Category: Main Dishes

Easy Fajitas

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1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts and thighs, cut thin

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chipotle pepper powder (can use more if you like it spicier)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp olive oil

4 red, yellow or green peppers, thinly sliced
1 yellow onion, cut into thin strips
1 red onion, cut into thin strips

Tortillas
Sour Cream
Salsa
Fresh Limes
Guacamole

Mix all spices, cornstarch and water in a medium bowl. Add in chicken, peppers and onions and stir to coat thoroughly. (You can use any kind of pepper or onion – it’s just fun to use different colors.)

Heat more olive oil in a large frying pan. Add everything and saute on pretty high heat for several minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the peppers and onions are soft and starting to brown a bit. You can grill it – which is more traditional, but the chipotle pepper lends a nice smokey flavor even if you just pan fry it.

Serve it with warm tortillas, with fresh lime juice squeezed over it. Top with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

Rachael Ray’s Spaghetti

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This is a great recipe for spaghetti, with sausage and lots of peppers and onions  You cook the sausage in the oven, which adds its own great flavor and pan juices.  This is also a good party dish – I’ve made it for our office holiday party at home.  If you really love bell peppers and onions, you can double them. (I always do.)

You’ll be doing three separate parts to this recipe – but you can pretty much do them all at the same time. Preheat oven to 425, start a large pot of water boiling, and heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan.

Step 1:

2 1/2 lbs. hot Italian Sausage
1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Put sausages on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and roast at 425 for 15-20 minutes.

Step 2:

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 or 2 red peppers cut into 1/2″ thick slices
1 or 2 green peppers, cut into 1/2″ thick slices
1 or 2 onions, cut into 1/2″ thick slices
1/4 cup spaghetti sauce
1 tsp salt
1/4 – 1/2 tsp black pepper

Add garlic, peppers and onions to hot frying pan with olive oil, and saute for five minutes. Add spaghetti sauce, salt and black pepper.

Step 3:

1 lb. spaghetti, linguine or fettuccine
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup good Parmesan cheese (plus a little extra for garnishing)
2 cups good spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup water saved from the boiled spaghetti
Pan drippings from sausage when the sausage is done.

Cook pasta in salted water, saving 1/2 cup water when you drain it. Add back the saved 1/2 cup water and everything else to the pan and blend gently.

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
extra parmesan

Put spaghetti mix on a large platter. Next layer on the onion/pepper mix, and finally lay the sausages on top. Garnish with fresh parsley and extra parmesan. Yum-oh!

Spanish-Style Garlic Shrimp

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Made this for Christmas 2009 and it was quick and surprisingly good.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp hot paprika
1 lb. raw, good-sized shrimp, washed and patted dry (I like the easy peel ones.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lemon, juiced
handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Saute onion for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and paprika and saute another minute or two, until the garlic smells cooked. (One of my favorite instructions in a Pakistani recipe was “to cook until a cooked aroma evolves.” No guesswork in that one, no sir!)

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the shrimp, tossing to coat.

Saute shrimp for a couple of minutes, until it turns nice and pink. Add Parsley and lemon juice.  Check seasonings and serve.  This is heaven with smashed potatoes, or serve it with crusty bread to soak it all up.

Kumy’s Daal

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Of course Kumy is a wonderful cook, if he ever cooks. He has been known to add red pepper flakes, extra black pepper and garlic to just about anything, which guarantees that it will be delicious.

But this is a very traditional Pakistani dish – true everyday food. Daal means lentils and there are dryer versions and soupier versions. This one is soupier and should be served with rice.  If you really want to jazz it up, you can also use a good mango chutney as a condiment.

1 1/2 cans of diced tomatoes
6 whole dry red peppers (the long skinny kind)
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt

Heat oil in a large saucepan, and add dry red peppers, salt and tomatoes. Cook 10-15 minutes on low heat.

2 cups daal, rinsed and drained
1 tsp turmeric
10 cups of water

Add to pan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.

2 Tbsp oil
6 dry red peppers
3 smashed garlic cloves
2 tsp whole cumin seeds

Heat oil in a small frying pan. Add peppers, garlic and cumin seeds and saute quickly, about 1 or 2 minutes. (This is called a “Bagaar”.)

Pour the oil and spices over the daal and stir to blend it. Check seasonings and serve.

Vanna’s Steak and Onions

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My friend Vanna is my dream cook – everything she makes comes out perfect and delicious whether it’s Pho or fried chicken or a dessert. She comes from a family of wonderful cooks and we look forward to the block party every year, just to see what Vanna’s bringing! I wrote this recipe down very quickly and with cryptic instructions, but it was delicious.

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs. of steak
2 Tbsp Oyster sauce
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 chopped onions

Mix sauces, salt, pepper and garlic and marinade steak in it for at least 10 minutes. Heat butter and oil in a big skillet. Add steak and brown for several minutes, turning over half way. Add chopped onions and cook until brown. Add any leftover marinade and cook for a minute or two. If the sauces get too dry, just add a little water.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

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I am a huge fan of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but this recipe really benefits from the flavor and fat from the skin – so I just use regular chicken thighs.

1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce (check label for gluten)
4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 Tbsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp kosher salt (optional – there’s a lot of soy sauce in there!)
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 chicken thighs (with skin and bone in)

Mix everything and marinate the chicken thighs in it for at least 20 minutes. It helps if you loosen the skin a bit to let the glaze soak into the meat. Place chicken and glaze on a baking pan, and bake at 425 for 25 minutes. Take a spoon and baste the chicken halfway through with any remaining marinade.

Serve with white rice and Asian Cabbage Slaw.

Corned Beef Hash

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April, 2009

1 large, corned beef brisket, thoroughly cooked and cut into bite size pieces
1 bag frozen hashed brown potatoes (or real potatoes – see note below.)
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
generous splash or Worcestershire sauce
1 squirt of yellow mustard (maybe 1/2 – 1 tsp?)
3 Tbsp olive oil

Saute onions, pepper and garlic in a little oil, until onions are soft and translucent. Heat olive oil in your largest frying pan. Add veggies and everything else to a large bowl and blend gently.

Scoop the mix into the hot oil in the frying pan. Gently even out the potatoes with a spoon. (You may not be able to get everything in – so if you have to – just do a second batch.)

Let hash cook five minutes without stirring. Then turn and saute another five minutes. If in doubt – cook longer. I just turn it in sections, so don’t worry if it starts to break apart.

Give a final sprinkle of salt and pepper and serve. Yum.

If you want to use real potatoes, you can. Just use 4-5 yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2″ thick slices, and boiled in salted water until they are almost all the way cooked through. Drain them well, dice them up and add them to the mix.

Louisa’s Puerto Rican Chicken & Rice Stew

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My friend Louisa introduced us to this amazing stew at their Winter Solstice Party, and it was love at first bite.

Louisa and her husband Bill have a wonderful tradition:  they host a Winter Solstice Party that’s a potluck dinner, with food that represents the sun: round, hot, yellow or somehow sun-related.  (One year our friend Josh brought home-made sushi, which worked since it was food from the land of the rising sun!)  It’s always fun to think of a dish that reminds us of the sun and to see what everyone else brings.

They ask everyone to come around sunset and to bring a candle for a candle exchange.  Their house is only lit with candles and the light of the fire in the fireplace, and it’s cozy and warm. It’s a really wonderful tradition and a chance to catch up with friends and to reflect that even on the longest night, the sun will rise again.

Anyway, I asked Louisa for her recipe, which she was kind enough to share.  It makes a lot and is one of our family’s favorites.

2 tsp garlic, crushed
2 tsp fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried
1 tsp each cumin, salt, black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast sections, cut into bite size pieces
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
4 oz. turkey ham or bacon, or real ham or bacon, diced
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
2 cups rice, washed (I use basmati)
6 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/4 cup green olives, halved
1 Tbsp capers

Mix garlic and spices, and rub into chicken. Heat half the olive oil in a big dutch oven, and brown chicken (about 10 minutes.) Remove from pan.

Add more olive oil, and saute onion and green pepper for 5 minutes. Add ham and tomatoes and cook 5 more minutes. Add chicken back in and simmer 20 minutes.

Add rice and stir, then add stock and stir to combine. Bring stock just to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for about 17 minutes. Add cheese, peas, olives and capers, and cook 5 more minutes.

It’s meant to be soupy, so you’ll need to serve it in bowls. So good. Thanks, Louisa!

Paprika Chicken, Sausage & Rice

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2 Tbsp olive oil
3 slices turkey or real bacon, chopped up
2 cups onion, diced
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced
1 pkg kielbasa sausage, halved and sliced into 1/2″ slices
1/8 tsp saffron
Black pepper
4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless cut into bite sizes  (Can use half thighs, too.)
1 Tbsp hot paprika
salt to taste
2 cups uncooked rice
5 cups chicken broth

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Add bacon, and saute until cooked. Then add onions, pepper and sausage, and cook several minutes until the onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from pan, and place in a large, oven-proof casserole. Add black pepper and saffron and stir gently.

Sprinkle chicken with paprika and a little salt. Add to pan, and cook, until chicken pieces are browned. Add to casserole.

Add rice and chicken stock to casserole and stir gently to combine everything. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes or until the rice is done. My notes don’t say if you needed to cover the casserole, but the ratio of broth to rice is pretty high, so you probably don’t need to.

Makes a nice, large batch.

Spinach on Toast with Fried Egg

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Ever have one of those weary days when you get home and just need a really quick, really easy supper?  

I thought of this on my drive home last night and 10 minutes after I walked in the front door, Kumy and I were sitting down to eat. Kumy told me that when he was a child, spinach on toast was one of his favorite meals but they had it with hard-boiled egg slices. This may become a regular meal – it was so good!

4 slices good bread, toasted
butter
garlic powder

olive oil
garlic powder
two really big handfuls of fresh spinach
black pepper
parmesan cheese

eggs
salt & pepper

Toast the bread, lightly butter it and sprinkle very lightly with garlic powder.

While bread is toasting, heat olive oil in a large frying pan, sprinkle in a little garlic powder and add spinach. Cook until spinach is just wilted. Add a few grinds of black pepper and a handful of parmesan cheese. Set aside.

In another frying pan, heat olive oil, and make sunny side up eggs. (Yolks should be runny.) Season with a little salt and pepper.

Put toasts on a plate, top with spinach and fried egg. Delish!