Recipes: Quick and easy dinners
by Tierney O'Hara
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 your pricked potatoes on high for about 2 minutes per potato.
Put your oven to 425 and get your pork chops and your mayonnaise jar from the refrigerator.
Into a zip lock bag, put your chops (4) and about 1/3 cup of mayonnaise. Add in salt and pepper, garlic salt and 4 tablespoons of soy sauce. Close the bag and flip it around until the ingredients mix together and form a marinade.
Take your potatoes out of the microwave and put them into the oven to finish cooking. Steam two bunches of fresh broccoli until tender and drain.
Into a large frying pan, on medium heat, add in enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan about 1/3 cup.
Fill a shallow dish with 1 cup of flavored breadcrumbs.
Dip chops into breadcrumbs, shake off excess, and place into hot oil. Let chops cook about 5 -7 minutes on each side before turning. Juices should run clear and chops should be well browned.
In a saucepan heat 3 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Add your drained broccoli, salt and pepper to taste, and toss. When hot put into serving bowl, with a big wedge of lemon for each person.
Put the chops on a platter, and if you have enough room, place the baked potatoes on the platter too. Serve with butter and sour cream.
This recipe sounds so good, I'm going to go make it right now!