The Surprising Monday Night Dinner
What do you usually cook for dinner on a Monday? If you’d asked me a few weeks ago I’m sure I might have replied, “Oh nothing special. Maybe leftovers from the weekend or an easy pasta.” This week though, I went full out Saturday night dinner on a Monday night — I roasted a chicken.
- If there’s one universal truth in the world, it’s maybe that Mondays are a drag no matter where you come from. It’s true, as evidenced by my kitchen behavior alone. I rarely pack lunch, eat breakfast, or manage to make coffee on Monday mornings. I miss the weekend, and I miss it hard. Will I ever learn that after Sunday always comes Monday? (No.)
Nevertheless, I decided to get a little rowdy this week by roasting a whole chicken on Monday at 8pm. What started as an idea to make a healthy salad and roast chicken snowballed into the full on bird when my fiancée assumed that when I said “roast” I meant recreating the gorgeous golden chicken masterpiece I co-created in a friend’s Philly kitchen a few weekends prior. (Oy, text messages!) So what if it was Monday — who was I to turn down that vision? The idea of thawing out boneless skinless no-fun chicken breasts was no longer appealing, and I plucked a juicy 4-pounder from the market on my way home.
To answer your surely burning questions: Yes, we ate dinner at nearly 10pm. Was it worth it? You bet. Aside from the obvious delicious factor, the distraction of preparing a meal typically reserved for weekends washed away those Monday blues. Another weekend was on the horizon and evidence was here on my plate (plus roasted butternut squash).
I can’t say I’ll do it every Monday, but every once and awhile cooking something special on a not-so-special weeknight seems like just what the doctor ordered.
What do you cook on Monday nights?