Cook Once, Eat All Week—Weeks 9-12
THAT’S RIGHT. I’M STILL AT IT!! Bren is starting to flag, but I am COMMITTED!!!
Week 9
This was the worst week so far. For the first (and so far only) time, I didn’t bother to make one of the dishes—the Green Goddess salad. Partly because Thanksgiving was coming up, but mostly because none of these recipes called for any sort of kale preparation…not even a lil massage. So it was just unmitigated kale. And after days 1 and 2, I was like…I cannot eat an unmitigated kale salad. I WON’T DO IT (and I like kale!—properly prepared).
Confetti chicken casserole. 0/5. Onion, bell peppers, corn, kale, chicken breast, all just sort of layered together with cheese and bacon on top. Now, to be fair, I ran out of mayo. But I don’t think mayo would have done much to pull this dish together. Bren said it was the weirdest thing he’s ever eaten.
Mexican chicken and corn street tacos. 2/5. I guess the Cotija makes them Mexican? The dressing was weird, the kale made it weirder.
Week 10
Maybe it’s because week 9 was so bad and expectations were low, but this was the best week so far.
Philly cheese steak fries, 5/5. I couldn’t find brisket so I used chuck roast (the internet said this was OK) and it worked out great.
Pepper steak stir-fry, 5/5. I forgot to take a pic, so here’s my lunch portion. The sauce was good, the meat was good.
Gyro salad with garlic potato wedges, 3/5. I liked the dressing but Bren found it too sour. I don’t mind an astringent salad dressing. I couldn’t give this a 4/5 because the tzatziki had no lemon juice in it? What?
Week 11
This week was OK. Nothing I hated, although I was baffled by the “””stir fry.””” I liked the Chicken Vesuvio (Mt. Vesuvius chicken).
Chicken bacon Ranch casserole—3/5. Bren pointed out that this author relies too much on bacon for flavor…I think it’s the same with the Ranch dressing. You can’t really go wrong with mashed potatoes + bacon + ranch, but, meh?
Lemon Ginger Chicken Stir Fry—2/5, Bren refused to rate it. Neither of us understood how you could do a stir fry without rice (or noodles or something). So I added the rice, but it was definitely not supposed to be there. The sauce—which was actually very good and the only reason the dish got a 2—turned it into a weird rice soup with chicken and green beans. I can’t blame the dish for that, but I can blame the dish for acting like a few chicken chunks and green beans is a full meal. Excuse me.
Chicken Vesuvio, 4/5. Pretty good! The only downside is eating it for lunch the next day—there’s no good way to gnaw on a chicken leg at your desk at work lmao.
Week 12
This week was a little odd, but I think I might make some of these recipes (adjusted) again.
Rustic beef-stuffed acorn squash, 2/5. I just……knock it off with the stuffed vegetables. I don’t want this much squash. The sauce was too sour, and the cranberries were also very sour. The beef, onion, and collard green mix was good. I’d make this again but just cube the squash and have it on the side or in the mix. No cranberries.
Italian beef rolls with vodka sauce, 3/5. The sauce was good, the beef was good. The collards were bitter and tough (even though I shaved them to make them easier to roll—I told Bren as he was walking by, “this B’s got me shaving collard leaves). I think the collards needed to be cooked longer, but then the recipe wouldn’t fit in the “fast” dinner category, which is probably why they weren’t. I’d make these again with actual gluten-y noodles.
Red curry acorn squash soup with crispy beef, 3/5. The soup was good. The beef was good. We couldn’t figure out why they were together. I was trying to describe this dish to a friend and she was like, “you’ve never had beef soup?” and I was like “no no no. It’s not beef soup. It’s soup, with beef.”
Our theory—because we spend a decent amount of time trying to deconstruct the logic behind these dishes—is that this was originally a soup + sandwich concept, but in an attempt to make it gluten-free, the author just took out the bread and put the meat in the soup. I’d make this again but with the beef on the side in a panini situation.