The One-Pot Meal: Jambalaya

Oy.  I have been derelict in my blogger-duties.  I completely neglected to post Part Three of the "Learn to Cook" series last month. Mea culpa.  The good news is that Parts Three and Four are related and so I promise to bring them to you one after the other, starting now. 

In Part Three of our "Learn to Cook" series, we are going to take a step beyond the pasta toss and try to do a little more actual cooking.  But we'll still keep it simple by sticking to just one pot.  Cooking is much less intimidating if you only have one pot on the stove to monitor.  No need to worry that your sauce will burn while you were concentrating on sauteing the meat or tending to the veggies roasting in the oven.  For beginners (or for experienced cooks who happen to have distractions, like, say, a three year old who is using your legs as a tunnel for his cars), knowing that you just have one pot on the stove, happily bubbling away, can be comforting and confidence-building.

For this month's recipe, I've chosen to give you my 30-minute version of jambalaya.  I've made "real" jambalaya before, and it was completely and utterly wonderful.  But it also required a lot of time on the stove.  Then, about a decade ago, I discovered a recipe for 20-minute jambalaya in Desperation Dinners, by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross.  It still had all the great, Louisiana flavors -- spicy sausage flavoring those good old staples, rice and beans -- but was on the table in 20 mins.  Over the years, I have altered the recipe a bit (mainly using Emeril Lagasse's jambalaya recipe from Potluck), in favor of starting with a "Cajun mirepoix" and fresh thyme.* It is still ready in about 30 minutes and the hardest part is chopping the veggies -- and how hard is that?

One note for the beginners out there:  Don't be intimidated by the long-ish list of ingredients.  You mostly just dump them into a pot and let them sit.  And don't be intimidated the list of spices/herbs, either.  All of these (bay leaves and oregano, especially) are worth having in your pantry, as they provide the flavor backbone of many, many meals.  And if you don't want to buy something, just leave it out.  The only things I wouldn't dream of leaving out are the rice, beans, sausage, and thyme. 

JAMBALAYA

Source:  adapted from Desperation Dinners, Beverly Mills & Alicia Ross;  Potluck, Emeril Lagasse
Serves:  6
Time:  30 mins.

• 1 tsp butter
• 1 large onion
• 1 large bell pepper
• 2-3 stalks celery
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 8 oz.-1 lb. kielbasa or andouille sausage
• 1 3/4 c rice
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1/4 c white wine (or more water)
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 can white beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• Optional ingredients:  hot sauce to taste, green onions for garnish, cubed ham, cooked shrimp, chicken

1. Chop the onion, green pepper, and celery.  You should have about 1 c. of each, but there is no need to measure -- just eyeball it.  Melt the butter in a large pot or skillet that has a lid.  Add the veggies and cook until they begin to soften -- about 2 mins.  Add the garlic and cook for another 2 mins., stirring often. 
2. Cut the sausage into 1/4-inch thick slices and add to the pot, cooking for another 2 mins. or so. 
3. Add the rice and stir to blend, cooking for another minute or two.  Add the chicken broth and wine, stirring to moisten all the rice.  Add the thyme and bay leaves.  Cover the pan and cook until the rice is getting tender (5-15 mins., depending on what type of rice you used). 
4. Meanwhile, combine the onion powder, oregano, and black pepper in a little cup.  Rinse and drain the beans. 
5. Add the spice mixture, beans, and tomatoes to the pot.  Cover again and let cook until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid and the flavors have blended -- about 10 mins.  Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve.
6. Note on optional ingredients:  Jambalaya comes in as many forms as there are cooks in Louisiana kitchens.  So if you simply have to have chicken, or ham, or shrimp in your jambalaya -- add it!  If you are starting with raw chicken, I'd add it (cut into bite-sized pieces) to the pot first, brown it in some oil or butter, then remove it from the skillet and proceed with the recipe.  (Add it back in with the beans.)  If you are adding ham, I'd add that with the sausage.  Cooked shrimp?  With the beans.  And in our house, we don't add any hot sauce to the pot, because this is one of our kids' favorite meals, but they can't take the spice.  But Matt and I pass the bottle of hot sauce back and forth at the table, like a ping-pong match. 

I recommend serving this with a simple green salad or, for those ready for more than one kitchen task at a time, roasted carrots or cauliflower.  Add a crusty loaf of French bread and wine, naturally.  And if you've got kids who might be adverse to trying something new, may I suggest having a "dinner-and-a-movie" night and serve this while watching the just-released The Princess And The Frog?  If that movie doesn't have you craving Creole cooking, I don't know what will.  It's got me wanting to make gumbo and etouffee next! (And lucky for me, my husband's old college roommate is from N.O. and just shared his shrimp etouffee recipe with me!  I'll keep you posted . . .)

Enjoy!
M

Other one-pot recipes on this blog: Super Bowl Chili and Quickie Shepard's Pie (only uses one pot if you have an oven-proof skillet and don't have to transfer to a casserole dish). 
*In case inquiring minds want to know: What is a mirepoix?  A mirepoix is a combination of three "aromatics" -- vegetables -- sauteed to create a base of flavor on which to build a dish.  In fact, the repeated use of a specific mirepoix in a given culture is what lends a consistent, common, underlying taste to all of the traditional dishes of that culture. Traditionally, in French cuisine, a mirepoix is made up of onions, celery, and carrots -- usually sauteed in butter.  In Cajun/Creole cuisine, green peppers take the place of the carrots in the trinity of vegetables. 

Learn To Cook, Pt. 2: The Pasta Toss

Time for another installment of our monthly "Learn to Cook" series.  Last month, we talked about simple, "assembly only" dinners -- both sandwiches and salads.  This month, we're going to take another baby step forward and try pasta tosses.  Everyone can make a big bowl of pasta with jarred marinara sauce, right?  And that is certainly comforting and can be delicious.  But if a jar of marinara is the only treatment you ever give your pasta, then you are missing out on a world of possibilities.  You can break the red sauce rut by tossing your noodles with a variety of pantry/fridge staples.  Jarred roasted red bell peppers, pine nuts, capers, tuna, spinach, feta cheese, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives . . . There are lots of items living in your kitchen right now that are divine tossed in a bowl with some pasta. 

When you move beyond the basic pasta-and-marinara combo, you'll get two rewards.  First, you won't be bored.  Having just one taste experience for dinner -- let alone having that same dinner many times a month -- is boring, boring, boring.  But if you your noodles are tossed with other ingredients, then you get one bite of pasta followed by a bite of, say, feta cheese, then a bite of kalamata olives, then artichoke hearts . . . you get the picture.  Lots of tastes in one plate, which is much more exciting and satisfying.  So you'll have more variety in any given meal -- but you'll also have more variety over time, as you can change up your ingredients and achieve completely new pasta dishes every time.

The second reward is that you are very likely to eat less.  Most people, when they have just one taste experience (big bowl of red sauce) for dinner, tend to go for volume in order to achieve satisfaction.  (How many times have you reached for another slice of pizza even though you were already rather full, because you just didn't feel satisfied yet?)  But if you have lots of flavors in a meal, you can actually eat less but walk away from the table feeling much more satisfied.  After a dinner of pasta-with-marinara, many people end up feeling stuffed.  After a pasta toss with lots of flavors, you are more likely to feel full and satiated -- but not unpleasantly stuffed. 

I'll give you one complete pasta toss recipe and then a few different ideas for combinations that my family enjoys.  Let me know how your experiments go!  One last note:  I often like to serve pasta tosses as meatless meals, but if your family eats meat every night, you could always add bits of leftover chicken, turkey, sausage or whatever you've got. 

Angel Hair with Herbed Goat Cheese and Tomatoes

Source: adapted from Cooking Light magazine

Time:  about 15 mins. (after water boils)

• 1 package fresh angel hair pasta (from refrigerated section)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes (mix of heirloom types is nice)
• 3 oz. herb-flavored goat cheese
• 1 TBSP olive oil + more for drizzling
• 1-2 cloves garlic (or 1-2 tsp bottled, minced garlic)
• salt and pepper
• fresh basil
• about 3/4 c chicken broth

1. Bring some water to a boil and then cook your angel hair according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half, lengthwise.  Mince the garlic. Cut the goat cheese into chunks. Cut the basil leaves into thin strips.

3. Heat the oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes start to soften up a bit (about 2 mins.)  Add the chicken broth and cook another minute or so. 
4. Meanwhile, when the pasta is done, drain it and either return it to the pot or put it in a large serving bowl.  Add the goat cheese, basil, a little salt, and a lot of pepper on top and then gently toss it together just a bit.  Then add the tomato mixture and toss more thoroughly.  I like to drizzle individual servings with some extra olive oil and basil, then.  Taste and add more salt, pepper, oil, or chicken broth, if needed.

Other Pasta Toss Ideas:

Italian Peppers and Sausage:  Saute some Italian sausage (either links -- whole or cut up -- or bulk sausage, hot or mild) in some oilive oil.  Meanwhile, slice an onion and some bell peppers.  Add the veggies to the pan.  Toss with penne and some more olive oil -- and maybe a splash of balsamic or red wine vinegar.  (You could also add a can of diced tomatoes, but then let it cook all together a bit -- about 10 mins.)  Salt, pepper, and cheeses (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, romano) as you please.  I've also used this general idea to use up leftover pasta-with-marinara sauce.  For that meal, I make the sausage and onion/peppers as described, then mix it with the leftover pasta, cover with mozzarella, and bake until warmed through and the cheese is melted.

Greek Pasta:  Chop some sundried tomatoes (the jarred kind packed in oil) and toss them in a big bowl.  Add some kalamata olives, feta, garlic, parsley, and penne or spaghetti.  Toss with some olive oil and maybe a splash of vinegar.  Other possible add-ins:  onions (cooked for a bit or not), artichoke hearts, capers.  If you want to get fancy, saute some scallops with some chopped onion and garlic in olive oil and a splash of wine.  (Adapted from Desperation Dinners.)

Ricotta Pasta:  Put some ricotta cheese and parmesan or romano in a big bowl.  Add some chopped parsley.  Cook an onion in some olive oil and then add a bit of garlic and some halved cherry tomatoes.  When it's all soft, toss it with penne.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Other add-ins:  bacon, peas, sausage, zucchini, cooked spinach.  Ricotta is also great added to leftover pasta-and-marinara and baked (as discussed above). 

Tortellini With Sausage:  For a change of pace, use a filled pasta -- like tortellini or ravioli -- in a pasta toss.  My favorite is from adapted from Desperation Dinners.  Brown some bulk Italian pasta with a chopped onion.  Add a little garlic.  Chop some jarred, sun-dried tomatoes and them to the skillet, along with a handful of pine nuts.  (If it starts to get dry, add a splash or water.)  Toss with tortellini and serve with lots of romano or parmesan.

Pasta Pomodoro:  This is a classic that never seems to get tired -- but it is only great during the summer, in peak tomato season.  Chop some amazing, perfect tomatoes (I love the way a bunch of different colored heirlooms look and taste)  and add them, with their juice, to a big bowl.  Chop some garlic and add it, too.  Chop some basil and stir it in.  Add a LOT of oil -- start with at least a 1/4 c if you're making the standard 4 servings.  Toss with angel hair.  Taste to see if it needs salt, pepper, or more oil or basil.  Serve with lots of romano or pamesan. 

Tuna Toss:  We call this "Al Fresco" pasta in our house, as it is almost always served outside.  It is adapted from Desperation Dinners.  Again, wait til summer, when the tomatoes make this divine.  Chop up a bunch of tomatoes and add to a bowl with their juice.  Chop a bunch of parsley and add it.  Chop and add a few cloves of garlic.  Add a handful of kalamata olives.  Add a few spoonfuls of capers.  Add some tuna (canned or in the pouch, as you please).  Add a few handfuls of romano or parmesan.  Drizzle with a lot of olive oil.  Toss with fusilli.  Add salt, pepper, and more oil, to taste.

Spinach and Prosciutto Toss:  While you're boiling your noodles, heat some olive oil in a skillet and some minced garlic and a big punch of red pepper flakes.  Take a few ladles of water out of the pasta pot and add it to the skillet.  Put a bag of baby spinach in your colander.  When your spaghetti is done, drain it over the spinach -- this will cook the spinach.  Add the noodles and spinach to the skillet.  Add some sliced prosciutto, the juice of a lemon, salt, and lots of pepper, and romano or parmesan.  (Adapted from Rachel Ray's 2, 4, 6, 8 and Cooking Light magazine.)

Satay Noodles:  Here's a killer one to move your noodles away from Mediterrean flavors. This is (barely) adapted from Rachel Ray's 2, 4, 6, 8.  Saute some fresh ginger, garlic, and a big pinch of red pepper flakes in either canola or peanut oil.  After about 2 mins., take a ladle of the water out of the pasta pot and about a cup of chicken broth.  Add about 1/3 cup of soy sauce (or tamari, if you have it).  Turn the heat to high and let it bubble for a minute or two.  Turn off the heat and add 1/2 cup of smooth, all-natural peanut butter (if you eat the processed, Jiff-type of P.B., that will work).  Whisk to combine.  If it gets too thick, splash a little more of the pasta water in.  Squeeze two limes into the sauce and then toss with the hot noodles.  (Spaghetti or another long, thick noodle works best here.)  This is good just like this, but if you have some roasted peanuts and/or cilantro to put on top, you will be very, very happy. 

Assembling Dinner: Salads

So, last week we talked about quick, assembly-only "food on bread" dinners  -- basically, sandwiches and quesadillas.  This week, in the second half of January's installment in our year-long Learn to Cook series, we're going to talk salad days.  I eat a lot of salad, often at lunch.  But I love a "big salad" (a la Elaine) for dinner, especially on warm days or on days when I've had a bigger-than-usual lunch.  But best of all, salad is an assembly-only meal that is light, refreshing, nutritious, and satisfying.  So it's perfect for the new cook.

The difference between a ho-hum salad and a memorable, craving-inducing salad really comes down to the dressing.  So let's establish this straight away:  bottled dressings simply aren't as good as homemade ones.  If you have nice, tender greens and interesting, flavorful mix-ins, don't drown them in a thick, sugary, bottled dressing.  What's the point?  Instead, highlight them with a simple vinaigrette or, my personal favorite, a lemon-oil dressing (see below). 

So, let's build a better salad.

Step #1:  Choose your greens.

I like baby greens for almost every salad.  The only exception is when I want a lot of crunch, to stand up to heavy mix-ins.  Then, I go for romaine. If you have access to super-fresh greens from a farmer's market, that is the way to go.  But those bagged, grocery store mixes are a good runner-up. 

Once you gently wash your greens, spin them dry in a salad spinner.  You don't want water-logged greens, so dry them well.  Put them into a big bowl, so that you'll be able to toss them well.  Then, I like to salt and pepper my greens, rather than putting salt into the dressings. 

Step #2:  Choose your mix-ins.

Unless I'm going for a particular genre (see below!), then I follow a basic formula when assembling a salad:  sweet + savory = one tasty salad.  The classic example here is a spinach salad with pears (sweet), walnuts (savory), and blue cheese (savory).  Another favorite of mine is beets (sweet), walnuts (savory), and crumbled goat cheese (savory).  (If you have a little fresh dill to put on that one, it's divine!) And when the tomato days hit in summer, try a mix of heirloom tomatoes with goat cheese and basil.  So yum.

To add some heft to a dinner salad, add a meat (savory).  Later on this year, when you're really cooking, you'll likely have lots of leftovers to choose from (grilled chicken, roasted turkey, etc.).  But for now, consider buying a roasted chicken from the grocery store.

Other interesting mix-in ideas:

Sweet: 
Apples
Pomegranate seeds (I can buy the seeds by themselves at my farmer's market and at my grocery store)
Beets (I roast them, but, beginners, try canned!)
Citrus sections (clementines, grapefruits, oranges, etc.)
Grapes
Berries
Dried fruit (cranberries, apricots, raisins)
Tomatoes

Savory:
Avocados (great mixed with the grapefuit sections!)
Meats  (leftover chicken, turkey, beef, or pork, or chicken from a grocery-store roasted chicken)
Salmon -- smoked or canned
Tuna
Bacon
Hard-boiled eggs
Onions
Roasted potatoes or other veggies
Blue cheese
Feta cheese
Goat cheese
Fresh mozzarella
Shavings of Pecorino Romano or Parmegiano Reggiano
Nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts)

One other mix-in idea that I have to mention, but that steps outside of my usual sweet + savory formula, is the mixed-herb salad.  Chop a variety of fresh herbs -- basil, parsley, chives, tarragon, etc. -- and toss them with your greens.  So, so good.

One note: With the exception of the mixed herbs, don't add your mix-ins to your salad until AFTER you dress the greens.

Step #3:  Choose your dressing.
I have three basic dressings that I use for nearly every salad.  As noted above, I salt my greens directly, so you won't see "salt and pepper" on the ingredient lists for these dressings.  Feel free to add your salt and pepper to the dressings, instead, if you like.  Also, I mix all my dressings in a little glass jar with a tightly fitting, screwtop lid.  If you don't have a jar, you could whisk the dressings together in a small bowl.  (But find yourself a little jar!  Really, it's quicker and, if you have leftover dressing, you can store it right in the jar you mixed it in.)

Basic Vinaigrette (adapted from Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home):  Finely chop some garlic until you have about 1 tsp.  Add 1 TBSP Dijon mustard, 2 TBSP red wine vinegar, and 1/2 c olive oil.  Shake it up.  Taste and add more acid (vinegar) or oil, as you like.  Store in fridge up to 2 weeks -- just shake to re-blend before using.  If garlic isn't your thing, try grating a bit of shallot or onion.  (I use more than 1 tsp. when I use a shallot.)  Also, if you are really pressed for time, just skip the garlic/shallot. It's still good.

Lemon-Oil Vinaigrette (adapted from Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home): If vinegar is a little too much acid for you, try this more delicate lemon juice-based dressing.  Mince or grate some shallots until you have about 1 TBSP.  Add 2 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice, and 1/2 cup olive oil.  Shake until emulsified. Taste. 

Walnut-Oil Vinaigrette (from the back of a bottle of walnut oil!):  4 TBSP walnut oil, 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon.  Shake.  Serve with salads in which walnuts are a "savory" ingredient.  If the dressing tastes too strongly "nutty" to you, try it with half walnut oil and half canola oil.  I've also made this with hazelnut oil and it was great.  It's a nice change of pace from regular vinaigrettes. 

Add the dressing to your greens in small amounts -- start with just a TBSP or two.  Toss it gently with tongs.  Taste a leaf and add more dressing if needed.  Ideally, there should never be a pool of dressing at the bottom of your salad bowl.  The greens should just be glistening, lightly covered with dressing.

*Extra Credit:  Take Your Salad On a World Tour.

When you're ready to venture beyond the sweet/savory formula, pick your favorite type of ethnic food and try to construct a salad out of the basic flavors of that cuisine.  A few examples:

Japanese:  (adapted from Rachel Ray, 30-Minute Get Real Meals)  The real star here is the dressing, a ginger-soy vinaigrette:  juice of 1 lime, generous 1 tsp Dijon mustard,  1 TBSP tamari (or soy sauce), 1 tsp ginger (bottled or grated fresh).  This is fabulous just on plain baby spinach.  If you have warm grilled chicken or portabella mushrooms, and a few TBSP of toasted sesame seeds, add any or all of them.  (Warm chicken or mushrooms will wilt the spinach a bit, and it's delicious!  Also, toasted sesame seeds are available in the Asian foods aisle.)

Greek:  (adapted from Rachel Ray, 30-Minute Get Real Meals)  This is the classic greek salad:  chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese.  No lettuce!  Dress with the juice of 1 lemon, a drop or two of hot sauce, 4 tsp olive oil and sea salt.  Want to take it up a notch?  Add red onion, kalamata olives, and/or a few peperoncini.  Top with chicken or maybe even grilled shrimp or sauteed scallops. If you want to serve it over greens, go with romaine.  Note:  wait til summer for this one!  The tomatoes are the main attraction here, and they won't be worth it until summer. 

Italian:  (adapted from Rachel Ray, 30-Minute Get Real Meals)  Everyone loves an antipasto salad at a pizzeria, right?  Well, it makes a great meal on its own, too.  Romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts, bottled roasted red bell peppers, peperoncini, kalamata (or other good quality olives), Genoa salami, provolone cheese, fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes.  Dress greens with about 1 TBSP red wine vinegar and about 2 TBSP olive oil. Top with fresh basil.

Mexican:  When you are craving Mexican food, but don't want something heavy with meat and cheese, a taco salad is a great choice.  I often serve a small version of this salad with the quesadillas I discussed last week.  Romaine or even shredded iceberg,  black beans (or kidney or pinto), avocado, shredded Mexican-blend cheese, fresh cilantro, a little lime juice, and/or tomatoes.  Use your favorite salsa for dressing.  If you are ready for a little more cooking, serve with roasted corn added in.  As you can see from the photo, I have a bit of an obsession with the roasted corn . . .

Enjoy! Sorry there aren't more photos . . . it's been raining cats and dogs all week, so I haven't been a salad mood!

M

Assembling Dinner: Food On Bread

Let's start at the very beginning.  A very good place to start.  When you read, you begin with A, B, C.  When you cook, you begin with . . .  "assembling dinners!"

(Sorry . . . The Sound of Music was on over Christmas and I can't get Maria out of my head!)

Welcome to the first installment of our "Learn to Cook" series.  Your New Year's Resolution to learn to cook begins with a true baby step this month, as all I'm asking you to do is to commit to assembling dinner a few times a week.  Break the habit of feeding yourself with fast food, take-out, pre-packaged meals, pizzas, and restaurants.  Instead, get used to nourishing yourself with a homemade dinner.  No need to worry, yet, about cooking up a dinner "from scratch."  This month, let's just get used to putting easy dinners together out of ready-to-go ingredients that you can keep in your pantry or fridge. 

In thinking about meals that can be assembled simply, I came up with two broad categories:  (1)  Dinner On Bread;  and (2)  Salads.  I'll give you a few recipes to try out this month, and a few other ideas for ways to change those recipes so that you have more variety.  Today, I'll post the Dinner On Bread ideas;  next week, I'll post the salads. 

By the way, these dinner ideas, although rudimentary, will still be useful after you've graduated to more complex recipes.  Life doesn't allow us to cook an involved main dish, separate side dish, and dessert every night of the week.  So it is a wonderful thing to have a few assembly-only dinners in your back pocket, ready to be whipped up at a moment's notice.  I plan an assembly-only dinner at least once a week, to give myself a little freedom.  Having the supplies ready for that "emergency dinner" allows me to avoid calling the pizza man just because we didn't get back into the house until 5:00 and the kids are both whining that they are starving. 

DINNER ON BREAD

SANDWICHES

One of my favorite assembly-only dinners is soup-and-sandwich night.  I usually have a few servings of homemade soup in my freezer, but for now, serve a soup you've brought home from a grocery store or restaurant.  But let's make your sandwich feel more luxurious than the brown-bag special of turkey on whole wheat.  One ground rule:  For every sandwich, start with good bread.  (I buy at least one nice loaf of bread each week, cut it into halves or thirds, wrap in foil and a freezer bag, and freeze.  Then you just defrost -- at room temp or in a 350 degree oven -- as much as you need for your sandwich or to have with dinner.  No waste.)  Here are some sandwich ideas, starting with the simplest and moving up in complexity:

Italian Paninis

Start with Italian bread, focaccia, or ciabatta, sliced not too thick.   Layer Genoa salami, provolone, and some jarred, roasted, red bell peppers in between two slices of bread.  Press it together.  Heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan.  Place your sandwich in the pan and press it down a bit with a spatula while the bread browns.  Flip it over to toast the second side.  Alternative ideas to mix and match:  fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, fresh basil leaves, pepperoni, arugula, prosciutto, olives.  Note:  If you don't have an ingredient that contains some moisture (like the peppers), I'd drizzle a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the inside of the top piece of bread.  Serve with Italian wedding, a cream of vegetable, or minestrone soup.

Grown-Up Grilled Cheeses

Whenever I stayed home sick from school as a child, my grandma would make me Campbell's Tomato Soup and a grilled, American-cheese sandwich.  The ultimate childhood comfort food.  That version still provides a nostaligc satisfaction, but sometimes you want to raise the bar a bit.  Here's how (adapted from Cheap. Fast. Good., Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross). 

Start with nice white or whole wheat bread -- I like French bread.  Spread one slice of bread with a little mayo and the other with a little Dijon mustard. Layer three slices of cheese on one piece of bread.  I like a mix of Cheddar and Swiss, but go with what pleases you. Melt some butter in a frying pan and add the cheese-topped bread.  Cover the pan and cook until the bread turns golden.  Now layer on some slices of avocado, bacon, and/or tomato and top with the other piece of bread.  Press it together and flip it over.  Cook until that side is golden, pressing every now and again with your spatula.  Go classic and serve this with tomato soup, of course.  But it's also awesome with just about any vegetable-based soup.  (BTW, the soup pictured above is Molly Wizenberg's Tomato Soup with Two Fennels, from her A Homemade Life book.  The recipe is on another blog here.)

Vary this one by switching up the types of cheese, omitting the avocado, tomato, and/or bacon, adding already-cooked chicken or turkey, changing the type of bread, adding some salad greens, etc., etc.  Another awesome and unique variation is to use Brie and layer on prosciutto, thinly sliced pears, and arugula.  Drizzle the inside of one piece of bread with balsamic vinegar, for that one.  (I haven't tried it, but I'd bet that sliced apples, Black Forest ham, and a nice Parmigiano-Reggiano or Comte would also be awesome.)

Monte Cristos

The classic Parisian ham-and-cheese sandwich goes well with both vegetable soups and mixed green salads.  Start with a sturdy, sandwich-style bread.  (Nothing too airy, as it has to hold up after being dipped in egg.) Spread some mayo on one slice of bread and some Dijon on the other.  Layer some ham and Swiss on one slice of bread and top with the other.  Beat an egg in a shallow, wide bowl.  Melt some butter in a frying pan.  Dip the entire sandwich into the egg (first one side, then the other) and then place it into the pan.  Cook until golden brown and then flip to do the other side.  Traditionally, Monte Cristos are served with raspberry jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar -- but we skip the sweet additions. 

Varation:  For a Southwestern Monte Cristo, skip the mustard and mayo and smear some salsa (or hot pepper jelly or taco, enchilada, or chili sauce) on one piece of bread.  Use pepper jack cheese instead of Swiss.  Beat a dash of hot sauce into the egg.  Goes great with black bean soup or a bean-based tortilla soup. (Adapted from Rachel Ray's 365:  No Repeats.)

QUESADILLAS

Source:  Adapted from Cheap. Fast. Good., Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross.

Time:  5 mins. prep, 7 mins. baking

We have quesadillas more than I care to admit.  My kids love them. We eat them for lunch, dinner, snack, etc. To make an entire meal out of it, I serve it with roasted corn, Billy's version of guacamole (avocado, mayo, Greek yogurt, lime, salt, and garlic powder pureed), and sometimes a little salad of shredded lettuce and tomatoes with salsa on top.

• 1 large, flour tortilla per person
• 2-4 TBSP per person canned refried beans (regular or black bean) OR canned whole kidney, pinto, or black beans, mashed with the back of a fork 
• 2-4 TBSP per person shredded Mexican-blend cheese
• Optional add-ins:  frozen corn (defrosted); salsa; guacamole; cumin (sprinkle in a pinch in your beans); already-cooked chicken, turkey, beef or pork; steamed, pureed sweet potato or butternut squash (a way to sneak in a veg for my kids)
• Optional toppings:  salsa, sour cream, guacamole

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with Pam. (NOTE:  If just serving yourself, it's not worth turning on the oven!  Just heat your quesadilla in a frying pan, like the grilled sandwiches above.)
2.  Lay out a tortilla on a work surface.  Spread beans on half.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Layer in any other items you want (meat, corn, etc.).  If you want a little salsa or guacamole inside, smear some on the empty side of the tortilla.
3. Fold the tortillas in half and place on baking sheet.  (You can fit three on one large tray.)  Bake for about 7 mins., until the tortillas are crisp and the cheese has melted.  Cut each quesadilla into three wedges, using a pizza cutter. 

Have fun "assembling" in your kitchen this month!  Experienced cooks out there, let us know your go-to "assembly-only" dinners.  New cooks, let us know how you're doing!

M

So You Say You Want A Resolution

"Learn to cook -- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!"

--Julia Child

Happy New Year, friends! 

A lot of people joke that they wish I could "teach them how to cook."  I get this all the time, and it always confuses me.  What could I teach anybody?? I have zero cooking knowledge that can't be gleaned from a few cookbooks and a lot of practice.  Despite having an Italian grandma who was a great cook and a Scottish grandma who is a great baker, I did not grow up in the kitchen, learning how to make tantalizing meatballs and buttery shortbread while sitting on my grandmas' counters.  The idea of cooking didn't even occur to me until college and I didn't become passionate about using organic, local, seasonal produce until after motherhood.  So I say this based on personal experience:  as long as you are interested, you can learn to cook and can enjoy every step of the process.

So make "learn to cook" your resolution for 2010.  Avoid the typical (and usually empty) resolution to lose weight and go with "learn to cook" instead.  Cooking -- being comfortable in your kitchen, being confident that you can pull together a delicious, nourishing meal -- is a lifetime skill.  Even better, cooking for yourself (and spouse, kids, friends) is that rare experience that is equal parts good-for-you and pampering.  Which sounds healthier:  fried chicken fingers with a sugary dipping sauce from the local chain restaurant or a salad of baby greens with walnuts, goat cheese, and pomegranate seeds, topped with a juicy grilled chicken breast?  Even better, which sounds more decadent and pleasurable?  See what I mean?   When you can simultaneously indulge your desire for pleasure and do the thing that is best for your health, life is very good indeed.  Cooking for yourself gives you that luxurious, wholly satisfying experience.

So, your resolution is to learn to cook.  Now here's your plan:  During the second week of each month, I'll publish a "Learn to Cook" post aimed at helping you take baby steps towards your goal of being comfortable and confident in your kitchen.  We'll start off in January with just "assembling dinner" and then move onto pasta tosses, one-pot meals, and vegetables.  By the end of the year, you'll be making risotto, soup, and your own pizza.  Really.  I promise. 

So tune in every month and get ready to spend some time your kitchen this year.

M

P.S.  In case you are wondering:  my resolution is to blog every single week.  Oh, and to get more sleep.  And since it is now past midnight, I predict that my first and second resolutions will be in constant conflict with each other . . .