YURA’S MEALS-TO-GO

 Here are some highlights from this week’s Meals-to-Go:

When it’s warm and sunny, and the farmers’ tables display gourds and pumpkins side-by-side their late-summer hearty greens, our wheels turn to create a meal that captures the seasons' transition. Room temperature Seared Salmon is served on a torn-Kale Salad massaged with virgin olive oil, lemon and garlic, scattered with Roasted Butternut, cubed and browned around their edges. Chopped Dates—imagine that with salmon—add a hint of almost molasses, while Toasted Pecans and grated Romano contribute both savory and salt. Pomegranate Seeds and Cranberries, archetypal symbols of fall, sparkle up at you as you eat.

Chicken Thigh Tagine’s many warming spices are brightened by lemon zest and crushed meaty Green Olives, while a bit of honey and plumped Apricots add a hint of sweetness and sunny late-summer fruit. Saucy enough to serve over Saffron Couscous, a colorful pilaf studded with bright green Petite Peas.

Pork Tenderloin is dainty in comparison to its Chop House beef counterpart, and particularly darling served sliced, as rosy medallions. What comes fanned out before you was spice-rubbed, then Roasted, and finished with a savory Honey and Garlic-heightened demi-glace. We’ve married two steak house favorites, baked russets and creamed spinach, into amazing Spinach-Mashed Potatoes. (You won’t find that at Peter Luger!) Baked Cauliflower-Broccoli completes the meal.

Foaming butter gets an infusion of garlic, curry powder and ginger, then we brush it all over sea bass filet. A sprinkle of lemon zest, cilantro, and a blast in a 500° oven, and there it is: Roasted Asian Sea Bass in Lemon-Curry Butter. Great served with a bounty of vegetables—Broccoli, Shiitake and Red Pepper Sauté— and no ordinary rice side dish, rather Jasmine Rice Scented with Lemongrass.