quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

 Gammy is still up in Texas cuddling our new grandbaby and our friends Butch and Janie had me over for a fast supper. This is what Janie made. I've had Aztec (tortilla) soup before, but never this good. This was the best ever!! This is Janie's recipe in her words.

6 corn tortillas, cut into strips                            1 can tomatoes (303) with liquid
2 TBL. Olive Oil                                                1 tsp. salt
1 onion, chopped                                             1/4 tsp. pepper
1 garlic clove, minced                                        1 tsp. chili powder
2 red chili pods, stems and seeds removed            1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
  ( dried can be used but fresh much better)
3 Cups chicken broth (see note)

    Cut tortillas into 1/2-inch strips and set aside.  Saute the onion, garlic, and chili in the hot oil until tender.  Add all the other ingredients except tortillas and cheese and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add the tortillas and continue simmering for another 30 minutes.

  I like to boil chicken and use the stock for this recipe add chopped chicken as much as you like.  I also add 1 can of whole kernel corn , drained. The chicken and corn should be added  for the last 30 min. of simmering. Serve with extra corn chips, avacado slices and sour cream and cheese.  Freezes very well ( usually  make a double batch).

Experiment you can use any veggies or meat you like in this recipe.

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Roast Pork Loin and Gravy with Roasted Veggies and Potatoes

This is a real good Sunday thing and not too labor intensive. This recipe serves 8-10 people. You could do the math and make it for fewer (or more!)

     5 pound boneless pork loin roast

     Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

     Salt and black pepper

     1 tbsp. dried thyme

     2 pounds baby carrots

     2 small or 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets, each floret cut in half

     8 baking potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-size cubes

     3 tablespoons butter

     2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

     4 tablespoons flour

     1 quart chicken stock (broth)

     Zest of 1 orange

     1/2 cup flat leaf parsley leaves (a couple of handfuls), roughly chopped or      2 tbsp. dried

     3 scallions, green and white parts finely chopped

Pre-heat the oven 425°F.

Place the pork roast in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet. Drizzle thoroughly with some olive oil and season liberally with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the thyme. Transfer to the oven and roast for 45-60 minutes, until the internal temperature is 145°F. Remove from the oven and let the roast rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Arrange the baby carrots, cauliflower and potatoes between three cookie sheets. Drizzle everything liberally with olive oil and some salt and pepper.

Transfer the veggies to the oven about 30 minutes before you are ready to take out the pork roast. Roast them for about 40 minutes, until tender.

For the gravy, place the butter in a medium size saucepan over medium-high heat and let it melt. Once melted, add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the flour and stir to combine with the fat and continue to cook for one minute. Whisk in the chicken stock, bring up to a bubble and cook until thick. Put a lid on the gravy and put it on the back of the stove until ready to serve.

While everything is roasting away in the oven, combine the orange zest, chopped parsley and chopped scallions in a bowl and put aside.

Thinly slice the pork and arrange it next to the veggies.  Pour about one cup of gravy over the roasted pork; serve the rest for the potatoes. Sprinkle the platter with the saved herb mixture and

SERVE IT UP!!! With maybe some red wine and pop pop’s homemade bread

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Pork chop Pizziola

Well Gammy is up in Texas cuddling our new grandbaby and visiting so I had to do a quick and easy meal for just 1 :( Well, the puppies helped me a little.

First the garlic bread. I mashed a clove of garlic then crushed it with the side of the knife. Took about a tbsp. of butter and mashed it on the cutting board. added the garlic, a little parmesan cheese and a little basil. Smoothed it all together and spread it on a couple slices of Italian bread. Toasted them in the toaster oven.

Put a little pot of water on for some pasta. I had some marinara sauce in the freezer. Broke off a piece and put it in another small pot with a little water and started it heating. I made a little salad of sliced tomatoes and onions.

Heated up a small frying pan with a little oil in it. Sprinkled some garlic powder and black pepper on one side of the pork chop and put it in the pan with the sprinkled side down then sprinkled the other side. Cooked the chop turning once until firm to the touch. The sauce was heated up so I just dumped it in the pan with the chop when it was done. The pasta was done so I drained it and put it on a plate with the chop and sauce. The bread was done , the salad was waiting for me. Of course I had some red wine. It was all good and took less than 30 min. Wish I had Gammy back here to cook for.

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Arrachera

We had some friends over the other night and as we do sort of regularly, had some arrachera. This is just flank or skirt steak that you marinate for a while before you put it on the grill. I've seen and heard of all different kinds of marinade. Everything from just beer and cumin to pineapple and cayenne pepper and some secrets that the cooks won't reveal. This is how we do it. Our friend, Butch, gives this his seal of approval. I bought 2 flank steaks, Each about 5 in. across and 10 in. long, some tortillas and some veggies.

Took a large zip lock bag opened it up and put it in a bowl with the opened side up (of course).

3/4 cup of good olive oil
3/4 cup red wine
about 1 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
about a tbsp. black pepper
a few shakes of salt
a pinch of red pepper flakes
1 lime squeeze all the juice out of it and put the skins in also


All of that in the zip lock then the meat. fold the bag so you get all the air out and zip it shut. Squeeze and push on it to arrange the meat so it is lying flat when you lay the bag on it's side. Put it in the fridge, The longer the better. Overnight is good but a couple of hours works ok. The shorter the marinade time the tougher the meat is going to be,sooo, the shorter the time the thinner you have to be sure to slice the meat when it's done.

We always saute up some veggies to put on the tortillas with the arrachera.

2 poblamo peppers in slices
2 jalapeno peppers minced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 med. sized onions sliced or julienne
some broccoli cut into small pieces
some string beans
2 plum (roma) tomatoes diced

heated up a frying pan med high with a couple of swirls of olive oil.
Put the broccoli and string beans in first, let them get a little soft then the rest of the stuff. Got it all almost done and turned the heat off.

After we were had happy houred a little we lit the grill and after it was ready Butch grilled the meat. He turns the meat often. Says its his secret way of doing great grilling. After a little bit he put some more of the marinade on the steaks. Cook the steaks about 8-10 min. We like them a little pink inside. Remember the finger poke test? The firmer it is the more done it is.

When the steaks were almost done. I put the heat to the veggies and heated up the tortillas 3 at a time in a dry pan.The meat was done. I sliced it across the grain and thin.

It was great!! We took a tortilla, put a few slices of meat and some veggies on it and dug in!

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Impromptu pizza

We didn’t know what to do for supper tonight. No plans whatsoever. Has that ever happened to you? I decided on pizza someway some how.

Of course we had some bread dough as a result of Pop Pop’s homemade bread

We didn’t have any sauce in the freezer (can you believe it?) so we went this way.

Lit the oven for 450. put some sliced onions, garlic and diced up plum tomatoes in a frying pan. Added some salt and pepper. Cooked it up ‘til the onions and garlic were done but not brown.

Rolled out a hunk of bread dough to fit the size of the pizza pan we have. Let me go on a little. I took a hunk of dough a little bigger than my fist and kinda curled it into a ball. Then I rolled it out with a rolling pin (I’m no good at the tossing thing). Got it the size of the pan, lined the pan with flour and put it on. Spread the tomatoes onions, etc. on the dough. Added some of the rotisserie chicken we had leftover in the fridge. Put some basil, oregano, Parmesan cheese and drizzled it with a little olive oil. Put it in the oven. Cooked it 'til the crust was the way we liked it (a little crispy) and

served it up!!! Of course we had a little (or a lot) of red wine to help things work out OK!! P.S. our puppy s , Stella and Bubba, helped with some of the crust.

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Skillet meal

This makes for great leftovers. Just put in meal sized bunches in the freezer in zip locks. Nuke it for a quick good busy weeknight meal.

1 lb beef

1 green bell pepper chopped

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes I like Progresso

1 medium onion chopped

1 teaspoon mustard powder if you have it 2 teaspoons mustard will work

1 tablespoon chili powder if you have it 1 ½ tsp red pepper flakes will work

2 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups rice. uncle Ben’s fast stuff or pasta will work good

get the rice (or pasta) going.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, add the beef. Bust it up real good and cook it until browned. Drain the juices.

Add the green pepper, onion and spices and cook until the veggies are soft.

Add the canned tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes

Mix the rice or pasta into the pan and

SERVE IT UP!!! With some good bread for dipping and some wine!!

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Sauté

I’m going to go on and on about sautéing veggies with or without pasta added. We’ve done this so many different ways depending on what we have in the fridge at any time... Of course it all starts with the basic aglio e olio which is just pasta cooked up and garlic mashed and chopped up. Some olive oil in a frying pan, heat it up and add the garlic, salt and pepper. I always throw a little parsley in for color and flavor. Put in the pasta and away you go.

That’s the basic beginning of so many quick and easy meals you can make that are great and sooo easy to do.

Let’s go the next step to pasta primavera. Same idea just more ingredients. The basic veggies are peppers (red and/or green), onions and garlic. You might want to give a thought to color ie. Some red peppers, some green peppers, maybe some string beans, broccoli, carrots or some seeded tomatoes you can put in just about any veggie in the frying pan. Just remember, the harder the raw veggie the longer it needs to cook in the oil in the frying pan. When I use carrots I put them in first on med/low heat ‘til they start to get soft then the broccoli ‘til it softens up a little then the peppers, onions, zucchini, string beans, eggplant, etc. The last stuff you want to put in is the garlic, tomatoes and basil. I always squeeze a half of a lemon or lime on the veggies just before serving.

When the pasta is still a little chewy and not quite done strain it and put it in the pan at the same time as the garlic, etc. toss it all for about 2 minutes and it’s ready to serve. Oh yeh, a splash of white wine at garlic time is good too.

Now, what if we want a little fish or meat with this to make it a real good 1 plate (or bowl) Italian meal. When I use chicken I usually get a rotisserie chicken and just pull pieces off and put it in when I put in the garlic etc. If I use shrimp I, of course, peel and de-vein them before anything else, put them in some ice water with a few cubes and a squeezed lemon or lime. Then squeeze the extra water off and add them when I add the peppers etc. I’ve used mussels and or clams (it’s great). I put them in about broccoli time. If any of them don’t open throw those away. I’ve seen and used frozen cooked mussels. Found them in the frozen packaged fish section. All you have to do is warm them up so I added them when I added the garlic etc.

We used to eat in a real good Italian restaurant back up north that served traditional 5 course Italian meals. One of the courses was just sautéed veggies. (Peppers, onions, zucchini, eggplant and garlic) It was good, but not as good as the above. Of course there was always real good crusty Italian bread and some Chianti.

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

shrimp and sausage stew

This is easy and fast. it makes about 3-4 servings. Leftovers keep good in the freezer.

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 chopped green bell pepper

• 1 cup thinly sliced turkey smoked sausage
  

• 1 tbsp minced garlic

• 3/4 cup fat-free, low(or no)sodium chicken broth

• 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (such as Rotel)

• 12-16 peeled and deveined medium shrimp

• 1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, rinsed and drained

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add bell pepper, sausage, and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until bell pepper is tender, stirring occasionally. Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Stir in shrimp and beans; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until shrimp are done. I like to thicken it a little with some cornstarch whopped up with some cold water. Sprinkle with parsley and,,,

SERVE IT UP!! with some good crusty bread and some red wine orrr ice cold beer!!

quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Tomato Sauce

I’m going to go on and on a little about the 2 ways I make tomato sauce.

The first is basic Marinara sauce. The word marinara is a reference to the sea. The old Italians only meant to imply that the sauce will have no meat of any kind in it. There are fewer ingredients used and the tomatoes are crushed by hand and left in a little bit bigger chunks than the crushed used in the “spaghetti and meat ball” stuff. We always make more than we need for the meal and put the pot with the extra in the fridge overnight. Then the next day or so we put it up in the freezer in plastic zip lock bags labeled with a sharpie pen saying “marinara” and the date. Then when we want a quick, good Italian something during the week we just bust off as big a chunk as we need for the Chicken Parmesan or the shrimp fra Diablo or the pizza or whatever. Then put the frozen sauce in a pot with some water in the bottom and heat it up. You will have to add some more water if it gets too thick.

About a half cup of good olive oil

1 small onion finely chopped

3 or 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 Tbsp. dried parsley or about 1/3 cup of fresh, chopped

1/2 Tbsp. salt

1/2 Tbsp. black pepper

2 32 oz cans of whole plum tomatoes I like Progresso. Pour them into a bowl and break them up by hand until the biggest pieces are about as big as a nickel.

In a pot, big enough to hold everything, plus some room for stirring, heated up med/high put the olive oil. As soon as it gets hot add everything but the tomatoes. Cook until the onions are translucent stirring often. Add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to just a simmer. Simmer for anywhere from 20 min. to an hour depending on how tomatoee you like the taste to be. The shorter the cooking time the more fresh tomato flavored. Try it different times to see what you like. If you cook it longer you may need to add a little water if it thickens up. When it’s done cooking taste it for tartness. If it has too much bite add a little sugar ‘til it tastes like you want it to.

Wasn’t that easy? The best part is coming home during the week and having it waiting for you in the freezer.

Tomato sauce with meatballs and or sausage

I do this on a Sunday. There are more ingredients and more cooking time. Also, very regular stirring, so figure on hanging around the house near the kitchen for a good while.

About a cup of good olive oil

2 med sized onions finely chopped

6-8 cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 tbsp dried parsley or about a cup of fresh, chopped

1 Tbsp. salt

1 tbsp. black pepper

½ tbsp thyme

1 tbsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. dried basil or 2 of fresh chopped

1 dried bay leaf

4 32 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes

1 6 oz. can of tomato paste (optional)

Heat up the oil in a BIG pot. Remember you are going to add the meatballs and/or sausage to the sauce so you’ll need lots of extra pot room. Add all the ingredients except the tomatoes. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and the paste. Stir it up.

Meatballs

About a pound and a half of chopped meat. When it’s available I get about half of it pork or chicken. Just for some good flavor.

About 3/4 cup of bread crumbs. I like Progresso Italian.

About ¾ cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 tbsp dried basil

½ tbsp salt

½ tbsp black pepper

about a half cup of cold water

Put it all in a big bowl and mix it up with your hands until everything is blended pretty evenly. If it’s too dry add a little water. If it’s too loose add a little more crumbs.

This browning of the meat is optional. I like to brown the meatballs a little before I put them in the sauce. They seem to hold together better.

Start a big skillet med/ high with a couple of swirls of olive oil. Form the meat into the size meatballs you want and add them to the skillet. Brown and turn them until they are brown all around and add them to the sauce as they get done. Stir the sauce carefully and frequently. If you are going to go with some sausage you can get them started in the skillet while you are mixing up the meatballs. Just get them browned a little on 2 sides and put them in the sauce. Get the sauce cooking at a slow simmer and mix it every 5-10 minutes. I use a big Teflon pancake flipper and drag it across the bottom of the pot to get all the solids back up to the surface so it all cooks evenly. Go slow with the stirring to be careful not to break up the meat. Cook it for 2-3 hours depending on how you like it. When it’s done cooking taste it for tartness. If it has too much bite add a little sugar ‘til it tastes like you want it to. Again we put the extra in the fridge overnight and put some meal size amounts in zip locks in the freezer labeled with what’s inside.

SERVE IT UP!! With the pasta of your choice, some salad, good crusty Italian bread and some good red wine!!