Speaking of risotto...

Last Saturday:

Minestrina Tricolore
Sauteed Broccoli with Garlic
Porcini Risotto (all three of these from Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking")
Grilled Copper River Sockeye Salmon with Rosemary, Lemon Zest and Garlic

Today:

[chickens were on sale for 0.68/pound; bought 3]

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup (in progress)
Sauteed Broccoli with Butter/Shallot/White Wine Sauce
Scalloped Potatoes and Turnips with Blue Cheese and Thyme (easy with an Oxo mandoline)
Spaetzle (easy with a ricer with a large grid)
a double batch of Chicken Paprikash

and with the wreckage and accumulated trimmings*, have a stockpot on simmer overnight to generate about 10 quarts of chicken stock.

Also, inspired by a recent "Hell's Kitchen" challenge, timed myself to determine how long it takes me to break down a chicken: 3.5 minutes, easily beating the "HK" five-minute deadline (though, I use Henckel's poultry shears, and the contestants were using chef's knives and cleavers).

*-use a freezer bag to accumulate chicken backs/bones/wing tips/hearts, onion/carrot/celery/parsley trimmings, etc., and when full, cook up a batch of stock. Don't put anything red (tomato skins and red onion trimmings will produce an ugly stock) or potato skins (they turn black) or members of the cabbage family (broccoli, cauliflower, etc....they stink) and you're good to go. Strain through a colander lined with cheesecloth, and put into thick-walled Rubbermaid-type containers, and you have the frozen basis for future soups, risottos, etc. Freeze chicken livers and gizzards separately for Paul Prodhomme's Dirty Rice.