Summer Chaos Menu
Random dinners and a good TV show, plus a cookbook with simple recipes
Hello!
My husband and I have been devouring the fantastic restaurant-inspired TV series The Bear (streaming on Hulu). If you’ve been watching too, then you’re familiar with a chaos menu.
The chaos menu on The Bear is executed at a fine-dining level (smoked beef marrow with frozen grapes, hamachi crudo, a savory cannoli with a parmesan crust and mortadella cream). Chef Carmy’s “chaos menu” is meant to reflect the wide-range of ingredients and experiences that have influenced his cooking, from haute cuisine to his mom’s dysfunctional family dinners.
We’re left to wonder, is a chaos menu a brilliant and esoteric expression of a chef’s genius? Or is it just pure chaos that somehow comes together and creates a meal even though the chef can’t get their sh*t together?
At my house this summer, it’s the latter. Our summer chaos menu looks a lot like what we ate Monday night, when we came home to an empty refrigerator after a long day at the beach.
My husband threw a box of breaded calamari in the oven. I made a salad out of leftover potatoes and shaved corn on the cob. One kid ate leftover chicken schnitzel in a sandwich and the other rounded out her dinner with a leftover pancake from breakfast smeared with peanut butter.
Nothing went together, but we all got fed.
My favorite type of summer chaos menu isn’t leftovers, though. It’s a little more thoughtful and slightly more work but doesn’t require very much mental energy (important for summer).
You basically just prepare a random assortment of individual foods, without worrying too much about how they fit together on a plate. It’s like meal prep, without a specific meal in mind.
The basic equation is to make one protein, one grain, one pasta and four veggies. Put it all out on the table together and let everyone make their own plate.
This is important: Make enough for more than one meal. If you’re going to prep all these ingredients, you should be able to eat them more than once.
Above is a dinner we ate one night: grilled salmon, quinoa, orzo, corn on the cob, grated raw beets, grated carrots, frozen edamame, and leftover sautéed zucchini and greens. There was something there for everyone in the family and everyone combined the food in different ways.
My husband and I made salads with Glory Bowl salad dressing. Josie had orzo and salmon and Ophelia ate salmon and corn.
The next day, you have new options:
Shave the corn into the orzo and add salmon, for a simple salmon pasta salad. Squeeze lemon over the top or lightly dress it with mayo.
Shell the edamame into the quinoa and add grated carrot. Drizzle soy sauce on top.
Top salad greens with salmon and grated beets.
A few tips:
I usually make a grain in the Instant Pot while simultaneously boiling pasta on the stove.
Grating raw veggies gives them a new texture that kids seem to like. It’s also fun to add grated veggies to salads. Other easy veggies include snap peas, edamame, and sliced cucumbers.
Prepare the protein very simply - season meat or fish with salt and throw it on the grill or roast it in the oven. Or, buy pre-cooked meat at the store or serve deli turkey or ham.
Instead of meat or fish, serve sliced mozzarella and tomatoes.
Salad dressing is a great way to tie this type of meal together. Store-bought is fine, or you can make kefir ranch dressing or tahini dressing (1/4 cup tahini, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup or more water to thin it out).
This type of eating reminds me of feeding toddlers: make a bunch of simple foods and put a little bit of each food on their high chair tray. Guess what? It works just as well for older kids and adults! (although maybe not quite as well for ravenous teenagers?)
Dinner Last Week
I’m always curious about what other families are eating. Aren’t you? Here’s what my crew ate last week.
Monday: We were low on groceries, but I did have a big bag of mushrooms in the fridge that really needed to be used. The only noodles I had were dried udon noodles. I kept it simple and sautéd the mushrooms in butter, olive oil and garlic and tossed them with the noodles and a little more butter. I served steamed broccoli on the side.
Tuesday: Rice with crumbled tofu + roasted cauliflower and zucchini, plus egg rolls on the side.
Wednesday: Taco night
Thursday: Sheet-pan kielbasa and potatoes with dill vinaigrette (this paid subscriber recipe is coming out on Friday)
Friday: Pasta with the option of jarred red sauce or pesto, plus salad
Cookbooks
I saw Ready, Set, Cook by Dawn Perry at the library this week and grabbed it. I knew it was full of simple recipes that are perfect for summer. In fact, when I checked my newsletter archives I found that I had already mentioned this cookbook to you all last summer.
This time around, I’ve been enjoying the snacks (maple coconut granola) and the salad dressing recipes (sesame-ginger). Flavorful salad dressing is crucial for summer, when I’m craving salad for dinner more than ever (lettuce + leftover grilled chicken + good dressing = salad you can serve once a week)
Please note that book titles in this section are Bookshop.org affiliate links. Your cost for purchasing the book is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to me and help offset the costs of running a food blog. When ordering from Bookshop.org you’ll also be supporting independent bookstores.
That’s it for today! After the long 4th of July holiday (which didn’t feel like a holiday, I’m exhausted!) I’m looking forward to a quieter weekend. Hope you all get a chance to rest too (and watch The Bear!)
xo
Jenny