Dinner Alone

Joe has been busy lately, as he's started teaching one night a week and then there is hunting and various other activities, so I've been enjoying some dinners alone.  Many of you know I am very lucky.  Joe is great about eating whatever I make and has very few things he doesn't like.  He'll even happily eat meatless meals.  But I do feel guilty sometimes as I do not seem to need meat nearly as often and am quite happy without it.

So, I will share some of my recent meals, of which, many of you will say really?  Where's the meat?  But I adored them! I didn't follow any recipes so will just have to make up names and give general directions.


Chard, Squash, and White Bean Bake

Last night, I looked in my vegetable drawer and started chopping.  I already had some peeled butternut squash, which I could eat every day!  I then lightly sauteed some shallot, garlic, and the stems of the swiss chard, and softened just briefly the chopped swiss chard leaves.  All of this came from our garden!  I mixed the squash, onion and chard, about 1/4 cup of rinsed white beans, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese together. Look at those bright colors before putting it in the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes and the wonderful caramelized yumminess after.

Winter Green Fig Salad

Next, you will remember the figs I alluded to in the previous post. They were the highlight of a lovely salad earlier this week.  A very simple light dinner. Using the winter greens growing on my deck full of wonderful hearty flavors like kale and beat greens, I topped the greens simply with a light dressing made of oil, honey, and cinnamon; some cottage cheese and the glorious figs.

 

I think I'm headed out to cut some of those winter greens for lunch!