by Tierney O'Hara

Created on: July 22, 2009   Last Updated: November 30, 2010

Recipes for quick and easy dinners are great, unless the dinners don't taste good.

Some recipes are called quick and easy and that's because part of the work involved in making the recipe is done ahead of time. I call these recipes not so quick and easy.

The dinner recipes in this article are delicious and are made quickly -a few minutes of prep and you're eating in a half hour or so.

Marinara Sauce

Simple and elegant, marinara sauce takes very little time, has few ingredients, but is a classic pasta sauce and everyone loves it.

Walk in the door, throw the sauce together, put your pasta water on to boil, and go take a quick shower. By the time you're done with your shower, your dinner's just about ready.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves sliced

1 35oz can of crushed, Italian tomatoes

a handful of basil leaves rough chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

Place garlic and olive oil in large sauce pan and cook on medium until the garlic is soft and light brown about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper and reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer sauce until thickened approximately 20 minutes.

Nana's Chicken and Potatoes

Boneless chicken breasts are amazing. They cook quickly and can star in numerous recipes. Nana used cut up chicken with bones when she made this dish and cooked it for a couple of hours. We can get the same taste in a much shorter time.

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

4-6 cloves of garlic smashed

1 large onion, sliced

4 white or about 20 baby, red potatoes

1 teaspoon paprika

1 pinch rosemary

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Into your baking dish cut 4 chicken breasts into two-inch chunks. Smash 4-6 cloves of garlic and add to your baking dish.

Cut one large onion into thick slices and add to the pan. Cube white potatoes into large chunks approximate two inches and add to pan, or use baby, red potatoes - 5 potatoes per chicken breast.

Stir and coat all ingredients with oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika and a pinch of rosemary over the top and cover with foil.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, then remove the cover to thicken the juices and brown the chicken and potatoes.

Breaded Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes and Lemon Butter Broccoli

Who wouldn't like coming home from work and having a hearty meal of breaded pork chops, baked potatoes with sour cream, and steamed broccoli with butter and lemon - in about a half hour?

It's simple to do if you start by microwaving

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