Yesterday, I roasted beets, white carrots, and leeks as our dinner side. For the main course, I had made lamb chops with peppers, tomatoes, onions, and marsala. When I looked at the amount of food I had produced, the beets were pulled. Old habits may die hard in the preparation, but the new habit caught it before it all went on the plates!

The lamb chops were pan-fried to brown, and then they were pulled and onions, and peppers went into the pan. A few minutes later, a bit of marsala and a couple of peeled and chopped tomatoes went in – and then the lamb chops returned to finish cooking. A squeeze of lemon, a couple of sliced olives. it was more than enough – and really good, too!

Today, I pulled a couple of pork loin chops out and immediately knew they were too big for dinner. I cut them in half and then pounded them to make cutlets. They were breaded and fried – nothing fancy or unusual – but the topping was an eggplant spread I made a few days ago… It was a concoction of roasted eggplant, onions, garlic, wine, mushrooms, peppers, carrots – based on the Catalan dish, Samfaina.

I decided to play with the beets a bit so I cubed them and then cubed an apple, mixed them together with a bit of pistachio liqueur and chopped pistachios, and then baked them off until the apples were tender.

They were definitely a hit! The apples really picked up the flavor of the pistachios, and the beets really picked up the flavor of the apples. It’s a combo I will definitely go to, again!

Week Five. We’re doing it!