Some nights we just want to throw a few things in a pan or pot to make a meal. This month we share with you recipes that take a few ingredients, but make a main course that is full of flavor. Some of these recipes take a few minutes; others make a comfort meal from your childhood.
1. Beef Brisket in Red Wine with Onion Sauce
This is a meal to make on the weekend when you have time. It takes a few minutes to get ready for the oven and is best made in the morning, refrigerated and then reheated at meal time. That way you can remove any congealed fat as it cools and the beef takes on more of the essence of the sauce.
The next day, it makes great open hot sandwiches topped with horseradish sauce made with fat-free sour cream, lemon juice and bottled grated horseradish to taste. Do make sure that you purchase a first cut or flat cut of brisket, as it has less fat. Also, remove all fat before serving or cooking. Here we serve the brisket with baked apple slices and roasted potatoes as well as green beans. Easy and delicious.
2. Baked Apple Slices
3. Roasted Potatoes
4. Balsamic Fish Fillets
Our second meal takes less than 30 minutes to make and no one will ever guess that fact. The one problem with cooking fish is making sure that it is fresh. No fish counter or store should smell like fish.
I went to the store to purchase halibut and found that the only fresh fish in our fish market that day was salmon because bad weather had made the air transport planes late. Do make sure that you make friends with the salespeople at your stores and then you’ll be happy when you take that first bite.
We served our fish on a bed of fresh spinach and cannelloni beans. Because this is a fast meal, we use canned beans, and frozen spinach which we cooked in its box in the microwave and then drained well. Beautiful!
5. Italian Cannelloni Beans
6. Veal Marsala
This recipe is not only easy, it is elegant. When we were younger my husband and I frequently made it for guests using our own assembly line to bring it to the table.
Here we serve it with a creamy polenta that we make in the microwave oven along with asparagus. A word to the wise about asparagus bought out of season. It can be very expensive and may or may not be up to your standards. I’d had the groceries for this meal delivered from the store and the asparagus that they sent was fine, but it’s an iffy season for asparagus until spring.
7. Polenta in the Microwave
8. Chicken Sukiyaki
Our final dish is an adaptation of a Japanese favorite, Beef Sukiyaki, using chicken breasts instead for beef steak to cut down on fat and cholesterol. Start the rice first and by the time it’s ready, have the ingredients prepared for the sukiyaki and you’re ready to cook. I still had carbs left after the meal, so I quickly threw a couple of slices of fresh pineapple on my indoor grill (you could use a broiler) for a light dessert.
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