Mediterranean plates with beef kebobs and dill chicken patties, plus Turkish eggs and spirulina chia for breakfast

Beef sirloin threaded with zucchini and red onion is a timing problem more than a cooking one. The vegetables need longer than the beef does, so they go on in thinner cuts and the whole skewer sears hard and fast instead of roasting slowly through. The chicken breast dill tomato patties are the reverse: a loose wet mix that wants a gentler pan and exactly one turn.

The picatta potato salad has a caper and lemon dressing doing the job mayonnaise usually does, with green beans for texture and red onion pickled quickly so it holds its colour instead of bleeding pink. Farro came off the same market trip as the northern beans and the spinach, and the caramelized onions go through it while the grain is still warm enough to take the sweetness. Neither of those wants heat again, which is most of the reason I make them.

The bbq sauce beside the kebobs is sugar free, and the chia pudding is sweetened by nothing except the blueberries and the oat honey granola that goes over at the last minute. For the rest: honey garlic chicken breasts want 8 minutes at 350°F covered, the mediterranean ground turkey 4 minutes in a pan, and the garlic roasted mixed sweet potatoes 6 minutes at 400°F to get their edges back.