The sausage and clams with chickpeas dish was Portuguese-inspired, and a very good use of massive quantities of kale! I cut back on the sausage (used mild Italian chicken sausage in place of turkey--lower fat!) and the chickpeas a teensy bit, mostly because I also needed those things for cooking later in the week. I also increased the number of clams, since you can only buy a bag of a gazillion, not 16. Also, I have bad luck with mollusks and usually at least a quarter of them never open.
We had this in deep plate/bowl thingies, with crusty baguette (flax and bran) for dipping. This was a nice, different type of dish, with a little bit of everything! The broth was a little bit weak, though...salty, but not much flavor outside of that. I think this would really soar with a hit of some herb (rosemary perhaps?) or some Tabasco. But decently good overall.
The Thai fish-and-noodle soup, however, was sad. I added canned bamboo shoots, supplemented the amount of asparagus, and omitted the mushrooms and bell pepper. Also used rice sticks in place of noodles, based only on convenience. I thought the addition of the fish fillet on top brought a nice texture balance to the dish, but the soup itself just didn't cut it. I ended up adding a ton of soy to give the broth more flavor, but I think the lime overwhelmed everything and it had kind of a funny flavor. Leftovers were a bit better, but still not something I would ever consider making again. Perhaps it would have been better without my veggie subs...
Next week, we'll have radishes, dill, and watercress (among many other farm bounties) to enjoy!
