I promise these two dinners are easy to make.
Lots of times I spend so many evenings dining out and in restaurants that I forget to write about meals I make myself. Many food writers never cook for themselves but I really enjoy a meal at home, especially if it's easy to make.
Marinated, poached salmon, grilled to a sweet carmelization, served on a bed of braised leeks.
Creating a weeknight dinner is not all that difficult. So, I'm featuring two great meals I have made this week, both in under an hour. I don't just write about food, I cook it, too.
I marinade a salmon flank with any kind of sweeter marinade. Store bought is fine. Poach in the microwave at 50 per cent power 2 minutes, flip it over once then again. Meanwhile, chop leeks and throw in a pan with extra virgin olive oil. I use Frantoia. Throw in a pat of butter at the last minute. Once wilted, pour in a cup of broth, or so, cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Remove to a bowl. Turning up the heat, I use a grill pan to sear the salmon until the marinade forms a mildly sweet caramel crust. Plate it up and enjoy.
Sauteed organic chicken tenderloins, dice cut tomato and pasta with grated cheese and parsley.
This is even easier. I check my FB updates while I do it. Pat a few chicken tenderloins with flour and saute in the same extra virgin olive oil in a large pan, about three minutes each side. Cover with diced, or petit cut, tomato, again, canned is fine for convenience. Cover and simmer. Boil pasta as it simmers. Drain the pasta, mix in the saute, grate in a nice pecorino romano cheese and chop some parsley (if you have time) and there is dinner.
Shoot me an email about what you are having for dinner tonight. We can have a potluck!
On raw nasty nights with not much time to cook, I like to do quick semi-braises. They are more sautées than braises, but they work well and seem more solid and soul-satisfying than a stew or soup. And they're all 1-pot! For example, a Portuguese Semi-braise with linguiça, onion, garlic, diced red potatoes, kidney beans and kale wilted by a modest amount of chicken stock is really warming and satisfying.
ReplyDeleteTonight I'm doing something similar with onion, carrot, cannelloni beans and dandelion greens wilted in chicken stock with some cubed Black Forest ham thrown in for a carnivore flavor boost.