Dinner Menus
Aug. 26th, 2011 10:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asterrocIn case anybody is interested in easy-to-cook meals, here's a few recipes from the "menu" that T$ and I choose among when planning our dinners. We usually choose around 4-6 of meals before the start of the week, write all the ingredients on our grocery list, and get those for the week. Each item below includes the ingredients, total prep time, directions (I'm assuming basic cooking competency here), those sorts of things.
1. Pasta and sausage
Total prep time: 30-45 minutes
Ingredients:
Directions:
Set a large pot of water to boiling.
Slice the sausage into pieces 1-2cm thick. Put a bit of olive oil in a shallow pan and put the burner on medium-ish. Add the sausage bits and cover.
Chop the green pepper.
Check if the water is boiling, and when it is cook the half a box of linguine according to the directions.
When sausage bits look like they're pleasantly cooking (the casing will shrink a little or the meat part bulge, they shouldn't yet be turning brown) add the pepper and turn the heat down a little. Cover. Right before the peppers start to change color from bright green (or bright other color) to wilt green is when it's done. If you're not sure, taste bits each time you stir.
Add half a jar of pasta sauce, mix, and cover. When it's bubbling it's done. The pasta should finish at a similar time. Drain and serve all together.
Makes two dinners and 1-2 lunches.
2. Tacos
Total prep time: 30-45 minutes
Ingredients:
Directions:
Freeze meat when you buy it, thaw the night before you're planning to eat it.
Will come with directions on the box.
In addition to the directions on the box, there's a few things. Use only half the thing of meat and freeze the other half. Warm the taco beans in a small pot, on the smallest burner, on the lowest setting it goes to. Stir frequently. Chop a few lettuce leaves. We use 1/2 cup of water - the directions call for 2/3 cup with a full pound of meat, and we found that 1/3 cup of water was a bit too little.
Makes 12 tacos. Depending on how hungry you are, you will eat 3-6 of them. 2 leftover tacos make a great lunch.
3. Jacket Potatoes
Total prep time: 20-30 minutes or 60-75 minutes
Ingredients:
Directions:
Poke holes in your potatoes. Mix a table spoon of olive oil with a pinch of (Kosher) salt. Liberally coat the outsides of your potatoes with the mix, ideally using a fancy olive oil brush, making more of the mix as needed.
Make baked potatoes. If you do this in the microwave, it typically takes 20 minutes, you can Google it. If you do this in the oven, preheat to 375ºF and put a crappy baking pan or tin foil on the lower rack under where the potatoes will be. Put the potatoes directly on the upper rack. Turn after 20 minutes. Check after 40 minutes, should take 40-60 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs. You can shorten it to 40 minutes guaranteed if you turn your oven as high as 400ºF, but our oven smokes profusely at that temperature (probably because we've reached the flash point of olive oil).
Make tuna salad. We use Miracle Whip, black pepper, a finely chopped celery stick, and assorted green spices (sometimes including oregano, basil, rosemary, whatever). If you don't like tuna, do your favorite salad, like lobster or chicken or tofu or whatever.
When the potatoes are sufficiently baked (insides should be soft and part easily to a butter knife), cut them in half. In each half, put a little slice in the middle the long way so when you then coat the white faces with butter, the butter runs into the little slice. Top the potatoes first with the cheese so it melts, then with the tuna salad. Optionally, you can nuke the whole thing for another minute to warm the tuna/cheese on the top, in which case you could put the tuna down first and then the cheese.
Another version of directions here
Makes 2 baked potatoes with toppings per person. I usually eat 1 potato and save the other for a lunch and a half; T$ usually finishes both of his.
4. Chicken Caesar Salad
Total prep time: 20-30 minutes
Ingredients:
Directions:
Salad bags don't last long, so get the furthest out date they have, and try to eat this the same day or next day. Freeze the chicken you're not using, or if you're using chicken that's already frozen then take it out the day before you make this. This is a great meal for hot summer days, and is quick too.
Sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning liberally on both sides of the chicken strips and throw them on the grill as-is. If you're using a pan instead of a George Foreman Grill, non-stick probably won't need any grease, but if you're not using non-stick add a small amount of olive oil, and put the pan on medium (I think) with a lid. Every few minutes open the grill or check the pan and flip the chicken. When both sides are starting to get a little toasty brown, take the largest piece and cut into it. You want the inside to NOT be pink, but still be a little juicy.
While cooking, rinse the lettuce and shake off as much water as possible. If you ignored my advice and didn't eat the bag within 24 hours of purchase, pick out the nasty bits.
When the chicken is done, cut into bite-sized pieces, mix with the salad kit ingredients.
Makes two dinners, usually no leftovers. If you do have leftovers, try to eat them quickly. Don't bother saving croutons, pick them out to eat while still crunchy. :)
5. Trader Ming's Bags
Total prep time: 25 minutes or 1:15
Ingredients:
Directions:
Cook the Bag as per the directions (microwave for teriyaki chicken and yes it IS yummy, oven for the orange chicken).
Cook the rice as per the directions (note that brown rice takes at least 45 minutes to cook, the rice choice is what dictates the cooking time).
Cook the frozen veggies as per the directions (some come with steamed or microwave directions, we always boil).
Mix everything in a large mixing bowl and serve.
Makes 2 dinners and 0-2 lunches.
6. Pizza
Total prep time: 60+ minutes
Ingredients:
Directions:
Follow these directions for the pizza crust with the following changes. Do not add the olive oil until the very last step, and right before that mix in rosemary until it looks pretty. Adding the oil sooner makes the consistency of the dough weird, while adding it at the very end will give it a nice sourdough taste. You may need a little more water than the recipe calls for; add it one tablespoon at a time. Make sure to thoroughly flour the surface before turning out the crust onto it.
Proof the yeast and preheat the oven as directed.
Chop up whatever toppings you want.
In a non-plastic bowl, mix the can of cheap tomato sauce with your favorite seasonings (I include a tablespoon of chopped garlic, black pepper, and assorted green seasonings).
The crust should be shaped so it has a little lip to it (for the "handle" part of the crust, and so the fillings don't overflow). Spoon out a bit of the sauce over all but the crust edges, then a bit of the toppings, repeat until both are done, then cover the top with mozzarella cheese.
Cook as directed.
Another version of my directions here.
Makes one 10-12" thick-crust pizza. I usually eat 1 slice for dinner with two 1/2 slices for lunches; T$ usually eats 1-2 slices for dinner.
7. Beef with Oyster Sauce
This recipe is the one thing my Nga Boo successfully taught me to make.
Total prep time: 60 minutes, plus 15-20 minutes to set up marination the night before
Ingredients:
Directions:
Marinate
The night before cooking this, marinate the meat. Cut into small, moderately thin, pieces before marinating and remove excess fat. Put the meat into a tupperware and coat with soy sauce and sprinkle on corn starch - I'd say 2 tablespoons to a quarter cup of soy sauce, and 1-2 tablespoons of corn starch, but I eyeball it. You can add a tablespoon of a cooking wine now or later - not too much wine or starch or it'll become a bit gelatin-y when you cook it. Shake to distribute evenly.
Cook
Rice takes the longest so I start the water boiling first. (Note that brown rice takes 45 minutes, white is only 15.) If you're doing fresh veggies, prepare those but don't start yet. Chop the onion and optional garlic.
Saute onion over medium heat in a pan with the olive oil and the optional garlic until the union changes color to yellow (5-15 minutes?). Lower heat to medium-low, and add beef. Also add a generous amount of oyster sauce (I think I do a 1/4 cup total, adding some early and some later), some more soy sauce, optionally some terriyaki, and the optional cooking wine if you didn't earlier. Cover. Stir frequently. As it cooks, the sauce will first become more watery as the beef juices come out, and then thicken up a bit again as the moisture evaporates. When the texture of the meat feels right, try a piece to be sure.
Start the veggies after the meat since they usually take less time. If you're using frozen veggies, you can just add them to the meat when the meat is nearly done.
I think the total cooking time is around 30 minutes, but it could be more. I like to serve the beef and sauce over the rice and the beans on the side, Tony likes them all together. There will be LOTS of sauce, it's the best part.
Makes 2 dinners and 1 lunch.
8. Veggie Burgers
This one came out of my project a few summers ago to eat one vegetarian dinner a week.
Total prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
Directions:
I've seen many versions of the directions of how to cook the veggie burgers, but my favorite is toaster oven. Most boxes don't currently have these directions, so I'll provide them here. You can always follow the directions on the box instead. Set toaster oven to bake at 375ºF. Cook on one side for 8 minutes. Flip and cook another 6-8 minutes.
Optionally add grated cheese to the veggie burgers, switch toaster oven to toast and toast the roll (this is sufficient to melt the cheese).
While cooking the veggie burgers, also boil water and cook the frozen veggies according to directions.
I prefer to eat my veggie burger on a bun with mozzarella cheese and BBQ sauce, and with seasoned salt on the veggies. T$ eats his veggie burger straight (no bun, no BBQ sauce, usually no cheese), and the veggies too.
Makes 1 veggie burger per person, no leftovers.
9. Fish Wheel
Total prep time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Directions:
If you get the S+S fish wheel, cook same day or next day. If you get a TJ version it will probably be frozen. Thaw the day before in the fridge, or the same day in warm water.
Cook fish wheels (or TJ's fish) according to directions on package - I usually put some olive oil on a baking pan and bake it in the oven, flipping the fish over halfway through.
Cook the rice according to directions (don't forget brown rice takes all of 45 minutes, while white is only 15).
Cook the veggies according to directions (directions for corn-on-the-cob: boil water, shuck the ears, boil in water for 5-10 minutes until they turn bright yellow).
Serve with teriyaki or soy sauce if more flavor is needed in the rice.
Makes 2 dinners, and sometimes a half lunch.
More recipes at this LJ tag.
Originally posted on Dreamwidth.
comments there. Comment here or there.
1. Pasta and sausage
Total prep time: 30-45 minutes
Ingredients:
- Chicken apple sausage, pre-cooked (can be found near the uncooked sausage; pick your favorite flavor, this is ours; usually comes with 4 links)
- 1/2 box of linguine (or your favorite pasta; a standard package is 16oz if white, 12oz if wheat)
- 1 green pepper (or other color if on sale)
- 1/2 jar of pasta sauce (four cheese or garlic/onion are our favorites, pick one that goes with your sausage flavor)
- olive oil
Directions:
Set a large pot of water to boiling.
Slice the sausage into pieces 1-2cm thick. Put a bit of olive oil in a shallow pan and put the burner on medium-ish. Add the sausage bits and cover.
Chop the green pepper.
Check if the water is boiling, and when it is cook the half a box of linguine according to the directions.
When sausage bits look like they're pleasantly cooking (the casing will shrink a little or the meat part bulge, they shouldn't yet be turning brown) add the pepper and turn the heat down a little. Cover. Right before the peppers start to change color from bright green (or bright other color) to wilt green is when it's done. If you're not sure, taste bits each time you stir.
Add half a jar of pasta sauce, mix, and cover. When it's bubbling it's done. The pasta should finish at a similar time. Drain and serve all together.
Makes two dinners and 1-2 lunches.
2. Tacos
Total prep time: 30-45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 0.3-0.5 lb ground chicken/turkey/beef (we usually get 0.7-1.0 lbs and divide in half)
- taco dinner kit (includes 12 tacos, seasoning, salsa, instructions; we get the Hard and Soft Taco Dinner Kit because I like hard tacos and T$ likes soft ones)
- taco beans can (also in the Mexican aisle of your grocery store)
- lettuce (you only need a few leaves)
- pre-grated Mexican cheese mix
Directions:
Freeze meat when you buy it, thaw the night before you're planning to eat it.
Will come with directions on the box.
In addition to the directions on the box, there's a few things. Use only half the thing of meat and freeze the other half. Warm the taco beans in a small pot, on the smallest burner, on the lowest setting it goes to. Stir frequently. Chop a few lettuce leaves. We use 1/2 cup of water - the directions call for 2/3 cup with a full pound of meat, and we found that 1/3 cup of water was a bit too little.
Makes 12 tacos. Depending on how hungry you are, you will eat 3-6 of them. 2 leftover tacos make a great lunch.
3. Jacket Potatoes
Total prep time: 20-30 minutes or 60-75 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 potatoes per person
- 1 can tuna per person
- pre-grated cheddar cheese (or your favorite cheese)
- mayo (we use Miracle Whip)
- seasonings (whatever else you think would be yummy in tuna fish)
- salt (Kosher salt preferred for the large grain)
- olive oil
- 1 celery stick
- fancy olive oil brush (optional, but it makes things a lot nicer)
- cooking tongs (if you're using the oven, optional, but makes things easier)
- crappy baking pan or tin foil
- butter or margarine
Directions:
Poke holes in your potatoes. Mix a table spoon of olive oil with a pinch of (Kosher) salt. Liberally coat the outsides of your potatoes with the mix, ideally using a fancy olive oil brush, making more of the mix as needed.
Make baked potatoes. If you do this in the microwave, it typically takes 20 minutes, you can Google it. If you do this in the oven, preheat to 375ºF and put a crappy baking pan or tin foil on the lower rack under where the potatoes will be. Put the potatoes directly on the upper rack. Turn after 20 minutes. Check after 40 minutes, should take 40-60 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs. You can shorten it to 40 minutes guaranteed if you turn your oven as high as 400ºF, but our oven smokes profusely at that temperature (probably because we've reached the flash point of olive oil).
Make tuna salad. We use Miracle Whip, black pepper, a finely chopped celery stick, and assorted green spices (sometimes including oregano, basil, rosemary, whatever). If you don't like tuna, do your favorite salad, like lobster or chicken or tofu or whatever.
When the potatoes are sufficiently baked (insides should be soft and part easily to a butter knife), cut them in half. In each half, put a little slice in the middle the long way so when you then coat the white faces with butter, the butter runs into the little slice. Top the potatoes first with the cheese so it melts, then with the tuna salad. Optionally, you can nuke the whole thing for another minute to warm the tuna/cheese on the top, in which case you could put the tuna down first and then the cheese.
Another version of directions here
Makes 2 baked potatoes with toppings per person. I usually eat 1 potato and save the other for a lunch and a half; T$ usually finishes both of his.
4. Chicken Caesar Salad
Total prep time: 20-30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Dole Caesar Salad Bag (or other brand, or Lite version; includes lettuce, croutons, sometimes cheese, Caesar dressing)
- 0.4-0.5 lbs chicken breast tenders (we usually buy as close to 1lb as possible and freeze half, make sure you get boneless, preferably in strips rather than full breasts)
- Lemon pepper seasoning (preferably without salt)
- George Foreman grill (ideally) or pan
Directions:
Salad bags don't last long, so get the furthest out date they have, and try to eat this the same day or next day. Freeze the chicken you're not using, or if you're using chicken that's already frozen then take it out the day before you make this. This is a great meal for hot summer days, and is quick too.
Sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning liberally on both sides of the chicken strips and throw them on the grill as-is. If you're using a pan instead of a George Foreman Grill, non-stick probably won't need any grease, but if you're not using non-stick add a small amount of olive oil, and put the pan on medium (I think) with a lid. Every few minutes open the grill or check the pan and flip the chicken. When both sides are starting to get a little toasty brown, take the largest piece and cut into it. You want the inside to NOT be pink, but still be a little juicy.
While cooking, rinse the lettuce and shake off as much water as possible. If you ignored my advice and didn't eat the bag within 24 hours of purchase, pick out the nasty bits.
When the chicken is done, cut into bite-sized pieces, mix with the salad kit ingredients.
Makes two dinners, usually no leftovers. If you do have leftovers, try to eat them quickly. Don't bother saving croutons, pick them out to eat while still crunchy. :)
5. Trader Ming's Bags
Total prep time: 25 minutes or 1:15
Ingredients:
- Trader Joe's Asian meal starter kit (also called Trader Ming's bags, such as teriyaki chicken or orange chicken
- 1 cup uncooked rice (white jasmine is my favorite, we're trying to move towards more brown rice)
- 8 oz frozen veggies (we like the Stop'n'Shop Asian stir fry mix
Directions:
Cook the Bag as per the directions (microwave for teriyaki chicken and yes it IS yummy, oven for the orange chicken).
Cook the rice as per the directions (note that brown rice takes at least 45 minutes to cook, the rice choice is what dictates the cooking time).
Cook the frozen veggies as per the directions (some come with steamed or microwave directions, we always boil).
Mix everything in a large mixing bowl and serve.
Makes 2 dinners and 0-2 lunches.
6. Pizza
Total prep time: 60+ minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 can tomato sauce (get the cheap unflavored stuff)
- toppings (we always do 1 yellow onion, sometimes pepperoni, sometimes a portabello mushroom)
- assorted seasonings (I always include chopped garlic, which you can buy in a jar)
- rosemary specifically
- pre-grated mozzarella cheese
Directions:
Follow these directions for the pizza crust with the following changes. Do not add the olive oil until the very last step, and right before that mix in rosemary until it looks pretty. Adding the oil sooner makes the consistency of the dough weird, while adding it at the very end will give it a nice sourdough taste. You may need a little more water than the recipe calls for; add it one tablespoon at a time. Make sure to thoroughly flour the surface before turning out the crust onto it.
Proof the yeast and preheat the oven as directed.
Chop up whatever toppings you want.
In a non-plastic bowl, mix the can of cheap tomato sauce with your favorite seasonings (I include a tablespoon of chopped garlic, black pepper, and assorted green seasonings).
The crust should be shaped so it has a little lip to it (for the "handle" part of the crust, and so the fillings don't overflow). Spoon out a bit of the sauce over all but the crust edges, then a bit of the toppings, repeat until both are done, then cover the top with mozzarella cheese.
Cook as directed.
Another version of my directions here.
Makes one 10-12" thick-crust pizza. I usually eat 1 slice for dinner with two 1/2 slices for lunches; T$ usually eats 1-2 slices for dinner.
7. Beef with Oyster Sauce
This recipe is the one thing my Nga Boo successfully taught me to make.
Total prep time: 60 minutes, plus 15-20 minutes to set up marination the night before
Ingredients:
- Oyster sauce - you can find this in the Asian section of many grocery stores, or else find an Asian grocery store
- Soy sauce
- Terriyaki sauce (optional)
- Corn starch
- cooking wine (optional)
- 1 yellow/white onion
- garlic (pre-minced, or else a couple cloves that you mince, optional)
- olive or sesame oil
- 1 lb beef - ideally flank steak (but it's hard to find and expensive when you do), second choice pre-cut stirfry beef, third choice get a middle-quality boneless steak and chop off the excess fat
- some veggie (I like either fresh string beans, or frozen french-cut green beans or frozen stir-fry veggies, my Nga Boo did asparagus)
- rice (I recommend 1-1.5 cups dry, white or brown)
Directions:
Marinate
The night before cooking this, marinate the meat. Cut into small, moderately thin, pieces before marinating and remove excess fat. Put the meat into a tupperware and coat with soy sauce and sprinkle on corn starch - I'd say 2 tablespoons to a quarter cup of soy sauce, and 1-2 tablespoons of corn starch, but I eyeball it. You can add a tablespoon of a cooking wine now or later - not too much wine or starch or it'll become a bit gelatin-y when you cook it. Shake to distribute evenly.
Cook
Rice takes the longest so I start the water boiling first. (Note that brown rice takes 45 minutes, white is only 15.) If you're doing fresh veggies, prepare those but don't start yet. Chop the onion and optional garlic.
Saute onion over medium heat in a pan with the olive oil and the optional garlic until the union changes color to yellow (5-15 minutes?). Lower heat to medium-low, and add beef. Also add a generous amount of oyster sauce (I think I do a 1/4 cup total, adding some early and some later), some more soy sauce, optionally some terriyaki, and the optional cooking wine if you didn't earlier. Cover. Stir frequently. As it cooks, the sauce will first become more watery as the beef juices come out, and then thicken up a bit again as the moisture evaporates. When the texture of the meat feels right, try a piece to be sure.
Start the veggies after the meat since they usually take less time. If you're using frozen veggies, you can just add them to the meat when the meat is nearly done.
I think the total cooking time is around 30 minutes, but it could be more. I like to serve the beef and sauce over the rice and the beans on the side, Tony likes them all together. There will be LOTS of sauce, it's the best part.
Makes 2 dinners and 1 lunch.
8. Veggie Burgers
This one came out of my project a few summers ago to eat one vegetarian dinner a week.
Total prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 veggie burger per person (my favorite is Morning Star Farms Grillers Prime; T$'s is Boca Burgers they've got this Mexican one he likes but I don't know the name)
- 1 roll/person (optional)
- 4oz frozen veggies/person (or half a bag of french fries if you don't want to be healthy; we usually do peas, corn, and carrots)
- grated cheese (optional)
- BBQ sauce (optional)
- seasoned salt (optional)
Directions:
I've seen many versions of the directions of how to cook the veggie burgers, but my favorite is toaster oven. Most boxes don't currently have these directions, so I'll provide them here. You can always follow the directions on the box instead. Set toaster oven to bake at 375ºF. Cook on one side for 8 minutes. Flip and cook another 6-8 minutes.
Optionally add grated cheese to the veggie burgers, switch toaster oven to toast and toast the roll (this is sufficient to melt the cheese).
While cooking the veggie burgers, also boil water and cook the frozen veggies according to directions.
I prefer to eat my veggie burger on a bun with mozzarella cheese and BBQ sauce, and with seasoned salt on the veggies. T$ eats his veggie burger straight (no bun, no BBQ sauce, usually no cheese), and the veggies too.
Makes 1 veggie burger per person, no leftovers.
9. Fish Wheel
Total prep time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 Fish wheels (technically, Stop'n'Shop salmon pinwheel with lobster stuffing; if unavailable, try Trader Joe's for some sort of stuffed fish)
- 1 cup dry rice
- Veggies (either frozen or I prefer 3 ears of corn-on-the-cob)
- soy sauce or teriyaki (optional)
Directions:
If you get the S+S fish wheel, cook same day or next day. If you get a TJ version it will probably be frozen. Thaw the day before in the fridge, or the same day in warm water.
Cook fish wheels (or TJ's fish) according to directions on package - I usually put some olive oil on a baking pan and bake it in the oven, flipping the fish over halfway through.
Cook the rice according to directions (don't forget brown rice takes all of 45 minutes, while white is only 15).
Cook the veggies according to directions (directions for corn-on-the-cob: boil water, shuck the ears, boil in water for 5-10 minutes until they turn bright yellow).
Serve with teriyaki or soy sauce if more flavor is needed in the rice.
Makes 2 dinners, and sometimes a half lunch.
More recipes at this LJ tag.
Originally posted on Dreamwidth.
