Back pocket dinners

Every parent needs a few back pocket dinners, something you always have in the pantry that comes together quickly that everyone will eat, for those nights when nothing goes to plan but yet the children must be fed. Restaurants often don't work on nights like these, because the parking and waiting variables can throw an off night into disaster territory. Some nights, I need to know dinner will be on the our table quickly and eaten, so I can get MZ up to bed without fear of throwing off tomorrow.

I keep a freezer full of frozen dumplings for nights like these, and as long as I don't serve them too often, I get the added bonus of being a complete hero for serving my family's favorite food. Boil some dumplings and some frozen edamame and dinner is on the table in 10 minutes. Little else is that quick, healthy and popular.

So when I read about Maya Kaimal's simmer sauces on DALS a few months ago, I made a note. I'm not usually a fan of jarred sauces, they're usually dull and viscous with way too much sodium and fat, not to mention the preservatives. These are refrigerated, so they actually have an expiration date, and the ingredients are pretty straightforward. And I trust DALS on the taste front, so on my shopping list they went.

I looked and looked for them. No luck at Whole Foods, Molly Stones, not even Rainbow Grocery. They stayed on my list, but I was losing hope. And then one day MZ and I found ourselves at the new Whole Foods - Haight and they were giving out samples of the Tikka Masala sauce with frozen peas, corn and carrots over basmati rice. And MZ LOVED it. She asked to go back for another sample. She asked me to buy all the ingredients and make it exactly the way they did. And R was on his way to China so I was all like, Yeah! Easy dinner, I'm in.

And DALS was right, dinner was on the table in 20 minutes with time to chat, wash hands, set the table. It was downright leisurely. I put on the rice, surreptitiously chopped and steamed some carrots because I had them, heated the sauce and then hung out with her until it was time to add the vegetables and serve. She scraped her plate clean and asked for more.

If I was really rushed, I'd use TJs frozen brown rice and all frozen vegetables and dinner would be ready in 10 minutes. But I'm already planning to try the coconut curry sauce for some frozen okra I have on hand from my gumbo foray, and that chicken and spinach with the tamarind sauce looks pretty good too. So grateful for another item to keep in my back pocket.

Dinners Week of 07/26

This week's challenge: how to turn MZ into a chile head? I am craving good hot food, where the heat is cooked in rather than added at the end. But what would MZ eat? I know she could get used to chile if I made consecutively hotter dishes over a few intensive weeks, but I don't think she'd enjoy the ride. So I continue to dumb the recipes down, and hope that she develops an appreciating for the sensation of hot food on her own.

Sunday: Dinner at Friends' house

Monday: Grilled Lemongrass Beef Noodle Salad (Bun Bo)

Lemongrass-marinated grilled flank steak sliced over a layered salad of rice vermicelli, julienned zucchini, cucumber, shredded carrots, thinly sliced romaine lettuce, chopped mint, cilantro, Thai basil, green onions and crushed roasted peanuts. I marinated the meat, made the nuoc cham and prepped the veggies (all except the herbs) the night before. When I got home from work, I marinated the carrots and zucchini in the nuoc cham, boiled the noodles and chopped the herbs while R grilled the meat. MZ enjoyed hers deconstructed.

Tuesday: Grilled halibut, boiled new potatoes with butter, steamed broccoli

Wednesday: "Spicy" Grilled Chicken, "Spicy Eggplant with Tomatoes", Whole Wheat Chapati, Cucumber Raita

The chicken was from Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking, minus most of the cayenne. I made the marinade and put it in a zip lock with the chicken the night before. We received both eggplant and roma tomatoes in our farm box, so this quick recipe from 5 Spices, 50 Dishes was perfect. When I got home, I quickly cut up the eggplant and tomatoes. I added 1/2 t garam masala at the end to make up for the missing cayenne, thinking otherwise it might be bland. Definitely a make-again dish. The chapati, purchased from the frozen case at our local pan-Asian market, was an easy accompaniment. I made the raita from a diced cucumber and some yogurt and spices while the vegetables and chapati cooked. R and I added lime pickle for heat, MZ prefers the sweeter taste of tamarind chutney.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Tacos - FAIL

Wow, this estofado recipe did not work at all. When I started it in the morning, I thought it needed more liquid, but then thought more would be created as the pico de gallo salsa cooked down. R called me at 5 pm to suggest that it hadn't quite gone to plan, but was very polite and so I just thought it wasn't a lot of meat. It was shoe leather. Very salty shoe leather. We ate it in warm tortillas with a lot of sour cream and salsa.

Friday: Lemongrass Chicken, Asian Slaw and Judy D's fabulous Coconut Lime Rice

Angie's lemongrass marinade was outstanding! The chicken went really well with this new slaw recipe. I made brown Kalajiri rice in the rice cooker and stirred in a can of light coconut milk, some lime zest and the juice of one lime at the end. Also on the table: delicious heirloom tomatoes and good bread to start, grilled corn, teriyaki flank steak, edamame, and Mitchell's ice cream for dessert. A feast with good friends.

Saturday: Leftovers for MZ, NOPA for the adults

Asian Slaw

This recipe is based on the Ginger Pickled Red Cabbage Slaw in the China Moon Cookbook. I love this cookbook, but rarely have all her house-made pantry items on hand these days. To compensate for the lack of handmade pickled ginger, I added handfuls of fresh, tasty herbs and some carrots for contrast. This salad is gorgeous and tasty. It was great with grilled meats and hot rice, and would be good on a SE Asian-flavored burger.

2 T minced pickled ginger (sushi ginger)

1/4 cup ginger pickling liquid

1/2 cup rice vinegar

2 T sugar

1.25 t kosher salt

1 lb red cabbage, cored and cut into fine strands

2 medium carrots, grated

3 green onions, finely sliced on the diagonal

2 T each chopped mint, cilantro ad Thai basil

1 T black sesame seeds

Combine the first five ingredients in a nonreactive, shallow bowl. Toss with the cabbage. Toss again in 15-20 minutes, cover and refrigerate for a day, tossing occasionally. The mixture will turn hot pink. Just before serving, add remaining ingredients, reserving some sesame seeds for garnish. Serve.