Dinner Ideas
 

Everyone gets in a rut when it comes to ideas for cooking dinner. here are a couple of starters ...

couscous paella with chicken




1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 medium sweet yellow pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice,
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 can (14 1/2-ounce) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 box (10 ounce) frozen peas, thawed
1 1/2 pounds Chicken, cubed
1 (10-ounce) box couscous
1/2 cup pitted black olives, sliced

Heat oil in a 8 to 10 quart heavy bottomed pot. Add onion, garlic and sweet peppers; cook until peppers are tender, 8 minutes. Add salt, black pepper, thyme, pepper flakes and turmeric; cook 1 minute. Add broth, water, peas and shrimp. Simmer, covered, 2 minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in couscous; cover; let stand 5 minutes. Serve, garnished with olives.

This is one of my all time favorite pasta dishes


Corn Pasta with Dried Tomatoes
From Michael Chiarello
http://www.napastyle.com

(Serves 4)

1/3 cup dried tomatoes, not packed in oil (see Chef's Note)
3 tablespoons boiling water
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh marjoram
3/4 pound dried capellini
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 cups corn kernels (about 3 ears)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Mix the dried tomatoes in a small bowl with the boiling water, sugar, vinegar, and the 1 teaspoon marjoram. Let rehydrate until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain well, squeezing out excess liquid. Cut the tomatoes into fine julienne and set aside. Discard marinade.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large sauti pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic and sauti briefly until light brown. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon marjoram, the corn, and about 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Cook, uncovered, until the corn is just tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

When the pasta is cooked, drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Add the pasta to the sauti pan with the corn. Add the tomatoes, half of the Parmesan, and 1 tablespoon of the parsley and toss well. Toss with some of the reserved cooking water, if necessary, to moisten.

Pour the pasta into a warmed serving bowl, dust with a little Parmesan, and scatter the remaining parsley on top. Pass the remaining Parmesan at the table.

You can substitute 1/2 cup drained, oil-packed dried tomatoes and omit the rehydration step.

I need ideas that are good but quick and easy to make. I don't feel like preparing ingredients for a meal after working all day and commuting home....

Anything GOOD that is easy??

and that just might include items I have in my kitchen? LOL

Moved over here from the Fellowship Hall.
 

Originally Posted by Margies3
I made a super simple dish the other night that was delicious. And even better reheated the next day.

First I took some smoked sausage, split it down the middle lengthwise and cut it into about 2-3" chunks.

I put them in my big wok pan with a little water and cooked them. After they were nicely done, I took them out of the pan, added a dollop of butter to the pan and melted it, stirring the bottom to get all that good flavoring from the sausage. After that was mixed together, I added about 2" of water and a good size bunch of redskin potatoes that I had cut in half, putting the cut side down. I cooked them for about 10 minutes, then put a bag of frozen green beans across the top of them, 1/2 bag of frozen onions (cuz I'm too lazy to cut up a fresh one), and finally put the sausages back on top. I put the lid on and let all that cook together until the potatoes started to brown up nicely. Mmmmmmmmmmmm

wonder about how long this would take..


I'm so bad a judging when potatoes are done

How about using your Crockpot?

T, this is super simple. just poke a potato with a knife. if you feel resistence it isnt done.

I think if we are going to call this thread dinner ideas, then it needs to be complete.

In other words, main dish, vegetables, and dessert. :)

Otherwise, we could post the recipes in the designated threads. :)

Um...I started to print this out to try it, and realized that this recipe isn't making sense, Ferd...is it supposed to say shrimp on the ingredients list instead of chicken?

If this is an edited recipe, won't that change the cooking time for the chicken? Or should it say "chicken, cooked, cubed?"

Thanks. :)