A Year in Dinners
Lest I miss out on all of the Year-in-Review fun that everyone seems to be having as we wrap up yet another one, I thought I'd try something a little radical: Present all the dinners I cooked in 2016, as recorded in my Dinner Diary. I know: Super exciting! But the headlines this year were so boring and business-as-usual, so what else was I going to write about? (Please do not answer that.) Since it's customary to reflect a bit as we flip our calendars, I did want to preface My Year in Dinners with a few notes:
We are definitely not kosher. There's a lot of pork.
We are much better about going meatless than we were a few years ago, but boy we still have a ways to go.
We do love our pan-fried fish and green salads. (I need to post about our go-to green salads; we have them so often that I only ever record them as "salad.")
There is pretty much no dessert mentioned on this list. Please do not misinterpret this. We eat dessert almost every night, but I never write it down. (Probably because I'm afraid of what I will see.)
Some months don't have as many dinners as others. This is because sometimes I get lazy and forget to record for weeklong stretches, but also because I omitted what we ate when entertaining, traveling, or dining out because it got kind of complicated. You can find most of those details in my travel and entertaining posts, or on my instagram feed.)
I included links to recipes where I could, and if a meal appeared in one of my books, I noted which one. (Key: Love Story = Dinner: A Love Story; Playbook = Dinner: The Playbook; Celebrate = How to Celebrate Everything.) Because I don't really use recipes, you might notice that the description of the dinner does not exactly match the linked recipe, but I figured I'd give you something as close as possible. Lastly: All dinners shown in the above grid can be found in Playbook.
January Pork Ragu Chopped Salad Brown-Sugar-Mustard Salmon Italian Wedding Soup Grain Bowl with Brussels Sprouts and Egg Short Rib Pot Pie Turkey Chili (Love Story) Kale Cobb Salad (Playbook) Chicken Paillard with Lemon and Salad Mercurio's Baked Ziti Chicken Pot Pie (Love Story) and a version here Shrimp Salad Rolls (Playbook) Grandma Jody's Chicken (Love Story & here) Kale, Feta & Roast Tomato Pizza Arroz con Pollo (Love Story) Homemade Sushi Night Bo Ssam/Rice/Slaw/Fried Veggie Noodles/Chocolate Chip Cookies Pan-fried Chickpeas, Yogurt, Naan (Celebrate) Chopped Salad with Chicken and Ranch Fried Fish with Salad Burgers, Baked Beans (Celebrate), Salad BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Potatoes, Slaw (Playbook and here) Salmon with Kale/Pomegranate Salad (Celebrate)
February French Bread Pizzas Breaded Vinegary Pork Chops (Love Story and here) Swedish Meatballs (Love Story) Salmon with Brussels Indonesian Chicken Salad Pasta with Turkey Bolognese (and in Love Story) Leftover Pizza Chicken & Black Bean Tacos (Love Story) Rice & Beans with Avocado (coming soon, crazy I haven't written this up) Honey-Lemon Roast Salmon (Playbook) with Leftover Horseradish Cream Sauce Miso-Butter Tofu (shown above)
March Beer-braised Pork with Cabbage (shown above) Egg/Sausage/Cheese/Biscuits (Celebrate) Rotisserie Chicken, Salad, Homemade Challah (Celebrate) Filet with Red Wine Sauce (Celebrate) Veggie Chili Brussels Bowl with Coconut Rice Fried Flounder with Salad Chicken Sausages with Salad and Crusty Bread Burrito Bowls (Celebrate and here) Chicken Cutlet Sandwiches Burgers with Big Green Salad Roast Chicken Thighs with Gochujang Chili from Freezer Brown Sugar Mustard-Glazed Salmon Sushi Bowls Fried fish with Salad Quinoa Bowls with Chicken and Kale Burrito Bowls with Sausage Easter Filet/Potatoes/Salad Avocado Toasts Meatball Sandwiches
April Milk-braised Pork Loin Picnic Chicken (Celebrate) Poke Bowls Crispy Chickpeas and Tamarind Yogurt (shown above, Celebrate) Cider-braised Pork Loin wth Gnocchi (Similar: Cider-braised Meatballs in Celebrate) Bulgogi Burgers Ditalini Pasta with Chickpeas Chicken Tacos Poke Bowls Turkey Burgers with Green Salad Grilled Ribeyes with Peanuty Slaw (Slaw: Playbook) Hunter Stew Burrito Bowls Butter-roasted Salmon with Beets, Green Beans, Barley Turkey Meatballs Chicken Pot Pie (Love Story)
May Shrimp Rolls and Beets (Playbook) Chicken Cutlets with Salad (Love Story) Homemade Pizza Korean Pork Tacos with Peanut Slaw (Playbook) Grilled Salmon with Wheatberry Salad Spicy Pork and Cabbage Salad Giant Turkey Meatballs with Charred Green Beans Bacon-wrapped Tenders with Pickles and Salad Homemade Fettuccine with Mushrooms & Chives (shown above) Grilled Farm Market Sausages, Lahey Bread, Salad Salmon with Horseradish Sauce Rotisserie Chicken with Salad Lemon Chicken (Celebrate) with Chopped Salad Soy/Rice Wine-marinated Pork with Broccoli and Rice Rigatoni with Meatballs Tony's Steak/No-Knead Bread/Cherry Pie
SUMMER (I was really bad about recording, so I'm consolidating June-July-August) Grilled Chicken and Market Salads Salmon Salad (Love Story) Salad Pizza BBQ Chicken, slaw, potato salad (Love Story) Fried Fish Strawberry Spinach Salad (shown above) Goat Cheese Toasts with Chard (& Sausages) Fried Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa Sushi Bowls with Salmon Spaghetti with corn, tomatoes, basil, shallots Lettuce/Pork Wraps (Celebrate) Strawberry Spinach Salad (shown above) Salmon Salad (Love Story)
Yogurt-marinated Chicken, Grilled Asparagus, Tomato/Feta Salad Burgers Fish Tacos with Cilantro Pesto (Playbook) Salmon Salad (shown above, Love Story) Miso-Butter Tofu Turkey meatballs with Salad Homemade Veggie Dumplings Lentils & Salmon & Grilled Greens Soy-Glazed Pork Chops with Barley & Savoy Slaw (Celebrate) Corn & Chicken Summer Stew (Playbook) Tomato Tart wth Strawberry Spinach Salad Crispy Chicken Sandwiches with Kale Salad Shrimp Cocktail Fried Flounder, Butterbeans, Tomato Feta Salad Pizza made by the girls Yogurt-marinated Chicken Ribs & Double Mustard Potato Salad Shrimp Rolls, Tomato-Corn-Feta Salad, Butterbeans & Mint (Playbook, pictured) Grilled Chicken with Veg Shrimp Cocktail w Green Salad Grilled Steak with Salsa Verde and Campfire Potatoes Soy-Honey Chicken on Grill/Caesar's Salad BBQ Pork Sandwiches Chicken Caesar Salad
September Roast Chicken (Love Story) with Salad & Baguette Turkey Chili (Love Story) Caesar Salad with Chicken (shown above) Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Arctic Char with Kale Salad Turkey Meatballs with Market Greens Chicken Pot Pie with Caprese (Love Story) Pad Thai Crispy Chicken Sandwiches with Roast Market Carrots Grilled Chicken, Corn Salad, Foccacia Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Slaw Mustard Herb Chicken Veggie Dumplings Brussels & Avocado Bowl Salmon Salad (Love Story) Grandma Jody's Chicken with Shredded Beet Salad, Yogurt, & Herbs Grilled Sausages & Double Mustard Potato Salad (Love Story)
October Baked Shrimp with Feta Pappardelle, Pork Ragu (shown above) Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Roast Cauliflower & Bread Crumbs (Playbook) Honey-Mustard Baked Chicken Thighs Grilled Tuna & Teriyaki Anions Chicken with Artichokes and Creamy Tomato Sauce (Playbook) Pasta with Leftover Ragu & Broccoli Salad Franks 'n Beans (Celebrate) Mustard-Herb Chicken Chicken with Brussels & Bacon (Love Story)
November Spaghetti & Turkey Meatballs Mustard-Herb Chicken Flounder Meuniere Marcella's Milk-braised Pork Sausages with Salad & Bread Burgers & Big Green Salad Chicken Pot Pie (Love Story) Fried Flounder with Slaw Fried Veggie Noodles (shown above) Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup Arroz Con Pollo (Love Story) Sushi Bowls (Salmon)
December Mustard-Herb Chicken Shepherd's Pie Steak with Sesame Spinach and Potatoes Burrito Bowls w Beans/Veggie & Pork (Celebrate and here) Salad Pizza Ragu "Pies" with Salad Rotisserie Chicken and Mashed Potatoes Shrimp Rolls (Playbook) Mercurio's Chicken Parm Xmas Dinner: Filet, Sybil's Salad, Carrots with Pecans, Mashed Potatoes Brown-Sugar-Mustard Salmon with Smashed Potatoes & Sour Cream