Sara’s Weeknight Meals
Giant Stuffed Mushrooms
Makes 4 servings Hands-on time: 15 minutes Total preparation time: 25 minutes When I was growing up, one of the more exotic items in my mom’s culinary repertoire was stuffed mushrooms. She would make them with cultivated white mushrooms, which were considered very elegant at the time, and stuff them simply with…
Grilled Shiitake, Sweet Potato, and Eggplant Kabobs
Makes 4 servings Hands-on time: 10 minutes Total preparation time: 50 minutes including marinating time Shiitake mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and eggplant are all very “meaty” vegetables. Similarly, there’s a creaminess to Sesame Miso Sauce, although it contains no cream. Put them together and you’ve got a very filling dish. Tasty,…
Cheatin’ Jambalaya
Makes 4 to 6 servings Hands-on time: 15 minutes Total preparation time: 15 minutes In its authentic form this Cajun specialty is so wonderful that Hank Williams wrote a love song to it half a century ago. My version is much simpler than the classic. It does indeed boast many of…
Green Chicken Posole
Photo by Jessica Leibowitz Makes 4 to 6 servings Hands-on time: 25 minutes Total preparation time: 30 minutes Posole is a hearty soup from the Jalisco region of Mexico that is traditionally made with pork and hominy. Hominy is dried corn kernels from which the hulls and germs have been…
Easy Buffalo Chicken Wings
Makes 4 servings Hands-on time: 5 minutes Total preparation time: 30 minutes If you are a fan of Buffalo Chicken Wings you will not be disappointed by these, even though they are a much-simplified version of the original, which involves deep frying, sauces, and celery stalks. You will be happy…
Royal Chicken Cooked in Yogurt
Makes 4 servings Hands on time: 10 minutes Total preparation time: 40 to 45 minutes 1 cup yogurt 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste Freshly ground black pepper 3 1/2 pounds chicken,…
Green Chile and Zucchini Quiche
Makes 6 servings Hands-on time: 25 minutes Total preparation time: 55 to 60 minutes This quiche gets its Southwestern flair from Monterey Jack cheese and canned chiles. But if you have a little more time, you should lose the canned chiles and make it instead with roasted fresh poblanos, which…
Eggs Baked in Ham with Sofrito
photo by Jessica Leibowitz Makes 4 servings Hands-on time: 15 minutes Total preparation time: 30 minutes Eggs baked in ham cups with creamed mushrooms underneath appeared on the February 2002 cover of Gourmet magazine. I made them on my show and was astonished (I don’t know why – everything is…
Egg, Canadian Bacon, and Cheddar Biscuit Sandwiches
Makes 4 servings Hands-on time: 20 minutes Total preparation time: 30 minutes All right, I’ll be honest. This is a take off on you-know-what served by that fast food restaurant. Only they use English muffins, which actually makes for a pretty lean breakfast sandwich. You can use English muffins also…
Vegetables: Can you suggest some good vegetable main dishes?
Mary Elizabeth e-mailed the Kitchen Shrink saying that she always had a hard time finding good meatless meals to cook during Lent and would love to have some suggestions. Although I enjoy cooking and serving vegetable main dishes all year long, I get most of my requests for vegetarian entrees…