What's your favorite 5-ingredient (or less!) go-to winter recipe?

September 26, 2023 7:21 AM

Bonus if it freezes well. Bonus if it re-heats well. Bonus if it doesn't include olives. Soup or main meal, doesn't matter.

I'm currently in a situation where I come home from work and have about 30-45 minutes of down time to eat and do quick chores before I run out and help with care-taking for my mom. I'd love to cook on the weekends and then batch freeze stuff that I can take out in the morning and quickly heat and eat before I head out.

posted by HeyAllie to Food & Drink (33 answers total)

Ingredients: white beans, chorizo, olive oil, kale. Wash kale and put wet in covered pot with olive oil to saute/steam. Slice chorizo and add. When kale is limp and chorizo is cooked, add (cooked or canned) white beans and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste, but the chorizo may add enough flavour on its own. Freeze portions, reheat in microwave.
posted by Rhedyn at 7:27 AM on September 26, 2023 [8 favorites]

They are slightly more than five ingredients depending on what you count (like, is lemon an ingredient? Are salt and pepper?) but the easiest hot recipes I know are the Smitten Kitchen one-pan farro and Roberto, a soup. Roberto definitely freezes and reheats well, and I think the farro would too.
posted by babelfish at 7:30 AM on September 26, 2023 [7 favorites]

Pasta is one that will freeze and reheat well. You can do any sort of pasta you want, from rigatoni and jarred sauce or a full lasagna, depending on your weekend time availability. Add some frozen (thawed) spinach to the ricotta if you want some veg.

Chili also freezes and reheats beautifully. This white chicken chili is delicious and can be made stovetop or slow-cooker.

Or combine chili and pasta.

Some of these are more than 5 ingredients, but they're a lot of canned items that are "open can and dump in".
posted by hydra77 at 7:44 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I came here to also suggest the smitten kitchen one pan farro
posted by raccoon409 at 7:50 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I almost forgot my favorite freezer item: burritos! Make 6-8 at a time, and they microwave very easily. This is a starting recipe, but simplify as desired. I sometimes just do refried beans and cheese. Super easy.

Here's Budget Bytes' list of top freezer-friendly meals. You might find something else there that intrigues you.

Other things that freeze and reheat well: rice and mashed potatoes (separately). I find it best if you can thaw them in the fridge the day before, but you can microwave on defrost in a pinch.
posted by hydra77 at 7:50 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Sausage and potatoes, include onions, garlic cloves, sliced carrots, any root veg really. If you use precooked sausage, roast the vegetables for about 30 minutes before putting the sausage in for the last 15 or so. If you'll use them over the next 2 days, I would not freeze, just fridge.
posted by soelo at 7:54 AM on September 26, 2023

I do a LOT of these. Current faves:

Sausage tortellini:
Sliced sausages (the already-cooked kind if I'm really in a pinch, or I'll roast off several pounds of brats or Italian sausage to slice and freeze for other meal preps)
chicken broth and water (Better than Bouillon with extra water)
bag of frozen vegetables (9/10 times I use "California blend")
1/3 to 1/2 bag tortellini (Target's shelf-stable is my go-to, but the fridged stuff or frozen works)
1 jar pasta sauce of choice

You can really just chuck all this in a pot, using enough water to cover the veg and pasta, boil it until the pasta's either done or nearly done, if you want it optimized for reheating. I usually microwave the veg halfway to speed it up, but I also like my veg pretty mushy. Anyway, when everything's nearly done, I dump out all but a cup-ish of water and stir in the pasta sauce.
-- -- -- -- --

Broco-flower Soup - Base:
2-4 tablespoons butter
2 chicken breasts, cut in about even thirds (or other, including rotisserie)
3ish quarts water
~20-24oz frozen broccoli and cauliflower (or California Blend again)
optional dairy

Brown the butter: in your soup-sized pot, cook butter down until milk solids begin to get golden and smell toasty. If using sautee-able aromatics, add and stir into the butter for a minute or two. Fill pot with water to stop browning.

Poach the chicken in the water, seasoned as desired (don't oversalt!) with aromatics and/or seasonings, until ~150 degrees internally. Set aside, and skim any foam or gunk off the broth. Put in the veg (again, I microwave mine until done and then let get totally soft cooking in the broth) and simmer until vegetables are falling apart. Puree with an immersion blender until soup is to a texture you like - I actually like it a little short of totally smooth. Taste for seasoning.

Dice chicken and add back to pot to simmer a few more minutes. I recommend freezing it in this state and adding a splash of milk or sour cream after heating when serving to keep it from splitting.

Additions:
- poach with little to no salt but add a chunk of velveeta or American cheese while simmering
- add a can of beans or lentils when the chicken goes in
- roast some fresh broccoli to basically burned, chop and add with the chicken
- serve with cheese and scallion scones
-- -- -- -- --

I make a bunch of riffed meals from 1/2oz frozen meatballs (the 1oz are unwieldy and thaw too slow), that start from something like this. I microwave the meatballs to thaw them. I also have no complaints about freezing this, but yes if you have strong feelings about perfect pasta texture this is...not that food. But I really love the way rotini or penne soak up the sauce. But add vegetables! I usually use cauliflower, but green beans are also delicious with tomato sauce.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:59 AM on September 26, 2023

I feel like this one really had a moment in the pandemic, but I still make it like once a week: Pasta con ceci
It's all pantry ingredients too. (7 ingredients are listed, but that includes water, salt, and olive oil)
posted by goodbyewaffles at 8:29 AM on September 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

I like to make a quick Thai red curry with a jarred red curry paste, a can of coconut milk, some rotisserie chicken, and frozen mixed veg. Simmer it all warm while the rice cooker makes rice. Freezes fine.
posted by advicepig at 8:38 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

These kinda break the 5 ingredients unless you smoosh spices under a general heading, but they keep it pretty minimalist:
Chompy Chomp Black Bean Soup from the Soup Peddlers' Slow and Difficult Soups (second recipe; the apricot lentil soup is also tasty, though!). Great alone or with cornbread, warm tortillas, tortilla chips.
The Most Basic Dal from Indian-ish by Priya Krishna. Don't skip the chhonk! Serve alone or with rice, naan, or roti.
Quick Pasta and Chickpeas (aka pasta e ceci) from Smitten Kitchen (Serious Eats gets a little fussier but makes a larger amount). Feel free to skip the finishing ingredients or throw fresh or dried rosemary in with the garlic instead.

I also like a very basic bean chili: sauté onions and garlic, add chili powder (I also like smoked paprika), 1- 28oz can diced tomatoes (fire roasted if you have it), bring to a simmer, add 3-6 cans of drained rinsed beans, heat through. I use a mix of kidney, black, and pinto beans for texture and because it's pretty. Could streamline the first bit by using dried onions and garlic powder instead, too. In that case, you might still want to toast your chili powder in oil before you dump in the tomatoes or at least mix in a bit of oil. Can throw in a can of corn or use tomatoes with chilies to add some veggies to it, too. And you can eat it as is or get fancy with toppings (pickled jalapenos, shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, diced onion, etc.) or have cornbread or tortilla chips or tortillas along side.

And I got a couple of quickie ideas from Bare Minimum Dinners that have been working really well:
-Calzones with ricotta and frozen spinach (use store bought dough to speed the process) (like this recipe but, um, with pizza dough and egg optional)
-enchilada casserole using jar sauce and canned beans (cookbook recommends rotisserie chicken) like this recipe, but peppers optional, use canned or frozen corn
posted by carrioncomfort at 8:39 AM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

I have a few of these.

Baked Sausages with apples and onions. For one person, you need one potato, one onion, one apple, and one sausage link; the recipe calls for sweet italian sausage, but I've made it even easier for myself and I use those precooked sausage links. Chop up potato and onion into big chunks, toss 'em in some olive oil and throw 'em in a baking dish to bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Then cut the apple and sausage into chunks and throw that in, turn heat down to 400 and bake another 30 minutes. Done.

Chiard is an Acadian French recipe; the cookbook I have uses stew beef as the meat, but the notes say that people sometimes use just plain hot dogs so that's what I do. For one person: one hot dog, a carrot, an onion, and a potato. Chop up the hot dog and the onion, brown that both a bit in a small saucepan, then chop up the potato and carrot and dump that in. Stir everything up good and then add just enough water to barely cover. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the potato and carrot are tender.

Chicken with potato and preserved lemon. You do have to have some preserved lemon on hand for this, but you can DIY this and it's totally easy (and you can use it in other things too); I'll tell you how to do that at the end. For one person for this you need 1/2 pound of potatoes, one wedge of preserved lemon and a piece of chicken (thigh or leg works best for me). Chunk up the potato, toss it in some olive oil and throw that in a baking dish. Cut the lemon into a few pieces and tuck that in among the potatoes. Drizzle in some water. Salt and pepper the chicken and plop that on top. Fling the whole thing in the oven at about 400 for 40 minutes or so.

* To make preserved lemon - you just need about 8 lemons or so, some kosher salt and a mason jar. Cut a couple lemons into wedges to start. Then drop a tablespoon of the salt in the jar and drop in a couple lemon wedges. Then add another spoon of salt, and two more lemon wedges. Keep alternating layers like that, pressing down slightly on the lemons as you go (you don't want to totally mush them, but compact them a little. Cut up another lemon or two if you need it. When the jar's full, finish with another spoon of salt, and then juice enough of the rest of the lemons to make enough juice to cover everything over in the jar. Seal the jar and leave that out on your counter for a week, shaking it a couple times every day; after a week it's ready, and you can move it to your fridge and leave it there nearly indefinitely. The rind of the lemon will be chewy and the pulp mushy; this is good.

(In addition to that potato and chicken recipe above - I use preserved lemon when I roast chicken; I mash up a wedge with a half a stick of butter and some chopped herbs, and then smear that all over the chicken, under the skin, on the outside, and inside. I've also smeared the lemon mush on fish filets before baking them.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:42 AM on September 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

This beef-and-cabbage stirfry has slightly more than five ingredients, but only if you count things like spices and salt. It takes about 15 minutes to make, tastes delicious, reheats well in the microwave, and keeps well in the fridge for up to a week. It is my favorite "I don't have enough time or brain to think about food" meal.
posted by darchildre at 9:24 AM on September 26, 2023

Soup - Chicken Italian Sausage, sliced and browned, chopped onion sauteed until transparent, lots of frozen chopped kale, carrots, chicken broth. Add potatoes to make it more hearty, but they don't freeze that well. I like it best when the kale is really well cooked, frozen gives a head start. Microwave frozen veg to reduce cooking time.

I recently made a pasta salad and had it once a day; it was really good, full of veg. Box of Rotini, 2 cans tuna, drained, 2 red peppers, seeded and cut up, frozen broccoli (thawed is basically slightly cooked), red onion, frozen peas (use frozen veg to cool cooked pasta), canned artichokes, cut up ,canned black olives, lots of chopped cabbage, you can add frozen cauliflower, carrots, etc. Dressed with mayo thinned with some olive oil and vinegar. Way more ingredients, and some chopping time, but lots of meals.

Frozen Brussells sprouts or cauliflower take 20 - 25 minutes to roast. Add some Polish sausage for the last 15 minutes. Roasted cauliflower is good with Red's or other hot sauce along with olive oil. Roast vegetables until there's browning, even a tad of scorching.

Bake a potato or sweet potato in the microwave, add butter and/or sour cream, any kind of sour cream dip works really well, or an Indian packet meal.

Lentils cook in @ 20 minutes and are delicious with butter, salt, pepper. if you brown some sausage and keep in in the freezer, and some rice, mix them in. I sometimes add curry spices, or chili powder, or whatever.

Peanut sauce keeps really well. Make a big batch. Pasta with peanut sauce and some cucumber on the side is a nice meal.

I get frozen cooked pureed butternut squash; it's great with just some butter, salt, pepper and it's my dinner a few times a month. Starchy vegetables are filling and still vegetables. You can add brown-n-srv sausage or a fried egg if you like more protein. Dry-fried green beans, too. They have a reasonable amount of protein, take @ 10 minyes to fry until blistered, add any dressing you like, I make a quick Asian-ish sauce of corn starch, soy ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil.

Canned baked beans on lightly buttered toast. Top with a fried egg if you're fancy. Or some sauteed mushrooms on the side.

Thanks for taking care of your Mom. Give yourself plenty of permission to eat frozen meals, takeout, Indian packet meals, pre-packaged salads. You need to be cared for, as well.
posted by theora55 at 10:11 AM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

Easy soup--ingredients: sausage, onion, garlic, cauliflower, kale, vegetable stock (Ok it's 6 ingredients.)

Cut 1 pound of sausage into bite sized pieces, saute until browned and mostly done, and remove from the pan to drain a bit. Remove some of the fat if needed and saute chopped onion until a bit caramelized. Toss in 1-2 minced garlic cloves and saute a bit more. In a three or four quart pot or Dutch oven combine sausage, onions/garlic, and a medium head of chopped cauliflower (~2 cups). Cover with stock and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook mostly covered until the cauliflower is al dente and stir in a cup or 2 of chopped kale. Cook a few minutes more until the kale is cooked as desired. Season to taste.

I prefer the flavor of vegetable stock so I use that but whatever you like. Also if just stock is too much, 2:1 stock:water or whatever is also perfectly fine. I think kale (or collards) will probably do best for freezing, but spinach, mustard greens, turnip greens, etc. are also good (and will cook faster).
posted by sevenless at 10:54 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Just today, I made something like the chili and pasta hydra77 linked to above:
I sautéed some onion and garlic with cayenne powder, paprika and cumin, in olive oil. Then I added a drained tin of red kidney beans and a half cup of pureed tomatoes, and the same amount of water. Meanwhile, I cooked a cup of elbow pasta till al dente, and when it was ready, added the pasta + some of the pasta water to my soupy chili. Cooked for 3-5 minutes more until a good deal of the liquid, but not all, was absorbed into the pasta. It took less than 15 minutes and was delicious. I added some salt and lemon for seasoning, because that is what I do, but it wasn't strictly necessary. Gives 2-3 servings depending on your appetite. Freezes well, but can keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

A similar thing I do is to combine a tin of butter beans with a tin of crushed tomatoes, season with salt, pepper, paprika and oregano, and then when it is simmering, add balls of frozen spinach. Don't stir, you want the spinach to be like green islands in the red sea of tomato and beans. Cook as you like (I like well-done spinach) Freezes well. Add lemon juice to taste after re-heating.

I often recommend tortilla Espanola for all purposes, so now I'll do it again. So simple (when you have tried it a couple of times) and so nourishing. Eat with just a piece of bread, or add a quick tomato salad (just a sliced up tomato with salt, olive oil and a bit of balsamico).

Look at the confit thread. Confit lasts for a long while and you can confit anything and just keep it in the fridge (actually, you can keep it on your counter-top). Drewbage1847's potato confit ideas are great, and at least here, I can buy pre-made frozen pizza crusts that I then can top with whatever I want. I'm definitely trying a potato one next.

Another thing in the confit tradition is to cook slices of eggplant in olive oil and then use them in sandwiches, with tomato and mozzarella. Again, they keep for at least a week in the fridge.

Dal freezes well too, but we have a local place that makes better organic dal than I do, so I just buy theirs, maybe you can find a similar frozen pot?

We have a lot of different soups in the freezer, and broth for pho. I feel soup is perhaps the ultimate freezer meal.

Stews are good too. Apart from chilli, maybe bolognese would be a good idea, frozen down in single portions, w/wo pasta included. Or an oxtail stew? There are so many interesting recipes out there, from different parts of the world. And I don't know about your mother, but mine would love it if I brought her a portion of oxtail stew one day. Maybe I should do that.
posted by mumimor at 11:36 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Stew
Cut 1 lbs Stew beef into bite size pieces
Chop 2 large carrots in chunks
Likewise some turnip or rutabaga
Slice an onion
Throw the lot into an instant pot
Add one large can diced tomatoes
Salt, pepper, 1 tsp thyme
Stir.
Put the lid on. Make sure the vent is closed. Press Stew.
posted by Enid Lareg at 12:14 PM on September 26, 2023

Gruyère and mustard green casserole:

pour 2tbsp heavy cream in a casserole dish, layer 2 cups grated gruyere and 2 bunches of blanched, salted and peppered mustard greens, pour in 1/2c heavy cream, top w 1c breadcrumbs (moistened in 2tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper) and more cheese, bake at 350 for 15-20mins
posted by wheatlets at 12:15 PM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I make green-and-potato curry pretty much every week in winter - I fridge it and usually eat it all in the same week because I'm okay with heavy repetition of meals (currently on my 8th consecutive week of kimchi-and-rice-and-a-nice-boiled-egg, ymmv) but it freezes okay too. This is for a crockpot.

In the morning before you go to work (or the night before if you have fridge space for the whole crock, I usually do) -
fry a bunch of sliced onions, like 4-5, ideally in ghee, but whatever you have is fine, until they're starting to get brown. Dump in a packet of any reddish curry paste (in NZ it comes in 100-g packets so I just use those). Green curry paste tastes fine but makes the finished dish look like fried shit. Up to you. Add a can of water or broth or coconut cream or wine or tomato juice or whatever and smush it around until it's fairly well mixed.

In the crockpot goes a bunch of potatoes, scrubbed and cut into about 2 cm chunks. Aim to half-fill the crock with potatoes. Fill the rest of the volume with robust chopped greens. Whatever is fine. I have collards and spinach and silverbeet and native nightshade running rampant in the backyard so I just kind of grab handfuls, but celery tops, beet greens, and kale are all good too. White cabbage is fine, napa cabbage and bok choy don't really work. Add the contents of the fry pan. Mix it all up. When you're ready to go, boil the kettle and pour water in up to about 3 cm below the top of the solid foods. More if you like it soupy. Crockpot on high for 8 hours or until you get back from work. No real issue with overcooking, it's edible in 8 hours but still fine after 12.

5 essential ingredients are potatoes, onions, curry paste, greens, and oil for frying onions, assuming we don't count water as an ingredient, and it will be fine with that, but obviously adding salt and vinegar and stock will make it better.
posted by ngaiotonga at 12:36 PM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

5 ingredient chicken chili - toppings not included in 5 ingredient count
posted by the primroses were over at 1:03 PM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Janky kimchi fried rice: chop some kimchi into bite-sized pieces, heat it in a couple tbsp of some neutral oil until it gets a little white and crispy-edged (only a couple minutes), dump in a cup or so of day-old rice, stir to break it up, coat, and warm, crack and add 1-2 eggs directly to rice, stir until the egg is well-scrambled into the rice. You can add a little brine from the kimchi jar at the end, but you don't want it to get very wet. My understanding is that cooking the kimchi first is noncanonical for kimchi fried rice and kills some of the healthful bacteria, but I like the texture and doing so allows you to skip putting other aromatics into the oil while heating.
posted by praemunire at 3:48 PM on September 26, 2023

Here's the vegetarian chili I make, it's a pretty lazy recipe in that there's no prep time and very little time spent standing over the pot but my family likes it:
Cook in a large pot/dutch oven
Cooking oil to coat the bottom of the pot
2 cups frozen mirepoix
3 cans beans (usually do a mix of red kidney and 6 bean blend)
2 cans tomatoes
Taco seasoning to taste

Add oil to the pot and heat to medium, add the frozen mirepoix and cook for around 10 minutes*. It should be cooking but nothing should be burning.
Empty cans of beans into the pot, you don't need to strain the cans the whole thing goes in.
Empty cans of tomatoes into the pot. If they are whole tomatoes you may want to cut or smush them up before adding them.
Let it cook for 10-15 minutes with the lid on, stirring briefly every 5 minutes and it should get hot enough that it is bubbling.
Add a couple of teaspoons of the taco seasoning.
Bring the temperature down so that it is still hot enough for the chili to bubble a bit but not so much that you're going to have to continually stir the pot so that the food at the bottom doesn't burn. Leave it like this with the lid off for half an hour, stirring briefly every 5 minutes.
Give it a taste and add some more taco seasoning if needed.
After that bring the temperature down to low heat and let it stay there until the chili reaches whatever thickness you like. It's great to eat like that or you can garnish with shredded cheese and eat with tortilla chips.

* I bet you could dump everything in the pot at once and it would turn out the same but I haven't tried that myself.

You can add other things to it if you like. If there's frozen corn in the freezer when I'm making the chili I'll add that too, at the same time I'm adding the beans.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:54 PM on September 26, 2023

> I almost forgot my favorite freezer item: burritos!

My current favorite frozen burrito is chorizo con papas, scrambled eggs, and refried beans.

Literally five ingredients total if you count the tortilla, and amazing for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! Filling and high protein, but also decadent. They freeze great!

I actually use soyrizo, but the adoration stands. These are great burritos!
posted by goblinbox at 5:21 PM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

If you can eat pork products, Pea and ham soup. It's hearty and freezes well. Technically more than 5 ingredients but you can leave some out - I'd say the garlic doesn't add too much, and you could get away with either carrots OR celery. I just wouldn't omit the onion unless you really don't like onions.
posted by pianissimo at 8:49 PM on September 26, 2023

I make this chicken rice soup at least once a month in the fall and winter. It’s very simple to make, so comforting, and the leftovers reheat well. (the oil, s&p put it over 5 ingredients but I usually don’t think those count!)

4-6 chicken thighs
Pre-diced mirepoix (1 cup)
Minced Garlic (however much you like)
8 cups chicken broth
1 cup white rice
Oil
Salt/pepper

Optional: herbs like dill or rosemary and thyme

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pot or Dutch oven over medium. Add mirepoix, sauté until fragrant and the onions start to turn translucent. Add garlic and sauté for just a minute.

Add chicken, broth, and salt and pepper to taste. Let broth come to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for half an hour. Add rice, cook for 15 minutes. Remove chicken, let cool, shred, and add back to the pot. Add herbs and/or lemon if you want.
posted by lunasol at 9:39 PM on September 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

I make a pot of potato soup pretty often:

Get 3 or 4 potatoes. Peel them, cut them in quarters and dump them in a pot.

Add whatever veggies you happen to have around. I like broccoli, onions, carrots, spinach etc. Those are just examples, you don't need all of them.

Add enough water to cover the potatoes & veggies. Boil until everything is soft.

Add salt and whatever other flavors you like. I like garlic and cheese, or cheese and mustard but you can think of other things.

Use an immersion blender to blend it all up.
posted by elizabot at 9:39 PM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

oh hang on - people are talking about crock pot stuff too

Okay, so this recipe is probably TERRIBLE for you in terms of health and cholesterol, but as an occasional meal you should be fine and it is SO damn good. You need a pound of smoked sausage, a package of tater tots, and a package or two of shredded cheddar cheese. Slice up the sausage into chunks. Put half the tater tots in the crock pot, throw in half the sausage, and top that with half the cheese. Do that again with the other half of everything - tots, then sausage, then cheese. Pour like a cup or so of milk over everything. Then fire that up for like 4-6 hours on high. Done.

Oh, another super-easy stew-y thing - Dublin Coddle. This is an Irish comfort-foody stew of potato, onion, bacon and sausage; some recipes throw in carrot as well. I have made this on a stove top and in a crock pot, and once after I gave my parents the recipe my father made it on our woodstove in the house where I grew up. This is a good basic version of the recipe; they add garlic to things, but I'd skip that. I'd also suggest hard cider instead of the beer. But that's the beauty of it, this is a very adaptable recipe; add some fresh sage if you want, add the carrot so things aren't QUITE so beige, go with just plain water instead of the stock - all you REALLY need is the sausage, bacon, onion, and potato.

Oh - and this pushes the envelope just a bit in terms of the number of ingredients, but you could adapt easily; the basic concept is that you slow-cook some butternut squash with chicken broth and seasonings until soft, then throw in some cream cheese and parmesan cheese, blitz that up with an immersion blender, and then dump in some cheese tortellini and cook another half hour or so. The full recipe also has sauteed onions, garlic, and herbs, but you could just make sure you get a really flavorful chicken broth instead or go with an "italian seasoning blend". But this is TOTALLY worth it; I tried making this once and shared with my roommate who is a self-professed "I don't think I'm ever going to learn how to cook" guy, but when he tried this, he asked me for the recipe.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:37 AM on September 28, 2023

Last night, I made an old family favourite that I haven't made for long. We were very nostalgically happy when we ate it, so I thought I'd post it here.
Frozen duck legs are very cheap here, so they are a go to when I miss protein but don't want to spend a lot. I had bought one just for myself, but suddenly both kids were home for dinner, so I had to re-think.

The ingredients (3 servings) were:
1 duck leg, thawed overnight
1 carrot finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
8 small potatoes or four medium or two big finely chopped
(optional) all the garlic you like
1 tin of green lentils, drained
(optional) 1/2 cup of pureed tomatoes or a tbsp of tomato paste
1 cup of water or chicken stock.
Seasoning to taste: salt, pepper, oregano, bay leaves, lemon juice (or replace the oregano with thyme)

Season the duck leg generously with salt and pepper, and sear gently, first on the side with most skin, then the other, until the skin on both sides is golden brown and the fat rendered off. Use a Dutch oven or a wok or a sauter pan.

Take the duck out of the pot, and add in the vegetables and cook them in the fat until the onions are translucent.
No browning. Add the garlic if using.

Add the lentils, and immediately after add the water and tomato puree/paste if using.

Add the duck back in, with herbs and pepper. Braise for 20 minutes.

Taste and adjust the seasoning, then braise 20 minutes more. Take the duck out and let it rest for 10 minutes while the lentil stew reduces further (so careful with the second seasoning). Then cut the duck meat into bite size pieces, and let it warm for a few moments in the stew before serving.

-----

Yesterday, I used stock and tomato puree, and the kids loved it, but personally I regretted both. Not that it was bad, more that it was unnecessary. The flavour from the other ingredients would have been enough. I also used a lot of garlic, and didn't regret that, but it is fine without if you are not a garlic lover.

You can make this in a pressure cooker, after searing the duck. You can even skip that part, but IMO it doesn't give the same full flavour. In the pressure cooker, it takes about half the time.

You can use dry lentils, and I thought about it, it only takes ten minutes more on the stovetop, and the same time in the pressure cooker. I just had a lot of tinned green lentils and only black beluga dry lentils.
posted by mumimor at 6:58 AM on September 28, 2023

Mod note: [btw, this post has been added to the sidebar and the Best Of blog]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:00 AM on October 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

This is the best lentil soup I've ever eaten. I have no idea why it's so good - it really doesn't have any decadent ingredients. 5 base ingredients (onion, carrot, lentils, tomatoes, stock) plus oil and herbs, and add-ons I tend to skip.

LENTILS, MONASTERY STYLE from: Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe

In a large pot, saute 3 - 5 min: 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 large onions (chopped), 1 carrot (chopped)

Add and saute 1 min. more: 1/2 tsp. each dried thyme and marjoram

Add: 3 cups stock, 1 cup dried lentils (washed), salt to taste, 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1 lb. canned tomatoes

Cook in covered pot until lentils are tender (about 45 min.)

Optionally add: 1/4 cup sherry and serve with 2/3 cup grated Swiss cheese
posted by dgr8bob at 8:41 AM on October 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

I make a chicken liver pate that’s just delicious.

Sauté a couple tubs of chicken livers in butter. When they’re cooked add a whole bunch of chopped carrots and celery (I do about the same weight as the livers). Season however you like…salt, pepper, sazon, any white whine you have etc. Sometimes I add jerk seasoning! Mmmm

Let it all simmer for a while.

Throw in some more butter. What, are you trying to live LONGER?

Once everything is all cooked down and smelling delicious, turn off the heat and let it cool a bit.

Spatula the mix into a blender and purée to perfection.

Freezes well if you want, but also keeps in the fridge for 4-5 days.

I’ve never had it last that long because I devour it on toast, crackers, or on its own.

It feels like a guilty pleasure but it’s super nutritious and filling.

Easy to take with you too, just fill a Tupperware container and grab a package of crackers.
posted by chronkite at 7:05 AM on October 5, 2023

Cook some pasta.
Gently fry some chopped panchetta or bacon until crispy.
Add double cream to bacon pan (how much depends on how much pasta you're making), along with chopped blue cheese and some grated parmesan.
Stir until cheese is melted and sauce has thickened.
Stir pasta into sauce.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:47 AM on October 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Make some spaghetti, drain, and before it cools toss with a few eggs, some crumbled bacon, and more fresh parmesan than you think you need. Add salt and (especially) fresh pepper. Voila: poor man's carbonara.
posted by gottabefunky at 5:11 PM on October 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Heck, throw a little cream in there too.
posted by gottabefunky at 5:12 PM on October 6, 2023 [1 favorite]