thoughtful consumption

So here’s my plan for Saturday’s supper. It’s all new to me, but, if something goes horribly wrong, we can have pasta with pesto or just go straight to dessert.

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Cream of tomato soup

I’ll use fresh tomatoes if they don’t get eaten before Saturday. My guest is bringing bread that we’ll have with the soup.

Broiled shrimp po-boys

Marinated and broiled shrimp, homemade garlic mayo, and sorrel leaves in toasted hot dog buns. Here’s where the idea came from although I’m not going to toss the shrimp in gin and sherry before broiling. Gin and sherry?! It’s probably great, but I’ll just stick to the basic marinade for now.

Salad and green beans

Hopefully enough of the lettuce will still be around Saturday evening to serve. I can always stretch it with more sorrel leaves. I’ll toss it with a light vinaigrette and top it with craisins and toasted walnuts.

I’ll sauté blanched green beans in a little oil and top with salt, pepper, and some fresh lemon juice.

Frozen berries in whipped cream and candied pecans

I’ll whip the cream that’s leftover from making the soup. I need to make the pecans because I separated some egg whites yesterday and I’ll separate another to make the mayo. And we can take leftover pecans with us to the beach….

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Off to the beach!

Next week we’re going to the beach. So this means we have a lot to eating and cooking to do along with the planning and the packing.

We need to eat a bunch of fried rice, green beans, coleslaw, squash and watermelon. If we run out of time, I’ll blanch and freeze the green beans and squash.

I’ve already made the basil into pesto that will keep in the freezer until we return. If I have some sorrel left after Saturday, I’ll cook it into green sauce and freeze it, too.

I’m also going to make and freeze a couple of dishes of eggplant Parmesan with all that gorgeous eggplant. When I cook the eggplant, I know the guys will want to eat it instead of fried rice, green beans, etc. So I’m either going to cook it right after a big meal or just give in to the inevitable and serve it for supper one night and then freeze the leftovers.