quick and easy cooking meme
via stitchinthyme: Your meme mission, should you choose to accept it, is this - post 1-5 of your absolute favorite recipes. Easy stuff that you routinely do off the top of your head. Y'know - the kind of thing us average citizens could do w/ minimal prep time. You may also share one "hard" recipe from a book or other source, if you desire. Bonus points if you provide color commentary, or explain why this receipe is your favorite.
pasta w/sundried tomatoes & walnuts: boil 1/2 package thin spaghetti, drain. heat a couple dollops of olive oil in a large-ish pan (I think we use a 12" skillet). throw in some minced garlic and onions, cook til garlic starts to brown. add noodles, stir around for awhile; add tomatoes and walnuts, stir around some more. continue til noodles turn a brownish color, and it's done. optional: add baby spinach, cover and allow to wilt.
roasted and stuffed acorn squash: cut an acorn squash in half and roast in oven. whlie it's roasting, cook up some garlic, onions, and fake (or real) sausage. scoop insides of roasted squash into a bowl. mash up and mix with sausage stuff, spoon it all back into the squash shells, sprinkle with cheese, and bake til the cheese melts. sometimes we also add some stuffing mix and/or apples to the squash/sausage mixture.
hamburger donburi: throw 1/4 pound of hamburger in a pan, cook, drain, put back on the stove, sprinkle liberally with sugar, sprinkle that with equal parts soy sauce and water (i probably use a tbsp or so of each -- maybe a little less soy than water these days). allow most of the moisture to simmer away, stirring occasionally. add a couple of handfuls of frozen peas. once the peas are warm, serve over rice, with ketchup. --> i used to actually order this at a restaurant (bento, in chicago, long since closed) when i was young. i don't think it was on the menu, but they always made it for me. it's one of my favorite quasi-asian dishes.
soyrizo, rice & peas: melissa's soyrizo is my favorite fake meat product. it is fabulous. anyway, saute some onions til they're translucent; take half the tube of soyrizo and throw it in a pan with a bit of olive oil. run it around the pan for awhile, maybe 3 minutes, get bored and add rice (i probably add around 2 cups of cooked white asian rice). stir mixture around until all of the rice turns the color of the soyrizo. add peas. serve as a side with tacos.
ramen stirfry: cook ramen in wok for three minutes without the seasoning packet, drain. steam broccoli and carrots in microwave while ramen cooks. push to sides of wok, add oil. saute some garlic, a tiny bit of ginger and tofu in the oil til the tofu starts getting a bit crispy. push the noodles into the oil and mix everything around. add carrots and broccoli, a few shakes from the soy sauce bottle, freshly ground pepper, a bit of sesame oil, and some sesame seeds.
pasta w/sundried tomatoes & walnuts: boil 1/2 package thin spaghetti, drain. heat a couple dollops of olive oil in a large-ish pan (I think we use a 12" skillet). throw in some minced garlic and onions, cook til garlic starts to brown. add noodles, stir around for awhile; add tomatoes and walnuts, stir around some more. continue til noodles turn a brownish color, and it's done. optional: add baby spinach, cover and allow to wilt.
roasted and stuffed acorn squash: cut an acorn squash in half and roast in oven. whlie it's roasting, cook up some garlic, onions, and fake (or real) sausage. scoop insides of roasted squash into a bowl. mash up and mix with sausage stuff, spoon it all back into the squash shells, sprinkle with cheese, and bake til the cheese melts. sometimes we also add some stuffing mix and/or apples to the squash/sausage mixture.
hamburger donburi: throw 1/4 pound of hamburger in a pan, cook, drain, put back on the stove, sprinkle liberally with sugar, sprinkle that with equal parts soy sauce and water (i probably use a tbsp or so of each -- maybe a little less soy than water these days). allow most of the moisture to simmer away, stirring occasionally. add a couple of handfuls of frozen peas. once the peas are warm, serve over rice, with ketchup. --> i used to actually order this at a restaurant (bento, in chicago, long since closed) when i was young. i don't think it was on the menu, but they always made it for me. it's one of my favorite quasi-asian dishes.
soyrizo, rice & peas: melissa's soyrizo is my favorite fake meat product. it is fabulous. anyway, saute some onions til they're translucent; take half the tube of soyrizo and throw it in a pan with a bit of olive oil. run it around the pan for awhile, maybe 3 minutes, get bored and add rice (i probably add around 2 cups of cooked white asian rice). stir mixture around until all of the rice turns the color of the soyrizo. add peas. serve as a side with tacos.
ramen stirfry: cook ramen in wok for three minutes without the seasoning packet, drain. steam broccoli and carrots in microwave while ramen cooks. push to sides of wok, add oil. saute some garlic, a tiny bit of ginger and tofu in the oil til the tofu starts getting a bit crispy. push the noodles into the oil and mix everything around. add carrots and broccoli, a few shakes from the soy sauce bottle, freshly ground pepper, a bit of sesame oil, and some sesame seeds.