Weeknight meals

Requirements for cooking weeknight meals:

• Quick
• Relatively healthy
• All food groups included (usually heavy on the veg)
• Note:  Wine is part of the "fruit" group.  Eat your grapes, kids.
• Relatively inexpensive
• Semi-homemade

Trader Joe's never lets me down in these categories.

Lobster Ravioli ($2.99) -

To which I made a homemade butter/olive oil sauce with sauteed shallots, walnuts, sea salt, cracked black pepper, and a pinch of Old Bay. 
Topped with a bit of grated Parm (as no pasta should be without cheese).
Note: This pan sauce works well with b-nut squash or pumpkin ravioli, too.

Paired with one of my favorite salads - spinach, bleu cheese, pears, vidalia onions, and sliced almonds.  Topped with organic Sesame Goddess dressing.  You can get it at Whole Foods - $3/bottle and full of garlicky deliciousness.  They also have a wide variety of reasonably priced gourmet cheeses.
(I'm kind of on an Iowa Maytag kick, myself.)

Washed down with a wine recommendation by the creepy, pushy Italian guy at Binny's (located conveniently next-door to TJ's).  After snooping in my cart, he found out I liked Rombauer.  I rolled my eyes at the Kendall-Jackson label he harrassed me into purchasing (yes, I'm a wine snob), but gosh darn it, their 2008 Grand Reserve Chardonnay was pretty tasty. I mean, it was no Rombauer...but what is, really? And the $30-bottles-of-wine-on-weeknights-habit has
GOT. TO. STOP.

From kitchen to table in less than 20 minutes.

Domestic diva!

And by table, I mean coffee table, so the huzz and I can watch last night's ep of Khloe & Lamar.

(I'm pretty sure LO called her fat last night and I, personally, cannot wait to view the fallout.)

~photos by b~