Dare to Eat Simple

i’ve read a couple of articles this past week about hosting thanksgiving.

this one, by jennifer reese on huffington post, may stress you out a little bit; but it has some great tips for how to choreograph the preparation of the meal, which takes practice and skill. let’s be realistic: hosting and cooking for 8+ people can be daunting. reese offers some practical advice.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-reese/host-first-thanksgiving_b_1083602.html

now that you are thoroughly panicked and wondering why you are hosting this year anyways, take a deep breath and read this one, from sara-kate gillingham of www.thekitchn.com; and remember that gratitude, family, and the whole experience is most important.

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/on-keeping-it-simple-this-thanksgiving-161025
 
best wishes on your preparation for your thanksgiving meal. if you are not hosting, consider offering to show up an hour early to help the cook with prep, volunteer to do the dishes afterwards, offer to bring something or make a recipe the cook has selected. and may you be filled with gratitude and good food this thanksgiving.

Design Sponge Thanksgiving Inspiration

if you’re talking about simple, lovely food, you really can’t get much more quintessential than the tart. it is a versatile concept with simple ingredients–savory or sweet, rustic or refined. there are 3 basic ingredients to a good tart:

1.) crust–possibilities: pie crust, puff pastry, phyllo, nuts, etc.
2.) cheese–you need cheese to hold a savory tart together. try ricotta, brie, chevre, gorgonzola, fontina
3.) filling–a perfect opportunity to use seasonal ingredients. springtime: asparagus or leeks, summer: tomato, winter: caramelized onions, fall: pear or apple

you really don’t even need a recipe. there are a ton of tart recipes out there to use as inspiration. here’s some eye candy for you:

savory:

Spring Onion Ham & Mustard Tart

Sausage and Kale Dinner Tart

Ratatouille Tart

Asparagus and Gruyere Tart

Caramelized Onion Tart with Apples

sweet:

Apple Walnut Gorgonzola Rustic Tart

Peach Fig Tart with Fennel & Honey

Rustic Strawberry Tart with Lemon and Mint Cream Cheese

Macaroon Cherry Tart

Apricot Tart with Peaches and Cherries

theme for this week’s meals: easy. why? one, i made a few complicated meals last week (lots of braising and roasting and bacon frying) and i’m tired. two, next week is thanksgiving. and what does that mean? that we will likely engorge ourselves, we will gain 5 lbs, we will never want to eat food again.

lemon garlic spaghetti (add artichokes) + roasted asparagus
quinoa + apple salad with curry dressing
black bean and sweet potato tacos + spanish rice
chicken and dumplings
wild salmon ginger meatballs

breakfast treat:
ginger cashew granola bars

here i post my menu for the week. i usually only plan 5 dinners per week. it seems like we always end up going out one night and eating leftovers or something very simple from ingredients we have on hand another night. i find if i plan more than 5, we never get around to at least one of the meals.

butternut squash carbonara
pioneer woman’s braised short ribs
slow cooker butter chicken + chipatis
simple cassoulet
tamales + chili

God’s people wander
in the supermarket
among chemical frozen pies
overprocessed skillet dinners
nutritionless snack foods
soft drinks in throwaway bottles.

Like manna in the wilderness
hold fast
vegetables from sun-warmed gardens
protein-rich beans
oven-fresh whole-grain breads
home-canned fruit in Mason jars.

— More-With-Less, 1976