“Beef and Barley Stew with Mushrooms” from Simply Recipes. “Cauliflower with Mustard-Lemon Butter” from Epicurious.

Dinner tonight was a Real Dinner. Stew with melty-soft chunks of beef and roasted cauliflower so wonderful that I’m glad I had already packed away the rest of the dish, otherwise I might have gone back for seconds, thirds and possibly eaten the entire head.

I kept both recipes mostly the same, although I only casually measured the ingredients for the stew. It’s likely that I inadvertently increased all of the vegetables. In addition to turnip, I also added a fennel bulb as suggested by one of the recipe’s commenters. Really enjoyed this additional. I didn’t use sour cream.

Unfortunately, Real Dinners have become a little few and far between recently. I’ve lately been feeling a little uninspired when it comes to eating and then there’s this matter of going back to Real College: balancing 36-hour work weeks during the day with nine credits at night. Thankfully, this stew has not only fed me tonight but has also put a total of five additional meals into the fridge and freezer.

Spicy Italian sausage with broccoli rabe and orecchiette.

“Quick Beef Stew with Mushrooms and White Beans Recipe” from Simply Recipes. Eaten with brown rice.

This is good for a weeknight dinner and I would certainly make it again. However, it’s no substitute for a long, slow stew.

Hot Italian sausages with peppers and onions over penne.

“Sausage & Fennel Ragù” from the kitchn. Eaten with grated Parmesan.

“Braised Turkey Legs” from Simply Recipes. Rainbow carrots with shallots and tarragon. Leftover “Braised Rainbow Chard with Cranberries” from French Revolution.

Ribollita soup with grilled cheese.

I had completely different plans for dinner tonight, although I did too have plans to make this soup today and freeze it. But when I ran out of containers to put soup in (and I didn’t really feel like making dinner), it soon became apparent that it would be a soup and sandwich night.

“Shrimp and Chicken Ankake Donburi” and “Lightly Pickled Tomatoes” from Harumi Kurihara’s Everyday Harumi.

Everyday Harumi is usually relegated to the reference-only pile of cookbooks. While beautiful to look at, I’ve found similar-but-better recipes in other books. But I recently took a renewed interest in Everyday Harumi after picking it up and paging through it for the first time in almost a year. I bookmarked a few recipes. I figure it doesn’t hurt to try. Dinner tonight was two such recipes.

Ankake sauce is dashi that has been seasoned, then thickened with potato starch. Kurihara pairs the sauce with shrimp and chicken, donburi-style. Overall, I was happy with it but I wasn’t blown away. The tomatoes, on the other hand, were a very nice contrast — cold and vinegary — and I could definitely stand to keep those around all summer long.

Finally — and unrelated to dinner tonight, but completely related to the nature of this blog — here’s link to something I read today: Why Home-Style Cooking Will Always Beat Restaurant-Style. As someone who, for several reasons, almost always prefers to eat a home-cooked meal, I absolutely agree. Home-style food cooked at home always wins.

“Potato Tumble (Jaga-imo Nikkorogashi)” from Shizuo Tsuji’s Japanese Cooking. “Vinegared Cucumber (Kyūri no Sumomi)” from Japanese Cooking. Miso soup with wakame and silken tofu. Rice!

Hello, autumn-winter standard! This is amazing.

“Gyu-don (Rice Topped with Beef)” from Mihoko Yoshino’s Japanese Home Style Cooking. “Green Beans with Sesame-Miso Dressing (Sandomame Goma-Miso Ae)” from Shizuo Tsuji’s Japanese Cooking. Leftover “Vinegared Cucumber (Kyūri no Sumomi)” from Japanese Cooking.