We’re in Boston with family, gearing up for the big day. Josh made lamb curry tonight. Everyone said it was delicious. I missed out on most of it because I’m still feeling under the weather, and also because of being a vegetarian.

You might recall that several weeks ago I made the Kitchn’s Easy Pasta Bake but ran out of time, and didn’t bake it. Tonight I made the real thing, more or less. It is easy, but for me, it’s a bit too time consuming for an ordinary weeknight because of the 45 minute sauce. Not that I would change the sauce, Marcella’s Famous Sauce is really, really good.

So here’s my solution. Make it on a day when you have time and freeze half of it. (The to-be-frozen pasta is the image on the left, the one that looks like an endless field of cheesy starchy goodness.) If your family is small like mine, you can probably split the single recipe in two. Otherwise, double it.

Whenever I cook a previously frozen pasta dish, I let it thaw completely, in the fridge or on the countertop, and then bake it per the recipe’s instructions.

For veggies, we had a simple fennel salad with mustardy dressing.

Be sure to check out the new addition to In The Kitchen today. It’s The Steady Table’s Costco shopping list.

Not quite as lazy as most Wednesdays, but the salad was worth the effort. Rose had leftover Cappellini with Shrimp, from last night. I had an arugula salad with roasted sweet potatoes, almonds and a creamy miso dressing. I will make it again, with measuring, and post the recipe soon.

Here’s a good one that I’ve probably posted about before, Capellini with Shrimp. Teresa of Teresa Cooks turned me on to this recipe, and it’s one I make over and over again. In fact, we just ran out of sweet vermouth, which like Teresa, I use exclusively for this dish.

My family doesn’t like cappelini, so I use thin spaghetti. You could probably use a curly pasta as well.

In other news, there’s a brand new section here on the site called In The Kitchen. It’s going to be a behind-the-scenes, helpful tips and info catch-all section. I hope you’ll click on over. And if there’s something you’d like to know or hear about on The Steady Table, I hope you’ll let me know so I can post about it in In The Kitchen.

I like to make a main-course salad when Shane is out, and I have the time and ingredients to do so. Tonight’s was a winner, with mixed greens, herbs, lentils, roasted sweet potato and gruyere cheese.

• Mixed Green Salad with Herbs, Lentils, Sweet Potato & Grueyere • 
Heat oven to 350. Peel and chop one sweet potato into 3/4″ chunks. Toss in a bowl with olive oil and salt and then lay out on a baking tray. Roast sweet potatoes, turning occasionally, until lightly browned and tasty, about 20-30 minutes. Meanwhile, boil dry lentils in salted water until tender, drain and set aside. Put a single serving of mixed greens, (or whatever you have including any fresh herbs) in a wide, flat bowl. Top with lentils, then roasted sweet potato, your favorite vinaigrette, and grated gruyere cheese. 

As I prepared the salad (and mini sausages for Rose), I thought about what a wreck my kitchen is while I cook, and how the photos of our dinners might lead you to believe otherwise. So here’s another glimpse, the ugly truth in case you missed the last one: