You can make couscous or flavorful, chewy and fluffy rice instead of serving with bread and dip if you like; that's what we did tonight (though I did make muhammara for the first time, which I will tell you ALL ABOUT in a separate post).A quick tip: full-meal salads and soups, once you've made various ones over and over, quickly prove to be a good way to make a foolproof and quick supper because you don't worry about under or overcooking meat, etc. And soup, once you get the basic template down, is shockingly fast--roast or parboil something starchy or rooty and/or get your meat component browned, fry up some aromatics, wilt some onions usually, add stock and parcooked starch/meat contents, simmer a bit (doesn't take as long as you think--30 minutes is often enough), add spices and thickeners if needed. And that's it! Endlessly modular. I love it.
This is amazing, quite possibly my new favorite easy-peasy go-to flash-marinated (read: weeknight dinner) chicken breast dish. I'll admit it requires a couple unconventional ingredients--sumac and pomegranate molasses--but if you can find a Mediterranean grocer in your town you should be good to go. They're not even expensive (not even the pom stuff!) much to my surprise and relief. I picked up the pomegranate molasses for the muhammara and only realized it was called for in this filed-away dish as well uh, yesterday. How convenient. And I actually grabbed a bottle of sumac out of curiosity from Penzey's months ago and never got around to trying it, so this was my inauguration into a certain class of spices. My parents never used (and honestly I don't think have ever heard of) sumac or za'tar. Both are amazing, bitter-tangy and earthy but in a shockingly good way that spruces things up. I highly recommend them. I love how unusual and pricey spices are still not that pricey in the grand scheme of things. It's like buying a new color of paint for your palette.
This was so much fun to make tonight. The weather was god-awful all day (the kind of relentlessly dark icky-warm, mildew-y-sensation storming that has you charging your phone and ipod and DS and whatever else to full capacity thinking there'll be a power outage), perfect for the soup event going on in town (a flat fee at the door gets you into an arena of local chefs' soups, as many samples with fresh bread as you like as you socialize and mill about) that we missed 'cause of Robert's unorthodox work schedule (and, ok, laziness on my part). I started this with a sense of grumbling drudgery due to my SAD I guess, and within five minutes I felt back to my old self: it smells amazing from the moment you start mixing things up thanks to that sumac, and my white baking dish, which I used to marinate the chicken in, was a sort of literal canvas--seared through with bright brick red color laced with greys and greens. It was so beautiful and it smelled so good. That to me is what I mean about cooking as therapy, soothing physical-emotional tidiness of expression. It really was today.
And it's nice because you can marinate your chicken and get your salad assembled sans dressing hours ahead and then the actual cooking and dressing of the salad takes, you know, less than 10 minutes total.
Robert and I sat down to dinner and talked about the usual but with breaks where one of us would just sort of exclaim how good it was. I think at one point I said something like "goddamn, Middle Eastern food is so good." It is. They have all the right priorities if you ask me. Those spices, the freshness and simplicity of everything but then dressed so incredibly brightly and well, g'ah. An hour after dinner, when Robert was in the thick of his schoolwork in the study, he decided to come back out here and hug me tightly out of gratitude and happiness. I felt the same way, seriously. It was that good and sustaining, the kind of dish that reminds you in concrete, direct terms how restorative and mood-elevating a solidly good scratch meal can be.
Personal Note: this doesn't require the homemade mustard step, so if you have a super favorite mustard already you could speed this up even more just using that if you wanted.Lemon Chicken with Mint
Personal Note: Beth isn't kidding when she explains how this simple chicken recipe is a lot more than the sum of its parts. The mint and lemon make for a fantastic aroma. I was way surprised when I pulled this out of the oven yesterday assuming it'd just be a ho-hum basic chicken dish, not meant to impress as a hot entree itself but to mostly be used as leftover material for fresh tossed salads this week. Well. It was so awesome looking and smelling--crispy and moist and freshly fragrant--it made it hard for me to want to assign it to such secondary status!Wine, Bread, and Cheese Souffle
The one thing that boggled my mind a little was why the recipe doesn't call for deglazing the saute pan and making a quick sauce from the fond. It's begging for it in so many ways--the chicken was floured, so you bet there's brown bits in the pan, and then the dish goes in the oven anyway so why not spend 10 minutes while it's baking doing more stovetop patrol? I realize she's hawking the idea of uber easy fast weeknight meals, so maybe she thought that'd seem like too much, but seriously, it isn't--again, especially since it's baking away in the oven anyway. Granted, the stuff in the final oven step is so wonderfully fragrant and awesome maybe she thought it'd be overkill (I can see that, actually), but hey, why not a little extra liquid? So I deglazed with a skosh of dry vermouth and the chicken stock that you've already got on hand anyway for the oven step. Simple simple. Then just lightly whisk in some beurre manie (or Wondra flour on its own if you have it) to thicken, and voila. Would be nice on the suggested grains (couscous, or rice) you serve this with.
This book, by the way, is worth its weight in gold to me. I don't know, so many of these "no really, I'm a harried mom trying to feed a needy cranky family on a Tuesday night too!"-perspective cookbooks are kinda...lacking in some way to me. Even Mark Bittman's tack with this tends to rub me the wrong way sometimes. But Beth is totally on the money in every way--you don't get the feeling she's cheating somehow, or asking you to, and you barely remember the "2 but not 3" rule of cooking (fast, cheap, tasty...healthy could be another longed-for attribute, I suppose). Everything in here manages to still sound really fresh and bright, but really is easy without being pathetic or embarrassing. It's hard to describe what I mean, but lots of these cookbooks rub me the wrong way and don't feel worth it, don't seem to really offer solutions for keeping this kind of promise, but this one actually does. There's little bullshit here. I also love her set up/introductory writing. Reminds me of Joyce Goldstein. You don't want to sacrifice everything, but let's also be practical, and to do that, instead of trying to shabbily substitute in ways that are a travesty, let's pare down and limit what we know we're capable of on this Tuesday night, alright? Etc. Great, honest. I recommend. /ramble, ramble
Personal Note: Robert LOVED this. And it's easy so long as you have a souffle dish/big ramekin, and tastes just like Welsh Rarebit but better, more flavorful and faster. You will definitely want to eat something astringent and palate-cleansing like a simple salad with this, to cut the richness (Robert agreed and had a total hankering for some greens while eating it!). And while the usual wine sense is true, don't fret too much over it--Robert doesn't even like wine, any wine whatsoever, and he still loved the flavor it gave to the dish.Tuscan Tuna and Beans
Ours took a while longer to cook than noted, IIRC. So if it seems underdone don't worry; just keep an eye on it until crispy and golden on top.
Personal Note: Funny enough, I was just reading a ton of recommendations for this classic dish on AskMefi. Another good "no cook" meal for the summer repository, the stuff you turn to when it's so hot your brains are melting and the idea of putting anything together makes you feel nauseous.White Bean Soup with Greens
EDIT, now that I've made it: Wow, it's bizarre how tasty this is. It is extremely homely--I finished whipping it up and looked at it, not very excited and quite frankly a little worried I'd just wasted a ton of canned goods on something tasteless and cardboard-y--but the textures work beautifully, and it's refreshing and strangely luscious and full of flavor. Weird stuff. I was sure I'd have to at least throw some black pepper in to spice it up, but no...and it's obscene how "good" this is for you--beans! Tuna for a novel, balanced source of protein! Garlic! Heart-healthy olive oil! Leafy greens! Crazy how healthy it really is, and simple, but so delicious. Absolutely perfect for those hot blistering FAIL summer evenings when imagining making dinner or even eating it makes you ill.
Personal Note: I'm a little bit skeptical of the promise of awesome, hearty, rich soup that cooks for 30 minutes or less, yet this book features a whole chapter of 'em. We shall see! I must say I love the idea of soups so simple, where the star fresh ingredient is greens and everything else is just pantry standard fare. Gonna walk over to Easy Way and pick up some salad greens anyway--it's pretty out, and I have the time.Frittata of Green Apple, Cheese, and Greens
EDIT, now that I've made it: Not the most flavorful, deep suppertime entry, but really easy and good for you on a weeknight. It has a special sentimental place in my heart too, because it was the first thing Robert managed to eat during his recovery from his mysterious stomach illness. I roasted a chicken, made stock, and at first was going to just have him try the broth. He said he was feeling a little better and wished he could, uh, get some roughage in his belly. He loved this soup, and it was gentle enough (he skipped the red pepper, of course) but had enough flavor to maybe remind his stomach of what it was missing, ha. I distinctly remember that evening at the table, and both of us beaming afterward because he could finally eat something. Aw.
Anyway, this has a similar nutty but vegetal flavor composition as chicken with wild rice-type soups.
Personal Note: I've probably mentioned it before, but they're spot on about frittatas being the clumsy girl's friend whereas standard French omelets, not so much. I happen to be lucky too because I actually prefer the heartiness and deeper flavor of frittatas over omelets (cross my heart, this is not a case of sour grapes). It feels like a good encapsulation of my active preference for coastal Spanish and Italian/"Mediterranean" approaches to cooking versus finicky inland French ones--I kind of don't give a fig about lighter-than-air fluffy textures or finessing ingredients into forms and textures unrecognizable from their natural states. I like really good basic fresh food that is relatively unfussed with, to be honest, just juxtaposed with interesting other ingredients for curious flavor. So anyway, frittata it is. And how nice and yes, portable and convenient. It's one of my go-to templates for when we've run out of fresh food and/or I anticipate a harried or uncertain evening; the fact you can make it fast with few ingredients and minimal pots and pans and then just let it sit 'til everyone has a moment to eat is great.Italian Sausage and Red Sauce with Rice
Already knew about the usefulness of dumping leftover too-iffy-for-fresh-salad fridge greens into frittata, a good trick indeed. It was the inclusion of apple that really intrigued me--I've never put fruit in my eggs, and you know how much I like firsts when it comes to flavor pairings. And it just seemed like it made a lot of sense really--like a punchier sauteed-to-dripping-sweetness onion, you know? So I actually upped the apple here from the original recipe, and halved the amount of onion called for. Also did some cursory googling beforehand and discovered Martha Stewart has a good recipe that's very similar (makes sense; she seems a fan of fruit in dinner meals...her turkey burgers have sultanas in them, so good). Both Robert and I loved the outcome; it's not cloyingly sweet but definitely adds an unusual and welcome zing to the whole thing. The touch of nutmeg is great too. I highly recommend you try it if you've got an apple or two lying around.
I recommend using a nicely seasoned cast iron here. I know you can use other ovenproof skillets, but cast iron really is a wonder here, provided your seasoning's up to scratch. Ever since I found that cast iron-obsessed blogger via Mefi months ago my cast iron's been gorgeous and so much easier to work with. It really is non-stick, practically more so than any of the manufactured nonstick cookware I've used before. This frittata came right off the pan clean as could be, which is never quite the case when I use my other pan...and (not that it matters too much) it will keep the frittata nice and warm much longer, if you know it'll have to sit a while before you partake.
The nice thing about frittata is that when it comes to filling there are no rules really save for things that obviously contribute significant moisture or whatever (say, frozen spinach). Don't have chard? Use something else and see if you like it. You probably will--it's generous that way.
I also like how ironically we've wound up eating healthier lately BECAUSE we ran out of fresh food and are too busy right now to cook for long bouts or head to the grocery store (final week of school for R's half-semester)--we've inadvertently been eating tons of fruits and veggies at dinner because we ran out of meat a week ago, and produce is more forgiving anyway. A couple nights in a row we've sat down and it dawned on me in dinner alone we were getting the daily recommend "strive for 5" servings of produce. And it was easy and good too, because it's so much harder to fuck up cooking with fruits and veggies. We've had sparing bits of tuna and eggs and scatterings of various nuts and whole wheat grains (in the form of pasta, bread, etc.) to go with it all. Yum. Funny how eating even healthier than usual proved more convenient--a pleasant surprise.
Personal Note: Funny enough, someone on AskMefi was just asking about how to use up a ton of long grain white rice they'd bought in bulk to be thrifty. I wouldn't have thought to treat it JUST like spaghetti, right down to the red sauce, until I tried this recipe.Escarole and Sausage Soup
It is surprisingly tasty. She's not kidding about it feeling really down-home-y basic too, in a good, comfortingly simple straightforward sort of way. Reminds me of my dad's casserole of pork and beans in bright red sauce.
I couldn't find gigantic cans of tomato puree (? I can be pretty blind at the supermarket) plus to be honest it didn't appeal to me aesthetically so I used a can of precious San Marzano plum tomatoes that was sitting in the back of my pantry waiting for its day in the sun. Because of that switch this was almost identical to my Rao's recipe for spicy sausage and San Marzano sauce, only cooked faster. Has the same principle of needing minimal seasoning thanks to all the flavor in good Italian sausage, yum. I reckon the San Marzanos made our sauce tangier, which is just great by me. Yum.
I didn't futz with the nerve-wracking balancing act of cooking the rice while the other two things were also going on. If you have a way to avoid that, I suggest it (I used my rice cooker). Even balancing the sausage-browning step with the bubbling red sauce was a little bit much, but then, I don't care much for multi-tasking right at the heat source. My kitchen's too crowded for that anyway.
Personal Note: This is so freaking good and simple, fast, and easy it's hard to believe; it's one of those "eye-rubbing" seems-too-good-to-be-true magic recipes. The ingredients are few and rather easy to procure (if you can't find escarole, chard, dandelion, kale, or spinach will do in a pinch according to Hensperger; I just happen to have a new found love for escarole thanks to Cook's Illustrated and Orangette), and it is SO SO DELICIOUS. Every single major ingredient, simple as they all are, is a workhorse here; the nuttiness of the cheese, the strong rich spicy flavor of the sausage, the creamy beans, everything makes it perfect. It smells divine from the very beginning when you brown the sausage. And I happened to be super lucky in that right before we left for our honeymoon my beloved Aunt Laurie (who is one of the best cooks I've ever met...she's the one who hand cuts all of her pasta, eep) was in town and gave me a big brown sack full of garlic that's the real deal. Much much needed here, and made me so homesick--it's the kind of garlic where as soon as you pick up a head to break off cloves, before you've even shelled them off the air is heady with earthy awesomeness...mm. Ack! Will be a staple cold-weather soup for me from now on, I'm certain. It's that easy and good.I've mentioned special-k's Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup before.
Personal Note: Funny enough, someone on AskMefi was just asking about how to use up a ton of long grain white rice they'd bought in bulk to be thrifty. I wouldn't have thought to treat it JUST like spaghetti, right down to the red sauce, until I tried this recipe.Escarole and Sausage Soup
It is surprisingly tasty. She's not kidding about it feeling really down-home-y basic too, in a good, comfortingly simple straightforward sort of way. Reminds me of my dad's casserole of pork and beans in bright red sauce.
I couldn't find gigantic cans of tomato puree (? I can be pretty blind at the supermarket) plus to be honest it didn't appeal to me aesthetically so I used a can of precious San Marzano plum tomatoes that was sitting in the back of my pantry waiting for its day in the sun. Because of that switch this was almost identical to my Rao's recipe for spicy sausage and San Marzano sauce, only cooked faster. Has the same principle of needing minimal seasoning thanks to all the flavor in good Italian sausage, yum. I reckon the San Marzanos made our sauce tangier, which is just great by me. Yum.
I didn't futz with the nerve-wracking balancing act of cooking the rice while the other two things were also going on. If you have a way to avoid that, I suggest it (I used my rice cooker). Even balancing the sausage-browning step with the bubbling red sauce was a little bit much, but then, I don't care much for multi-tasking right at the heat source. My kitchen's too crowded for that anyway.
Personal Note: This is so freaking good and simple, fast, and easy it's hard to believe; it's one of those "eye-rubbing" seems-too-good-to-be-true magic recipes. The ingredients are few and rather easy to procure (if you can't find escarole, chard, dandelion, kale, or spinach will do in a pinch according to Hensperger; I just happen to have a new found love for escarole thanks to Cook's Illustrated and Orangette), and it is SO SO DELICIOUS. Every single major ingredient, simple as they all are, is a workhorse here; the nuttiness of the cheese, the strong rich spicy flavor of the sausage, the creamy beans, everything makes it perfect. It smells divine from the very beginning when you brown the sausage. And I happened to be super lucky in that right before we left for our honeymoon my beloved Aunt Laurie (who is one of the best cooks I've ever met...she's the one who hand cuts all of her pasta, eep) was in town and gave me a big brown sack full of garlic that's the real deal. Much much needed here, and made me so homesick--it's the kind of garlic where as soon as you pick up a head to break off cloves, before you've even shelled them off the air is heady with earthy awesomeness...mm. Ack! Will be a staple cold-weather soup for me from now on, I'm certain. It's that easy and good.I've mentioned special-k's Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup before.
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just-cooked green beans OR roasted garlic asparagus OR roasted parmesan broccoli
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roasted sweet potato chunks
= my favorite go-to meal. You can cook everything in the oven at once. Follow standard instructions for the fish (I think I do mine at about 10 minutes at 425) and play with the times for everything else (I usually let the sweet potatoes roast while the oven is heating and for another 10 minutes before I put the fish in.
posted by Night_owl at 5:44 PM on July 27, 2010 [3 favorites]