dinner
Still pondering the main, but the go-withs include black-eyed peas, cukes and onions, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, squash in some format, fried okra, possibly potatoes. The table may beg for mercy, and I may send out invites.

Monday: Fish and Veg
Salmon Cakes and more okra.

Tuesday: Mexican
May switch this with Thursday so I can make another Mexican Squash Casserole. Otherwise, burritos.

Wednesday: Sammies
With cukes on the side, probably tomato sandwiches.

Thursday: Pasta Bake
Great way to lower the veg count.

Friday: Steak and Potatoes or Casserole
This may also be a leftover day, we shall see.

Saturday: Dine out!
I’m feeling either the picnic platter at Crook’s Corner, or a Food Truck Rodeo.

Have you experienced the veggie drive-by? Post a comment or send a Tweet.

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Up next, Hazelnuts, Why Do You Mock Me?

A Case for Sunday Night Dinner

In the South, there’s a tradition of eating a fairly large Sunday dinner, and for the Practical Cook, this was at high noon growing up. In the summer, the table was especially full, complete with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and onions. I was down to my last cuke this Sunday, so opted for a jar of pickled beets, but the table was still pretty full.

Sunday Dinner with the Practical Cook

This week, Gentle Readers, I’m cooking from my center, Southern Summer food. It’s familiar, it’s comforting, and it uses up a lot of what’s in the fridge. Life is busy, but Sunday dinner makes you slow down, if just to try one of everything on the table.

Sliced Tomatoes with Sea Salt and Mayo

Sunday dinner is about catching up, relaxing, and serving more than the necessary amount of vegetables. There must be a main dish, a bread item (with honey and molasses available), sliced tomatoes, cukes and onions (pickled beets were a Punt!), a green vegetable, and something fried if at all possible. Potatoes are a nice addition, as is something in a casserole dish. Deviled eggs would not be out of place.

Princess Corn Muffins

For dessert, if you can get there, pound cake, pie, or fruit-based desserts a la mode. I grew up in a farming family, and the habit of scrambling for calories at a big meal dies hard. When you work all day, you can eat like that. This is a sometimes meal for us now, but I encourage you to try your own version. Slow things down a bit, eat, talk, and enjoy leftovers the next day.

Sunday Dinner Time Means a Full Table

Do you cook a large meal during the week? For what occasion? Share your story in the comments.

Send your ideas and requests to practical cook at gmail dot com. Connect on Facebook: The Practical Cook Blog. (Thanks in advance for spreading the Practical Cook good word. Press “like” on Facebook today!)

Tomorrow, Fried Squash with Soda Cracker Crumb Coating.