With Jon having just returned from Ukraine, and me about to head off to Austria, we decided that some spicy food was in order. Although the Tandoori Chicken was a bit of a flop, the menu overall worked really well. We had good variety, got a lot of lunches, and had the perfect amount leftover for an easy Friday dinner.

Sat - Vegetarian Indian Salad (no shrimp)
Sun - Lamb Vindaloo and Saag Paneer with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce, Naan, and Rice
Mon - Tandoori Chicken with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce and Naan
Tue - Shahi Paneer with Indian-style Cauliflower, Raita, Naan, and Rice
Wed - Indian Salad with leftover Tandoori Chicken (instead of shrimp)
Thu - (Out)
Fri - Eat ALL the leftovers!

So, I definitely felt the pounds go on this holiday season. In an effort to get those off quickly, and jump start our healthy eating for the year, we incorporated some meals from the Bon Appetit Food Lover's Cleanse into our meal plan for the week. We by no means went all-in. Breakfast and lunch remained largely unchanged, and I did fudge some of the recipes to make them more delicious. All in all, it was okay. None of the recipes were really winners, though I recorded many of them because they are healthy.

Sun: Lemongrass Chicken with Coconut Black Rice and Garlicky Bok Choy
Mon: Soy-braised Short Ribs (admittedly not part of the cleanse diet) with more of the delicious Bok Choy
Tues: Avocado and Grapefruit Salad with Edamame (with fried won ton wrappers added for crunch) with Sesame Miso Vinaigrette
Wed: Cheat and go out to Bluejacket (but we ate healthy, I swear…)
Thus: Chicken, Mango, and Black Rice Salad
Fri: Sushi at home

1. House-made brioche with smoked trout roe and greek yogurt
2. Cured salmon with squid ink toast and raw pacific mexican whitefish with green tomato
3. Raw scallops two ways - with coconut milk and with crumbled pistachios
4. Burrata with asparagus and lemon breadcrumbs
5. Egg ravioli with ramps and dried tuna flakes
6. One-bite spanakopita
7. Smoked fois gras with pea purée
8. House-made half smoke with spicy tomato chutney, half sour pickle and beer
9. Warm date stuffed with marscspone topped w olive oil and sea salt

Last week was New Orleans week ... not my favorite week. The food is growing on me (and last week's gumbo was pretty delicious), but its still more of a "Jon-week." So this week was an "Audrey-week." I'll call it "California ethnic." I focused on four of my favorite California ethnic cuisines - Iranian, Jewish (...sort of a cuisine), Asian (broadly), and Mexican (also broadly).

Saturday - Homemade Sushi

Sunday - Tah Chin (Persian Rice Casserole)

This week we received our third Arganica delivery (apologies for forgetting to take a picture and post about our second delivery, which included locally milled flour).

This week's delivery includes:

Farm Eggs
Pizza Dough
Roasted Garlic Linguini
Cremini Mushrooms
York Apples
Hydroponic Lettuce
Avocado
Parsley

When this 1-month trial is done (next week), expect a longer post on our overall experience.