Dinner Tonight at Victoria Dweck’s with Shopping List

How do I please a husband with gourmet tastes and four kids under 5-years-old without cooking two dinners?

Tempura Sushi Rolls

This is my go-to dinner when I haven’t gone grocery shopping. Who doesn’t have seaweed in the pantry and imitation crab in the freezer?
Some people think of sushi as an appetizer, but this is a complete filling meal. I use homemade panko (my leftover challah processed) for the breadcrumbs. When it comes time to dip, my children love the Sweet Dipping Sauce; my husband and I prefer the Spicy Mayonnaise Dipping Sauce.

Honey Pecan Chicken

Every summer, thousands of women attend the Lottie’s Kitchen event in Deal, NJ, a fundraiser for Ezer Mitzion in Israel. The event features food demonstrations back-to-back throughout the day. A version of this chicken was demonstrated by Lisa Melamed. It’s become my family’s
favorite—moist and sweet, without the need to fry.  Serve with Three Onion Wild Rice.

Beef Lettuce Wraps

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My favorite restaurant is China Bistro in Aventura, Florida. They serve a version of this as an appetizer, made with ground chicken. I attempted to duplicate it at home—and wasn’t successful until I hit upon the ingredient that gives this dish its delectable crunch—the water chestnuts! To maintain that crunch, don’t process them too small. My kids (even the babies) love eating the meat with a spoon, while the adults roll these up into elegant wraps.  Serve with Asian Brown Rice Stir Fry.

Avocado Cream Pasta with Summer Salsa

My family prefers their pasta very creamy—either fettucini alfredo or penne a la vodka shows up on the menu almost every week. But what do I do when we want creamy without the heavy cream? This healthy, refreshing alternative will surprise you.  For the Summer Salsa make sure to choose your produce wisely.  If your mangos and peaches are too hard, your summer salsa won’t have flavor. Too soft, and it’ll look like mush. Pick ‘em just right for a pretty dice that tastes as good as it looks.

Shopping List

From the Butcher:
1½ pounds boneless
chicken breast
1 pound ground beef
From the Produce Section:
3 large sweet onions
3 leeks
6 shallots
1 red onion
1 head garlic
1 head iceberg, Bibb, or butter lettuce
Fresh basil
1 cucumber
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 red pepper
3 avocados
8 ounces mushrooms
Desired Stir-fry vegetables (such as onions, peppers, mushrooms, scallions, broccoli, zucchini, or carrots)
4 limes
1 peach
1 mango
From the Aisles:
1 box linguine
Wild rice
Nishinki sushi rice
Brown rice
Breadcrumbs (or processed leftover challah)
1 bag pecans
Rice vinegar
7 sheets Nori seaweed
Nasoya mayonnaise
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Hot pepper sauce
1 can sweet corn kernels,
1 can water chestnuts
From the FreezerSection:
Imitation crab
From the Dairy Section:
Parmesan cheese
From Your Fridge:
1 egg
Mayonnaise
Whole milk or heavy cream
From Your Pantry:
Black pepper
Brown sugar
Flour
Honey
Olive Oil
Salt
Sugar
Vegetable Oil

This was originally published in the Summer 2011 issue of Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller.