SUNDAY
Grilled Porterhouse Steaks | Roasted Green Bean & Baby Potato Salad
MONDAY
Summer Skillet Corn & Tomatoes with Basil & Orecchiette Pasta
TUESDAY
Lobster Bisque | Spinach Salad with Crumbled Goat Cheese & a Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
WEDNESDAY
New England~Style Lobster Rolls | Corn~on~the~Cob | Coleslaw
THURSDAY
Oven “Fried” Chicken | A Salad of Peaches, Mozzarella & Basil
FRIDAY
Chicken & Wild Rice Salad
A few days early with this menu but I am about to head out of town with Mallory for a horse show. My suitcase is waiting for me upstairs and, well, you know how much I hate to pack, so sharing my dinner plans for next week with you is a pleasant distraction. Actually, more of a necessity…the thought of coming home on Sunday evening after four days at a horse show and having to face the big ? of what’s for dinner {along with more laundry than you can imagine} is fairly debilitating. With the menu planned and posted, the boys can prepare a list and take care of the market shopping over the weekend, ensuring I don’t start next week off two steps behind.
Usually, at this time of year, my Saturday morning visits to the farmer’s market serve as the inspiration for our weekly dinners. This week, working in advance, I am giving into my annual summer craving for New England~style lobster rolls to anchor our dinner plans. It just so happens that, this weekend, I will be a stone’s throw from this establishment where they make their own version of the oh-so-famous split top rolls…an important part of the traditional NE summer sandwich. Years ago, Michael and I lived in Ipswich, Massachusetts where we lived about two miles from Crane Beach. The better part of summer weekends were spent at the beach enjoying clambakes and lobster rolls from this iconic eatery, often delivered to us right on the beach. To this day, lobster rolls remain on my summer wish list and this week fresh Maine lobster procured from here will be turned into lobster rolls and a bisque.
A few notes on this week’s menu…
SUNDAY: Mallory and I are traveling home from the horse show and the boys are preparing dinner for us. A local market has porterhouse steaks on special, too tempting for Michael to pass up. This Roasted Green Bean & Potato Salad is an easy, delicious side dish.
MONDAY: I recently posted this Summer Skillet Corn & Tomato Salad and tonight we will enjoy a meatless {without bacon} version of this salad tossed with orecchiette pasta…
TUESDAY: This dinner is inspired by a recent lunch I enjoyed here after a morning spent shopping at the farmer’s market with Michael. I am excited to use fresh Maine lobster and sweet, in~season tomatoes in this Lobster Bisque recipe and a slightly modified version of this Spinach Salad to re~create this wonderful dish here at home.
WEDNESDAY: The dinner I have been craving, finally. Last night’s lobster bisque mainly calls for the shells and bodies to make a flavorful broth, reserving most of the tender succulent meat to be used as a topping. In our case, I chopped the meat and stored in the refrigerator to be used in a traditional New England~style lobster salad for tonight’s dinner. Boiled corn~on~the~cob and Homemade Coleslaw will accompany our lobster rolls tonight, just like our dinners on the beach so many years ago.
THURSDAY: Peaches continue to be a star at the farmer’s market. This season has produced some of the most flavorful fruit I have ever tasted and when I checked back into my archives here for recipes using this summer gem I came across this favorite…
FRIDAY: I have made this recipe several times using leftover cooked chicken and it is a crowd pleaser, not to mention EASY!!!! This salad can be enjoyed warm, cold or at room temperature making it ideal for summer picnics. Using already cooked chicken from last night’s dinner makes this a quick and flavorful meal…perfect for a Friday night! For our salad tonight, I will be using sweet/tart early~harvest “champagne” grapes which have recently started to make an appearance at the farmer’s market in place of the Granny Smith apples called for in the original recipe.
Wishing you all a fabulous weekend and a wonderful week ahead!
