Last weekend we escaped, just for two days. We own a little house upstate (we could never afford to buy in NYC, so we rent here) and when all this started happening, we considered moving up for the duration. But we’ve got cats who’ve never been there, and the wifi sucks so we wouldn’t be able to work, and then the county pleaded with New Yorkers not to bring the coronavirus up there. So we stayed put in our apartment, all this time.
Seven weeks later, we decided to go up. We brought all our food with us, so we never left the house, never saw another person, never got the chance to infect anybody. But for two days we had space, and quiet, and the freedom to step outdoors whenever we wanted. We took a good long walk on the dirt road behind the house. Walking without a mask feels so luxurious to us now.
The weekend was restorative, but coming home was harder than I expected. I just wrote a deep-ish dive into The State of Things for WebMD, and it ain’t good. The first 100 days were unspeakably horrible, and the next 100 days will be only slightly better. We’ll be indoors for a good long while.
Meanwhile, though, we have to eat.
Here’s the menu for next week:
MONDAY:
photo courtesy Budget Bytes
Creamy Coconut Curry Lentils with Spinach from Budget Bytes, with a double batch of rice and naan. Don’t have fresh baby spinach? It’s ok, you can use frozen. If you’re using dried lentils, you’ll also cook some extra to use on Wednesday. The extra rice comes into play on Thursday. And as the recipe suggests, you can add some sliced carrots to the lentil-spinach stew.
TUESDAY: Sheet Pan Quesadillas from TheKitchn with crunchy raw vegetables on the side. Don’t sweat it if you don’t have Mexican cheese blend, since it’ll work with any nice, melty cheese. I love how clever this is—you’re basically making one giant pantry-based quesadilla and cutting it up. It serves 8, so you’ll have leftovers for lunch.
WEDNESDAY:
photo courtesy Taste of Home
Quick and Easy Vegetable Pot Pie from Taste of Home. This calls for frozen vegetables and ready-made pie crust (though of course you can use homemade, if you’ve got flour, butter, and time)! If you cooked extra lentils on Monday, they go into this filling.
THURSDAY: Crispy Rice and Egg Bowl with Ginger-Scallion Vinaigrette from Smitten Kitchen. This one’s all about the rice and the vinaigrette—as long as you’ve got scallions, ginger, and rice, the rest is adaptable.
FRIDAY: Creamy Kale and Pasta Bake from MyRecipes. The recipe calls for fresh kale, but frozen works just fine. And again, don’t worry if you don’t have the exact cheese called for in the recipe.
Here’s the shopping list:
I know, you can’t just run out to the store. Use this to help you see which recipes you can make with what you have on-hand.
Produce
2 cloves garlic (M)
Medium knob fresh ginger OR ground ginger (M, Th)
1 small + 1 large yellow onion (M, F)
3 cups baby spinach OR frozen spinach (M)
2-3 carrots (M)
1 bunch cilantro, optional (M)
Vegetables you like to eat raw (T, Th)
1 large bunch scallions (Th)
1 (1-lb.) package cut kale OR frozen kale (F)
Pantry
Olive oil (M, T, F)
Neutral vegetable oil such as grapeseed, safflower, or sunflower (Th)
Ground ginger OR fresh ginger (M, Th)
Curry powder (M)
Quatre épices spice blend OR pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger (W)
1 3/4 cups dry brown, black, or green lentils OR 2 (15-oz.) cans lentils OR other canned beans (M, W)
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth (M)
1 (13-oz.) can coconut milk OR 1/2 cup heavy cream OR 3/4 cup half-and-half (M)
2 1/2 cups white or brown rice (M, Th)
1 (15-oz.) can black beans
1 (12-oz.) can corn kernels OR frozen corn (T)
1 (7-oz.) can salsa verde OR other salsa (T)
8 tablespoons flour or cornstarch (W, F)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (W)
1/4 cup sherry or rice wine vinegar (Th)
Soy sauce or tamari (Th)
Sriracha, gochujang, or other hot sauce (Th, F)
1/2 lb. medium-size shell or other cut pasta (F)
1/2 cup panko (F)
Dairy
1/2 cup heavy cream OR 3/4 cup half-and-half OR 1 can coconut milk (M)
1 quart milk (F)
1 1/2 lb. shredded Mexican cheese blend, cheddar, Jack, or even mozzarella (T, F)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (W)
8 tablespoons butter (W, F)
1 refrigerated OR frozen pie crust (W)
4-8 eggs (Th)
Bakery
4 naan, pita, or other flatbread (M)
10 (8-inch) flour tortillas (T)
Freezer Case
1 (10-oz.) package chopped spinach (M)
1 (12-16-oz.) package kale OR fresh kale (F)
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels OR canned (T)
3 cups frozen mixed vegetables (W)
1 frozen OR refrigerated pie crust (W)
Stay safe, be kind, and wash your hands.
Debbie