Looking Forward to Going Back

Well, I survived my week of commuting to/from Baltimore! I did not enjoy the getting up at 5:30 part but fortunately my early hours meant that I was able to leave fairly early and avoid true rush hour traffic. Tomorrow will be my first day metro-ing in/out of DC and hopefully my first day doing real work. Last week consisted primarily of orientation, paperwork, security badges, etc and after 4 days of mostly sitting around, I am looking forward to figuring out what my job will really be like.

It will also be my first week commuting and making dinner most nights. Not knowing exactly what my work schedule is going to be like, I’ve planned some pretty easy dishes that require minimal effort—taco salad, goat cheese chicken, and pita with roasted vegetables.  Hopefully as things settle down and become more routine, I’ll be able to get back to more interesting dishes like the chicken kebabs and summer squash ribbons I made a couple of weeks ago.

This was a great summer meal—light and flavorful—and pretty easy to put together as well. The salad in particular won rave reviews from Jason and is sure to be a new classic around here. I am definitely looking forward to settling back into a weeknight meal routine!

Chicken Kebabs

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cut into 1.5 inch chunks
1 orange (or red or yellow) pepper, cut into 1.5 inch chunks
1 yellow squash, sliced into 1 inch rounds
1 red onion, quartered and layers separated
2 metal or wooden skewers (if you use wooden, make sure you soak them in water for an hour or so first to prevent burning)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1.Thread chicken and vegetables onto skewers. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
2.Broil or grill kebabs about 5-6 minutes per side until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender.

Summer Squash Ribbons
Adapted slightly from Serious Eats

Ingredients:
3 squash (I used a mix of zucchini and yellow squash)
1 shallot, very thinly sliced
2 TBL olive oil
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
¼ cup basil, sliced into ribbons
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper

1.Trim the ends off the squash, and cut into very thin strips. I used a regular vegetable peeler, but you can use a mandolin or a knife as well.
2.Place in a large bowl with the sliced shallot, olive oil, and vinegar, and gently toss to combine. Let stand for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add basil, pine nuts, and goat cheese. Toss to combine.

Embarking on New Paths

Today was my first day of work as a federal employee. As I stood there pledging to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic (yes, even us health policy wonks have to take an oath of office when accepting a federal appointment!), I couldn’t help but notice the timing of my choice in new careers---that my decision to embark on a path of public service came to fruition just a few days after celebrating our nation’s birth. I’m not sure you can get more patriotic than that.

The downside of this momentous occasion was that I had to drive to Baltimore for new employee orientation (this was day 1 of 3) which meant a 5:15am wakeup call and an hour’s drive north. Fortunately, the early start meant that traffic was fairly non-existent and I was home in time to get dinner together before Jason got home. Notice, I said get dinner together…..I did not cook dinner tonight. No, for this first week back to the real world I chose several make ahead menus (including shrimp and orzo and gazpacho) that also yield a number of leftovers. That way all I have to do after an early morning and a long day sitting in orientation/on the road is take dinner out of the fridge and heat up some bread to go with it.

There’s hope for Jason’s dinners yet!