Wegmans Night In

Wegmans Night In

            Okay, so I’m not sure whether I should make a new category, “What I’m picking up,” in addition to my other, “What I’m cooking up,” and “What I’m ordering up,” categories. This post falls into almost all three.  HHmmm….decisions decisions.  Well, regardless of what I decide to file this post under, it is a must read for all you gourmets out there who love great food yet have little time to whip it up. Or it’s for those of you who, if given time, could dazzle in the kitchen, yet the idea of prepping, cooking, then cleaning makes you need a nap before you even get started! I’m kind of in between, I love to cook but at times I can’t muster up the energy to get to business at 6:30pm. Oh, and I’m sort of a food snob, which you may or may not be too. Let me quickly explain: I cook my tail off in the kitchen and feel that when someone else is going to do it for me, I should be able expect the same level of effort. So, if I can tell they fell short, I am turned off by the food. So basically, this post is dedicated to so many of us who are over-worked, tired, and deserving of a damn’ good meal!

            Alas, I might have solved our problems. Recently, Matt and I decided to get some take-out from Wegmans because (A)- it always seems to look delicious and fresh and (B)- we wanted something tasty for dinner yet didn’t want to go out. We perused the take-out and readymade counters and settled on the Herbed Grilled Colossal Shrimp for an appetizer. After deciding on that, we eyed the crabmeat stuffed tilapia and accompanied it with sautéed green beans and rosemary roasted potatoes.

            The entire meal cost about $30 and honestly it was worth every penny. The shrimp were simply beauties in appearance alone. All I had to do to serve them was to oil a heated pan, toss the shrimp around for about 5-10 minutes and viola, seared herbed shrimp was our 1^st course! I heated up some Italian bread to soak up the oil and before we knew it, we were scraping the pan and regretting we didn’t buy 2 more shrimp! They were juicy, plump and skillfully seasoned.

    2^nd course, aka main meal, wasn’t too much more complicated. I followed the package directions for the stuffed fish and placed the potatoes and string beans on a baking sheet. I roasted the entire meal for 30 minutes and then plated each item. One note though, since I like my potatoes steaming hot, I did microwave them prior to roasting for 1 minute. Anyway, the fish was incredible! It flaked right apart and could not have been more succulent. Even better though was the crabmeat filling. It had a great balance of texture and flavor that stemmed from both the meat and breadcrumbs. Forked alone, we were happy, paired with the fish, we were thrilled. And although the sides were basic, they were still a hit in that they were oiled, seasoned, and fresh.

            In the future, we agreed that 2 stuffed pieces of fish would be best. It wasn’t that we were hungry at the end; it was that we were both just looking for 1 or 2 more bites to satisfy ourselves. We might have had leftovers that way, but next-day lunch is always a plus for a meal, right?

            So there it is, an answer to the inevitable weeknight or weekend question: What should we do for dinner, enter yawn, I’m craving something good, sigh, do we have to order pizza again? Simply put: No! Find your nearest Wegmans and go take-out shopping!