Menu planning + what I am cooking this week

I think that people sometimes think that food bloggers, chefs, and proficient home cooks prepare elaborate meals every day.

The most frequent question I get asked is this: “How do you have time for this?”

My knee jerk response is that it doesn’t take that long at all. But that, of course, depends on a variety of factors like your comfort level in the kitchen when working with certain ingredients, work and family obligations, schedules etc.

And I definitely don’t cook “elaborately” – whatever you would take that word to mean – every day.

So I thought that it would be interesting to keep a menu planning and cooking diary to give you more insight into my week:

{p.s} For more, follow my weekly adventures on instagram.

Monday

Not enough time to eat breakfast (bad!), but I grabbed an almond latte at Ground Support.

Picked up some strawberries, blackberries, and the last smaller heirloom tomatoes at the market.

Celebratory lunch for dad’s birthday before he left for the airport – frisee salad with a poached egg on top, pan-fried calf liver with onions, mashed potatoes, and green beans (aka some of my favorite things). Espresso.

Dinner was roasted Alaskan salmon steaks with herbs (picked up on Sunday) and bok choy with a little soy sauce (bought Friday). Cooked both in the oven, at the same time, in less than 30 minutes.

Market strawberries for dessert.

Tuesday

Cheerios and almond milk for breakfast. English muffin (my weakness), toasted. Espresso.

Lunch was vegetable soup made over the weekend – it tastes even better with time, here is a similar recipe – and a cheese & salami sandwich with tarragon mustard.

Dinner was a salad of romaine with a simple vinaigrette, topped with some leftover salmon (from Monday). And a vegetable frittata, which is always easy to whip up on a whim.

Wednesday

Greek yogurt with honey and a few yellow plums that were getting too ripe (cooked quickly into a compote in the microwave), pistachios, and almonds. Latte.

Heirloom tomato and feta salad for lunch

Dinner at Houseman, celebrating this week’s 2 star review in the New York Times.

Thursday

Contractor meetings with coffee and gluten free morning glory muffins from Amy’s Bread 

I didn’t actually have any muffins myself, so lunch was a very late Mediterranean breakfast with duck bacon at my local, Jack’s Wife Freda.

Late night event at the Brooklyn Museum followed by an extremely late-night pizza in the rain at Lucali. Worth it.

Friday

A rush of morning meetings so I snacked on two things that are always in my refrigerator: fruit and almond butter.

Did the weekend shop at Union Square greenmarket in the drizzling rain, and here is what I got:

– apples, pears, and the last of the plums to make easy, individual fruit crisps – topped with maple syrup, oatmeal, a little bit of allspice and butter – in the evenings (similar recipe here);

– fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and eggplant for my favorite tricolore salad for dinner (which also included roast chicken);

– more of the same + turkey mince for Sunday’s eggplant parm dinner;

– chorizo to fry up with the potatoes and mushrooms I already had at home;

– more fresh berries, cherry jam, and greek yogurt for easy breakfasts throughout the week;

Saturday

Yogurt and berries + english muffins and coffee for family breakfast over football

Chicken noodle soup for lunch

Fried chorizo, golden potatoes, onions, and mushrooms+ a light salad for dinner (yum)

Pear and apple crisp for dessert, topped with a little bit of vanilla ice cream which melts into something of a creme anglaise..

Sunday

Same breakfast and lunch as the previous day, which never bothers me if it’s delicious.

and eggplant parm for dinner, trying out this recipe from Bon Appetit!