"Crispy chicken" - dip boneless, skinless chicken thighs in some beaten egg and then into a mix of whole wheat bread crumbs and wheat germ. Lay out on a baking pan slicked with a little olive oil and bake at 425 for about 25 - 30 minutes, till crispy. Serve with any vegetable and salad.
Peanut chicken or tofu - my versions are both on this site.
Pasta with Italian sausage and a mix of broccoli and broccoli rabe.
Frittata with leftover spaghetti in it, as well as some sprinkled cheese, and whatever vegetables you have/like.
If your family likes pesto, try it on farro instead of pasta and cut in some grape tomatoes and maybe add some white beans.
This is my daily challenge, cooking for our busy family, which includes an eight year old daughter. I try to mix things up a bit because serving the same things week after week gets monotonous for everyone. Plus I want my daughter to have an adventurous palate and to try new flavors at least some of the time. That said, we often do a Mexican themed night -- tacos, burritos,
quesadillas or chili. As AJ says, canned beans can be doctored up in all sorts of tasty ways and can be paired with grated cheese, diced avocado, chopped cilantro or lettuce, diced cherry tomatoes, and good bottled salsa. Roasted leftover vegetables are good too.
There are an infinite number of ways to prepare pasta. I often make a 20-minute marinara sauce from canned tomatoes in winter. But if your family is tired of red sauce, a pesto can be whipped up in just a few minutes if you have a food processor. I often use a combination of winter herbs at this time of year -- parsley and sage are good choices. Or an aglio oilo or cacio de pepe sauce (cracked black pepper and Romano cheese -- omit pepper from the children's portions) is super quick to make and very tasty.
From the archives, here are some tried and true dinner recipes that can be prepared quickly. These are all in the regular rotation at our house:
Cheap Beets' Sweet Potato and Salmon Potato Cakes with Chipotle Mayo (http://food52.com/recipes/11937-sweet-potato-salmon-cakes-with-chipotle-mayo): Cook the potato in the microwave, use canned salmon and this dish comes together very quickly. Kids may want to dip their cakes in ketchup instead of chipotle mayo, which is an accepted practice at our house.
Amanda's Warm Tuna and Bean Salad (http://food52.com/recipes/14766-warm-tuna-and-bean-salad). This is more of a summer recipe, but we often make it in the winter and sub broccoli or cauliflower for the green beans. Serve with crusty bread.
Amanda's Crispy Lentils with Ground Lamb (http://food52.com/recipes/20912-crispy-lentils-with-ground-lamb)
EmilyC's Warm Maple Vinaigrette http://food52.com/recipes/19010-roasted-radicchio-and-shrimp-with-warm-bacon-vinaigrette) Will your children eat shrimp? I have made this entire dish to rave reviews, but for a quick dinner I will often just roast shrimp in the oven (defrost in cold water if still frozen) and make EmilyC's tasty bacon vinaigrette to top it with. If you have cooked bacon in the freezer, this can be prepped very quickly.
How about panini? You can do them million ways, with whatever formula you like. They are wholesome and nutritious - it can be meat, cheese and veggies, or veggies and cheese only, plus an interesting sauce or spread for extra flavors. I make them with microgreens, peppers, arugula, olives, avocado, tomatoes, garbanzos, even shaved broccoli. With goat cheese, blue cheese, gruyere, mozzarella, you name it. It will give you and your kids a lot of nutrition with little work. Plus, no child says NO to a panini sandwich.
When my kids were small, we used to have "breakfast for dinner" once or twice a month with waffles and chicken sausage, or pancakes and eggs, or french toast and bacon - they got a kick out of it and it certainly broke up the routine.
One of my kids' favorite meals was chili, eaten (scooped up) with baked, low salt tortilla chips. Using pierino's starting point of having lots of cans of high quality ingredients in your pantry, you simply open cans of whatever color beans you like (red kidney, canellini, black, pinto, or a combination), along with a can or box of diced tomatoes, some dried oregano and finally (not out of the pantry, but out of the fridge), some purchased fresh salsa. It tastes better when it's been cooking awhile, but it's really not bad if you get your pot hot, and start with the salsa, to soften the onions and release the juices from the tomatoes, while you're opening the cans. Add whatever chili/adobo powders you like, and toss some chopped cilantro in at the end. I used to go totally one-bowl with this one, quickly chopping a few zuccini and pan searing them in grapeseed oil, and adding the bite-sized bits at the end. Grate and top with cheddar cheese for those who like it. Better the next day, but just fine after 30 minutes if you keep the heat fairly high and you stir it frequently. We also made pita bread "pizzas" on occasion, letting the kids put on their own topping. Not as good as regular pizza, but very quick and kind of fun.
Quesadillas with all kinds of unexpected fillings using whole wheat tortillas were also a regular feature at our house. I'd save chicken from other dinners -- the odd bits that kids don't find too appealing visually -- and toss it with a bit of salsa before stuffing the quesadillas. My sons would mash the beans with a potato masher and when they got a little older, help grate the cheese. I'd serve all of the above with a simple salad. (Washing the greens within a day of buying them and wrapping them lightly in a tea towel then put in the crisper made it easy on the week nights.)
And then of course, there were lots of homemade meals that started with defrosting something from the freezer . . . On the weekends, I'd cook double and triple batches of everything that could be frozen, and then would keep my freezer regularly stocked.
Usually I was in production mode, chopping a half dozen onions at once for two or three different dishes, etc. It would take about two hours, but it made my life so much more pleasant on the weeknights. I could never have managed to feed my family dinner at home, from scratch, every single night, without my freezer stash. ;o)
The real key to thirty minute cooking (forget Rachael Ray's "garbage bowl") is a well stocked pantry which includes a variety of pastas, canned tuna, canned tomatoes etc. You can use these things in innumerable ways and then brighten them up with up with fresh herbs, citrus etc. And don't forget the seasoning.The biggest mistake home cooks typically make is under-seasoning, and it could be something as simple salt.
Pizza is good too. Of course you have to do the labor the day before in making the dough. But after the dough has rested overnight and you've cranked up your oven to 500F it's really quick from there.
Hard to answer without knowing what your "usuals" are but when my kids were little they loved sauteed chicken breasts with egg noodles. I'd cut the breasts into bite size pieces and saute with a mix of butter/olive oil. Then serve it mixed in with wide egg noodles or sometimes bowtie noodles. Steamed broccoli or mixed frozen veggies can be added in.
9 Comments
Peanut chicken or tofu - my versions are both on this site.
Pasta with Italian sausage and a mix of broccoli and broccoli rabe.
Frittata with leftover spaghetti in it, as well as some sprinkled cheese, and whatever vegetables you have/like.
If your family likes pesto, try it on farro instead of pasta and cut in some grape tomatoes and maybe add some white beans.
quesadillas or chili. As AJ says, canned beans can be doctored up in all sorts of tasty ways and can be paired with grated cheese, diced avocado, chopped cilantro or lettuce, diced cherry tomatoes, and good bottled salsa. Roasted leftover vegetables are good too.
There are an infinite number of ways to prepare pasta. I often make a 20-minute marinara sauce from canned tomatoes in winter. But if your family is tired of red sauce, a pesto can be whipped up in just a few minutes if you have a food processor. I often use a combination of winter herbs at this time of year -- parsley and sage are good choices. Or an aglio oilo or cacio de pepe sauce (cracked black pepper and Romano cheese -- omit pepper from the children's portions) is super quick to make and very tasty.
From the archives, here are some tried and true dinner recipes that can be prepared quickly. These are all in the regular rotation at our house:
Cheap Beets' Sweet Potato and Salmon Potato Cakes with Chipotle Mayo (http://food52.com/recipes/11937-sweet-potato-salmon-cakes-with-chipotle-mayo): Cook the potato in the microwave, use canned salmon and this dish comes together very quickly. Kids may want to dip their cakes in ketchup instead of chipotle mayo, which is an accepted practice at our house.
Amanda's Warm Tuna and Bean Salad (http://food52.com/recipes/14766-warm-tuna-and-bean-salad). This is more of a summer recipe, but we often make it in the winter and sub broccoli or cauliflower for the green beans. Serve with crusty bread.
Amanda's Crispy Lentils with Ground Lamb (http://food52.com/recipes/20912-crispy-lentils-with-ground-lamb)
EmilyC's Warm Maple Vinaigrette http://food52.com/recipes/19010-roasted-radicchio-and-shrimp-with-warm-bacon-vinaigrette) Will your children eat shrimp? I have made this entire dish to rave reviews, but for a quick dinner I will often just roast shrimp in the oven (defrost in cold water if still frozen) and make EmilyC's tasty bacon vinaigrette to top it with. If you have cooked bacon in the freezer, this can be prepped very quickly.
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Quesadillas with all kinds of unexpected fillings using whole wheat tortillas were also a regular feature at our house. I'd save chicken from other dinners -- the odd bits that kids don't find too appealing visually -- and toss it with a bit of salsa before stuffing the quesadillas. My sons would mash the beans with a potato masher and when they got a little older, help grate the cheese. I'd serve all of the above with a simple salad. (Washing the greens within a day of buying them and wrapping them lightly in a tea towel then put in the crisper made it easy on the week nights.)
And then of course, there were lots of homemade meals that started with defrosting something from the freezer . . . On the weekends, I'd cook double and triple batches of everything that could be frozen, and then would keep my freezer regularly stocked.
Usually I was in production mode, chopping a half dozen onions at once for two or three different dishes, etc. It would take about two hours, but it made my life so much more pleasant on the weeknights. I could never have managed to feed my family dinner at home, from scratch, every single night, without my freezer stash. ;o)
Pizza is good too. Of course you have to do the labor the day before in making the dough. But after the dough has rested overnight and you've cranked up your oven to 500F it's really quick from there.