Another weeknight quickie, especially if you’re using leftover quinoa (or rice). It’s a great vegetarian option that is highly flexible when it comes to ingredients. For example, instead of spinach, I’ve used dandelion greens or kale. In fact, you can mix up the ingredients all sorts of ways…to the point where instead of a bell pepper, maybe you’re stuffing an acorn or butternut squash (note: this may increase cooking time!).
Skill Level: Easy
Basic Fried Eggs
A good fried egg is one of life’s simple pleasures. And by simple, I mean it takes just a few minutes to get that egg fried. In addition to being tasty on their own, fried eggs are a key part of Huevos Rancheros (or my Quinoa and Black Bean Cakes, prepared like Huevos Rancheros) or Croque-Madames. Fried eggs are also great toppers for burgers or fried rice.
Now to the detailed ingredient list…
Basic Scrambled Eggs
When my husband was recovering from knee surgery, I made him a lot of scrambled eggs. I figured protein was important for the healing process. At first, he wondered if they were too much trouble…which was when I realized, no, scrambled eggs are no trouble at all. Yes, they take a few minutes longer than a bowl of cottage cheese, but, trouble? None at all.
Eggs are great for gluten-free breakfasts, and good scrambled eggs can be the base for other dishes. Mix in some cooked and crumbled sausage or diced spinach (or other veggies) to jazz up your basic eggs.
Chicken with Sour Cream Sauce
Yeah, I know. Another chicken and sauce recipe. What can I say? I love dressing up plain chicken to make it special. Particularly chicken breasts. Of course, this recipe can be made with any type of boneless, skinless cut of chicken. Which is great because the grocery stores of the world have just realized that customers adore chicken thighs!
Chicken Enchiladas
Easy, easy, easy weeknight dish. And versatile. There is no right way to make enchiladas…don’t want to roll your filling in your tortilla? Go ahead, make layers like lasagna. Change up the ingredients to suit yourself. It’s all good.
Since I make my own chicken stock, I often have leftover (bland) boiled chicken. This is a great dish for using up extra chicken, and the heat can be adjusted to suit your tastes. You can make this red or green — though, in all honesty, I prefer a green salsa. The tanginess of the tomatillo makes my tastebuds happy.
Also, I prefer salsa to pre-made enchilada sauce. For reasons that escape me, the sauces sold by my local store all contain wheat. Weird. Your mileage may vary.
Lentil Soup
When I get obsessed with a food, I get really obsessed. Like I’ll eat a particular food every day until my friends stage an intervention. I think the first time this happened was the summer I was nine. Ever wonder how many tiny tuna sandwiches a girl can make from a long, skinny loaf of French bread?
I know the answer. To say more is to tell you too much about me.
Luckily, I outgrew that obsession before it was taken away from me.
So, other foods that have inspired this level of devotion in me? Chopped salad. Oh, a good chopped salad is like heaven. This may be where I determined salads should be good or not offered at all.
And lentil soup. I think I was 28 or so when I first had lentil soup. I was wary, coming from a household where vegetables were regarded with suspicion. Of course, I was also trying to be totally cool with the fact that I tried a) hummus (OMG!) and b) lentil soup in the same meal.
Nothing was ever the same.
Making lentil soup is absurdly simple. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, there is only one rule, and that is the addition of acid right before serving. Lemon juice or vinegar turns lentil soup into something one obsesses over. Don’t be shy, taste and taste, adjust.
Trust me. After all, I ate lentil soup every day for, oh man, a month!
[box type=”note” style=”rounded” border=”full”]This soup can be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.[/box]
Pesto
Pesto is one of those perfect foods I wish I’d discovered earlier in life. It’s great on pasta, of course, but also kicks basic steamed rice up a notch. And, I love to serve it with salmon. Of course, I could probably eat pesto by the spoonful…
The ingredients for pesto are simple: basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic, and pine nuts. And you go from there. There is artichoke pesto, herb pesto, red pesto. Humans find ways to mess with this recipe every day — and I love them for it!