Days 1 and 2 of the Great Week of Eating In

I was a bit too tired to post anything about my lack of exciting cooking yesterday (but really... who can say that they make all out meals every day?), but yesterday was grocery shopping day and it was exhausting as it usually is. On top of that, we live in a third floor walkup, and had already brought up a gratuitous number of non-perishables from Sam's Club the previous day (Relay style. It took an hour!)

Since I did the shopping, uncomplicated was on the menu for the day. I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch with this awesome roasted tomato and olive DaVinci Gouda on a fresh French boule. OK... Honestly? I just can't get enough of that cheese. It's creamy, it's delicious, it's versatile. I think it would make a great fondue, but I have yet to experiment with that.

Dinner found a corned beef and cabbage in the pot. This can't be an easier dish to make, and you only see the corned beef seasonally in the store so I snatched one up while I was there. Into the pot with the water and seasonings, then the cabbage goes in for the last 30 minutes. Can it get any easier?

Today for  lunch I made myself Smoked Salmon Pinwheels. I created this recipe as a variation on a favorite from my teenage years, again, from Yura's. They make them with different ingredients, and I came up with these one year for a cocktail party. They are so easy and so delicious - there are so many layers of flavor here. Recipe after the picture.

To make them, you will want to start with some pre-made flour tortillas. The larger the better, as they will yield more servings. You'll want one package of smoked salmon/lox (I prefer lox as it is a little saltier than smoked salmon), one 8 oz package of cream cheese, fresh dill, half of a large onion or shallots, finely chopped (I used shallots as I prefer their taste), and half of a lemon, juiced and zested.

Mix half (4oz) of your cream cheese, your lemon ingredients, your shallots or onions, and 4-5 stalks of fresh dill in a mini-prep or by hand until well combined. If you plan on making this by hand, do make sure that your onions or shallots are very finely diced unless you like larger bites of the flavor.  

Once it is combined well, spread your mixture onto one tortilla, making sure to leave a 1/2" border from the edge. Put one layer of salmon on top of your spread, and then roll your tortilla up like a jelly roll. Cut your edges off since they will not have anything in them, but then slice 1-1.5" rolls (as big as you like), serve, and enjoy. 

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Tonight for dinner is a roasted chicken over onions, carrots, and potatoes. I plan on toasting some croutons to serve the chicken over. I am also defrosting a loaf of bread dough with which to make cinnamon rolls with Mascarpone frosting. Yummm!!