One pot meal – Page 9 – Fun Foodie Family

Lobster, Salmon, and Shrimp in Sage Garlic Butter

Date Night, Girls' Night Out/In, One pot meal, Seafood

Mommy is on her own tonight for dinner. Daddy is sick. My girls took an impromptu sleepover with the grandparents.

Seafood in garlic sage butter. Ya’ll, this was an epic meal. 1 lobster tail. 10 shrimp. 1 salmon filet. Cooked in sage garlic butter. 1 stick of butter. 3 cloves of garlic. EPIC!

Start with a cold pan. Put your salmon skin side down with a stick of butter, a handful of whole sage, and 3 cloves of garlic. The salmon skin will crisp up better this way. A little trick I learned from Curtis Stone. Unfortunately, it was via TV and not in person. Swoon…

Anywho, Cook until butter is all melted. Mix the sage and garlic around well. Lift up the salmon to get all that buttery goodness under the skin. Add in the lobster, shell side up. Cook for a good 5 minutes. Turn the salmon. The skin should be perfectly crispy. If not, cook a minute or so longer. Turn the lobster and add in the shrimp. Cook for another 4 minutes, turning the shrimp every 30 seconds or so. You can serve with a veggie and/or starch, but I went straight seafood. Oh, and a nice glass of white wine pairs well with this. I went for a light crisp pinot grigio. So good. So full.

Beet and Rainbow Chard Pasta

One pot meal, Pasta, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains, Vegetarian

Who doesn’t love a good farmer’s market? We have one that opens up a couple of times a week in the early summer to early fall. It is great! They have a variety of veggies, fruits, breads, honey, etc. Every Sat. morning and Tuesday evening I look forward to seeing what yummy things the farmers have grown. There is this one lady that I always go to. She even remembers me and gives me a few things for free. Last year, she would throw in a couple extra red potatoes, a bulb of garlic, or some other fresh home grown goodness. This Sat. she gave me some extra peas and a wilting head of lettuce =) It was still tasty as a fresh salad with tomatoes and homemade honey mustard dressing for a side. I always go through the market first. I see what each vendor has. Then I go back through again and buy some of my faves. I went back to my lady and bought beets, rainbow chard, and green pod peas. Can’t wait until next week!

p.s This was a mommy meal. My husband was at hockey and the girls gobbled up Sloppy Joes, peas (that they helped shell), and some cheesy pasta.

Beet and Rainbow Chard Pasta

Ingredients
3 beets- bulb and greens- I had 1 white and 2 zebra striped (red and white mixed)
bunch of rainbow chard (or regular chard would be fine)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 servings of angel hair (leftover from last night’s scallop dish)
olive oil
Salt and pepper
a dash of red pepper flakes for a kick

Directions

Wash your beets and greens VERY thoroughly! The first time I made some greens from my farmer’s market I ended up tasting more dirt than expected. A little dirt won’t hurt you, but it does take away from the deliciousness of the dish. The farm to table movement should include less of the dirt from the farm. =)

Take the bulbs of beets and put lots of olive oil, salt, and pepper on them. Wrap them in aluminum foil and cook until tender at 500. It takes a good 30 minutes, maybe more.

Separate the leaves of the beets greens and red stalk. DON’T throw them away! They are delicious!!!
Separate the leaves of the rainbow chard form the stalk. Cut up the stalks of the chard.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive in a large pot- I used my dutch oven
Add half of the green leaves. Cook them down for a few minutes. Add the rest. Add salt and pepper. Mix and cook until wilted. Take them out and add your chopped stalks. Put in a bit more oil and salt and pepper. Mix and cover. I cooked it down for about 15 minutes.

During this time, your beets should be almost done. When they are, carefully peel them and slice them in thin pieces. stack them up and slice them again.

I had some leftover pasta from last night, so I mixed it with all the greens. I added a tad bit more olive oil, lemon juice, and mixed well. Then I added my sliced beets on top! Add some parmesan cheese and a glass of Rose! Perfection!

Stove Top Lasagna and Bruschetta

Date Night, Girls' Night Out/In, One pot meal, Pasta, Pizzas, Flatbreads, Toasts

Last weekend, I was watching The Kitchen, a show that comes on the Food Network. It is kinda like The Chew, but only comes on Saturdays. Sunny Anderson is one of the TV chef personalities, and she was making this stove top lasagna. It looked so easy and delicious, I thought I would make it the next time lasagna was on the menu. I made this kind of from what I remember, so it is not exactly the same as hers. Here is the link to her original recipe. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/sunnys-pan-sagna-one-pan-plan-lasagna.html
Here is how I made it…

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped onion
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning and fresh herbs- next time I will add more
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound ground beef
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 container of mushrooms
1 to 2 cups beef stock
8 par-cooked lasagna sheets, broken into shards- I also added the end of a box of penne.
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions
You need a large pan with a lid that is also oven safe. I used a circular dutch oven. Add the olive oil on medium-high heat. When the oil begins to swirl around in the pan a bit, add onions, mushrooms, Italian seasoning, a little salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the onions become translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes.

Add the beef to the pan. Cook while breaking up with a wooden spoon until cooked through and browned, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir. Add the stock to cover the contents by almost an inch. Bring the pan to a boil then add the broken lasagna sheets. Make sure you cover the pasta with the liquid. Cover the pot, lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the lasagna noodles are al dente, about 8-10 minutes. I uncovered it and stirred it around every few minutes to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.

Once it is done, stir in the Parmesan cheese. The spread the mozzarella all over the top. Turn the oven on low broil. Put the pot in the oven and keep the door a jar a bit. Keep an eye on it and take it out when the cheese is melty and brown. YUM!

Of course I didn’t forget about the Bruchetta! Make this before you put your lasagna in the oven for a nice appetizer to munch on while you sip some wine and wait for dinner to be ready. Lots of different ways to make this- what kind of bread are you going to use; are you going to toast it first or toast the ingredients on it; what kind of toppings are you going to add etc.

I made mine pretty in a pretty basic way- Cut open some bread, minced some garlic and put it on the bread first, then add slices of a tomato, mozzarella, and top with some thinly sliced basil leaves. Put in the oven on low broil until cheese is melted. Perfect with a glass of Malbec!

Spicy Veggie Soup

One pot meal, Pantry Raid, Soups, Vegetarian

Y’all. Seriously. This is so easy to make. Throw in this and that and you have a healthy delicious dinner! It is super windy and cold out, so I wanted to make some hot soup to warm me up. I have a whole pot to myself. Well, I made extra for my friend who is going veggie this month. I added some leftover grilled chicken and a dollop of sour cream in my bowl at the end to add some protein and richness. You could add beans, different veggies, heavy cream, cheese, croutons, tortilla chips, ground beef, tofu, etc. Soup has no limits!

Spicy Veggie Soup

Ingredients

1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped and minced
1 sweet pepper chopped- I had a combo of yellow, orange, red, and green leftover in the fridge
1 jalapeno, chopped I seeded mine and took out the membrane, but if you want it super spicy, leave them. Or if you wanted less spicy, you could add a chopped poblano pepper
1 container of mushrooms
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of canned corn, with liquid (or frozen)
1 can of green beans, with liquid (or frozen)
fresh or dried herbs- I used oregano, marjoram, and thyme, plus a bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste
extra hot sauce if wanted

Directions

In a dutch oven, cook down all your veggies in a few tablespoons of veggie oil and add salt and pepper- about 10 minutes. Add your tomato paste. Stir in and cook about 5 more minutes. Add in your canned ingredients. If your veggies are frozen, add them in, but add a bit of water if needed. Stir and add in red pepper flakes and/or hot sauce. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken, One pot meal

Cacciatore means to chase or hunt in Italian. Chicken hunter; Rabbit chaser; Pig hunter, you get the drift…Cacciatore is a meat caught and cooked in a tomato sauce with onion, garlic, mushrooms, green peppers, and wine. Luckily, we don’t actually have to do the hunting anymore. Just get a nice cut of meat or whatever looks good on sale.

For chicken cacciatore, you can use any type of chicken. Whole Foods had a sale on chicken quarters, so I bought 6. The dark meat is my favorite anyway, so this turned out delicious!

Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients

4-6 piece of chicken
1 onion chopped
3 cloves of crushed, minced garlic
2 peppers- any color- I used a variety of green, red, orange, and yellow about 1/2 each
One container of mushrooms- button or baby portabellas
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup of red wine (or white wine or beer)
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
fistful of your favorite fresh herbs or a tablespoon of dried herbs

Directions

Brown your chicken on both sides. I start with skin side down to get some browning going and get that flavor added to the pan. Cook on the first side about 12 minutes, then flip and cook for 6 minutes. Then take the chicken out of the pan.

Saute your onion, peppers, and garlic in 1 tablespoon of melted butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 8 minute. I like to add the combo, because butter has a tendency to burn at a high temp, so the olive oil helps temper that a bit. Plus, I like the combo of both flavors together. Add your sliced mushrooms.

Tip on washing mushrooms…DO NOT WASH THEM UNDER WATER. Take a wet paper towel and clean the surface. They are like sponges and will absorb all the water. I have caught Becca eating them with dirt right out of the container. Good quality mushrooms are in good quality dirt…

Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Stir around for a few minutes and add in about 1 cup of red wine. You could use white wine or even substitute beer.

Add a large can of crushed tomatoes and a tablespoon of sugar. This helps cut the acidity in the tomatoes. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Add any fresh or dried herbs that you have. I used thyme, oregano, basil, and marjoram. I think marjoram is my new favorite herb.

Add the chicken back in. Cook for another 30-45 minutes turning pieces halfway.
Serve over rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, etc. Serve with a veggie and lots of crusty bread. I have lunch for tomorrow plus extra sauce. I think I might add it to eggs for breakfast one day. It is so yummy, I might even make it a soup and add croutons. SO AMAZING!