Glorious One-Pot Meals (15 page)
Read Glorious One-Pot Meals Online
Authors: Elizabeth Yarnell
Sausage and beans make a hearty winter meal If you don’t have fresh tomatoes on hand, use a drained 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes instead. If you don’t have flageolets, other beans to try include Great Northern and cannellini beans.
To make this a lower-fat dinner, use turkey or chicken sausage instead of pork. Health food stores typically have many types of sausages available at the meat counter. Experiment with flavors such as applewood-smoked sausage, habañero chile, or spicy Italian.
SERVES 2
Olive oil spray
½ onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
One 14-ounce can flageolets, Great Northern beans, or cannellini beans
1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh
½ teaspoon celery seeds
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 or 3 large sausage links (½ to ¾ pound)
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Spray the inside and lid of a cast-iron Dutch oven with olive oil.
Scatter the onion and garlic in the pot.
Drain and rinse the beans and add to the pot, making a smooth layer. Sprinkle with the thyme and celery seeds and season with salt and pepper.
Place the sausage on the beans. Toss in the zucchini, top with the tomatoes, and again, season with salt and pepper.
Cover and bake for 35 minutes, or until 3 minutes after the aroma of a fully cooked meal escapes the oven. Serve immediately.
My kids love the sweet and spicy flavors of this meal. The pork together with the potatoes, carrots, and green beans offers a kid-friendly, well-rounded dinner loaded with nutrients and low in fat. Look for boneless center-cut pork loin, ½ inch thick. Or substitute a turkey tenderloin, a salmon fillet, or even chicken for the pork.
SERVES 2
Canola oil spray
½ to ¼ pound pork tenderloin
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons Dijon or Cajun-style mustard
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
6 to 8 small new potatoes
2 carrots, sliced into coins
2 cups fresh or frozen cut green beans
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Spray the inside and lid of a cast-iron Dutch oven with canola oil.
Put the pork in the pot and lightly season with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, mix the honey, mustard, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves and pour over the pork.
Slice the potatoes in half and add to the pot, then scatter the carrots and green beans over the potatoes.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes, or until 3 minutes after the aroma of a fully cooked meal escapes the oven. Serve immediately.
Turkey sausage—especially the hot and spicy kind—is excellent in this dish. Wild mushrooms add a hearty flavor that complements the sausage, but common white mushrooms do just fine here as well. To use dried mushrooms, place in a bowl, cover with boiling water, and steep while you prepare the rest of the ingredients (ten to twenty minutes). When softened, drain well and slice.
If using frozen spinach, try to break the block into a few pieces to spread around in the pot. If it is simply too hard to break, don’t worry. It will still cook fine, although you may find you need to cook the meal another five to ten minutes for the polenta to soften completely. As always with these recipes, use your nose as your guide.
SERVES 2
Olive oil spray
½ cup dry polenta
1½ cups broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable) or water
4 to 8 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh
2 or 3 spicy sausages, fresh or frozen (½ to ¾ pound)
4 to 8 mushrooms, sliced
½ yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced into strips
1 carrot, sliced into coins
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
One 10-ounce package frozen spinach, or 2 large handfuls fresh
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, optional
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Spray the inside and lid of a cast-iron Dutch oven with olive oil.
Pour the polenta in the bottom of the pot and add the liquid. Stir to smooth the grains into an even layer, then sprinkle in a large pinch of the garlic and basil.
Add the sausages, followed by the mushrooms, bell pepper, and carrot.
Sprinkle another large pinch of garlic and basil and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Add the spinach and the rest of the garlic and basil.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes, or until 3 minutes after the aroma of a fully cooked meal escapes the oven. Serve immediately with grated Parmesan, if desired.
This is a variation of a traditional Indian curried lamb dish called
roghan josh.
Typically this dish calls for mixing heavy whipping cream into the tomato sauce, but this version retains all the taste without the extra saturated fat. If you want, add two tablespoons of heavy whipping cream or milk to the tomato sauce and cook as directed.
Turkey tenderloin or beef stew chunks make wonderful substitutions for the lamb in this recipe. The lentils can be omitted entirely, or you can use couscous instead (see the chart on page 8 for recommended couscous and liquid amounts). The lentils in this recipe will emerge al dente; for softer lentils, use canned and omit the half cup of water.
SERVES 2
Olive oil spray
¼ cup green lentils
¼ medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 to 5 garlic cloves, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup slivered almonds
⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
⅛ teaspoon ground coriander
⅛ teaspoon cayenne
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ to ¾ pound boneless leg of lamb, trimmed well and cut into 2-inch cubes
½ green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup canned tomato sauce
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Spray the inside and lid of a cast-iron Dutch oven with olive oil.
Rinse the lentils in a mesh strainer and pour into the pot. Add ½ cup boiling water and stir to distribute the lentils in an even layer.
Scatter the onion over the lentils. Sprinkle on the cumin, ginger, and garlic and lightly season with salt and pepper.
In a medium bowl, combine the almonds, cardamom, coriander, cayenne, cloves, and black pepper to taste. Add the meat and stir to coat, then add the mixture in forkfuls to the pot, making an uneven layer. Cover with the bell pepper. Stir the cilantro into the tomato sauce and pour the mixture over the top.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes, or until 3 minutes after the aroma of a fully cooked meal escapes the oven. Serve immediately.