This Week in Meals

We had a pretty successful week in meals here at the Cash household, with one fairly giant exception (don't worry, I will elaborate).

Here are the things that rocked:

• Roasted Salmon with Lentils -- This has been a favorite for a (relatively) long time at our house. This week was Phoenix's first time trying it, and she loved it! Sister ate her body weight in lentils. Easy, delicious meal with pantry staples? Yes please.
• Italian Breaded Pork Chops (and I can't remember what we ate with it) -- Again, super easy and really good. Josh championed this particular dinner effort, and it was great. I don't make pork a regular part of our rotation, but it is nice to mix it up every once and a while.
• Red Curry Chicken with Rice Salad -- The chicken was good, but the rice salad stole the show. Josh ate all the leftovers. At one point he said, "Is it ok if I eat the rest of the salad?" Who knew such a question would ever come from my husband's mouth. I used a little more serrano than the recipe called for, and it was the spicy factor that really won Josh.
• Carrot-Pistachio Pesto with Bulgar and Chickpeas -- Love this. Fresh, light, healthy ... savory with a touch of sweetness from the currants. So good. We also added some chunks of chicken sausage (from the Dekalb farmers market) to make it more Josh friendly.
• Homemade Pizza -- This is a pretty standard meal in our house. Josh is a pizza addict, and it is an easy way for me to use up whatever veggies we have sitting around. This week, I used olive oil and garlic instead of sauce, loads of spinach, mozarella, feta and lots of black pepper. It was glorious. We just make one big pizza and divide it between us, with Josh getting a substantially bigger half.
• Refried Beans and Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas -- I am kind of embarrassed to admit that I LOVE refried beans. I can't be the only one, though, since they are a standard side at Mexican restaurants. This version is so easy, and there is no nasty lard involved. Josh was not involved in this meal ... he ate his leftover pizza. But Phoenix and I ate the beans and the (delicious!) tortiallas with tomatoes and avacado.

The fail?
I made "Spinach, Ricotta and Parmesan Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce" from The Meat Free Monday Cookbook. I spent an inordinate amount of time making this, especially because I started by making the ricotta from scratch. When it was all said and done, the gnocchi fell apart, I was in tears and Josh and I got in a fight. We will never make this again. But the cookbook is really cool ... you should check it out.
Anyone had a successful go at making gnocchi?