culinary staples

[kkcountry]

[fluffpop]1st thread in edgd, very exciting!!![/fluffpop]

recent discussion in edgd and oot about the poor diet habits of americans in general has got me looking critically at my diet and the number of meals in my "playbook".

what i'm looking to gain out of this thread is recipes for meals/dishes that i can easily add to my arsenal. dishes that are 1-healthy, 2-easy to make, 3-tasty would be fantastic. i'm willing to try anything, so recipes that may not be considered "mainstream american" are more than appreciated.

it would be fantastic if instead of my friday being "pizza night" it would turn into "fantastic food i've never even tried but is eaten by another culture on a daily basis" night!

thanks!

edit - and i am very willing to write reviews of anything and everything suggested! pics included!

[Xaston]

Cook some noodles. Wide rice noodles work well.

Take about 2 medium spoonfuls of peanut butter. Put it in a very big bowl. Pour in about the same amount of soy sauce. Add a bunch of red pepper flakes (the ratio of these 3 ingredients its taste dependant). Stir till combined.

When the noodles are done cooking, put them in the bowl with the peanut butter mixture. Add about 1/8th cup, maybe less, of the pasta water. Stir. Enjoy.

[RunDownHouse]

I've been trying to really nail down chicken, simple chicken. So far I've been using legs and thighs. Even if your meal is simple, executing it to perfection always impresses; nobody says, "Well, this meal is perfectly cooked and planned, but its too simple!" People appreciate excellent cooking regardless of the ingredients. This seared/pan-fried/roasted chicken pairs with tons of stuff.

Turn the oven to 350 and a saute pan on high-med-high (I've got an electric stove and make it about 7.5). Pat the chicken parts dry and season the skin side with your shake. My shake is pretty much just salt, garlic, paprika and a little cayenne. Plenty of shake recipes out there, and I just mix up a bunch and put it in a SS salt shaker I bought at the grocery store.

I use either vegetable oil or shortening or both. If I use shortening, I put it in the pan right when it goes on the stove, so it heats more gradually. Otherwise it doesn't matter too much. Once the pan is nice and hot, put the chicken skin down in the pan and sear for 3-4 minutes. Season the other side while its in there. Then flip and just shove the pan in the oven to cook.

I get a really nice, crispy skin and perfectly cooked chicken when doing this. My only complaint is that it comes out seeming a bit greasy. I've tried using varying amounts of fat from just enough to cover the bottom of the pan (sear for a shorter time) to enough to come about halfway up the chicken (basically pan-frying, right?) and nothing seems to affect how greasy the chicken comes out. Anyone know if that's simply a function of the cut?

[Rococo]

This is a good idea. Perfecting the whole bird is an excellent place to start. I like RDH's method with a couple of tweaks. I use the whole bird rather than just legs and thighs. I use olive oil rather than vegetable oil or shortening. I cut the backbone out of the chicken and press it flat, which looks great on the plate for serving and seems to cook more evenly.

Lastly, if you crave simple preparation and short cooking time, stick to fish.

[gobbomom]

saute mushrooms and onions in butter/ margarine (colored peppers if desired), remove.
brown lightly floured chicken breasts/ pork chops/ steak/ fish
add back the shrooms & onions, pour a little wine into pan
cover and cook until done.

[Rhone]

Here's a dish that scores highly on all three of your criteria, Larb Gai, which is a Thai ground chicken dish. It's very delicious, there's no added fat, so pretty healthy, and it's essentially a salad -- preparation order doesn't matter, and you can adjust all proportions to your taste -- so pretty easy too.

Here's what you'll need.

*ground chicken (let's say about 1 lb)
* juice of 2 limes
* 2 tbs fish sauce (you can find this in most Asian grocery stores)
* 2 tsp hot chili powder
*rice (about 2 tablespoons of uncooked rice [not necessary but highly recommended], and then several servings of cooked rice to accompany the larb)
* 3 or 4 shallots, or a medium onion
* 3 or 4 scallions
* either mint, fresh cilantro, or both

To prepare it, start by cooking the ground chicken in a pot with maybe a quarter cup of water over medium heat. Just stir it with a spoon to break up any larger pieces, and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Drain and discard the liquid and set the chicken aside.

Take the two tablespoons of uncooked rice, and saute it in a small dry (don't add any oil) pan over medium heat until the rice toasts into a golden brown color. By saute, I mean you should try to keep the pan moving so the rice doesn't burn, particularly toward the end of the process. After the toasted rice has cooled, grind it in a coffee grinder, or if you don't have one, you could use a mortal and pestle. Like I said, this is optional, but it adds a really nice nutty flavor and a crunchy sub-texture to the dish.

Next, cut the shallots and scallions finely, and chop the herbs.

You're now ready to assemble the salad. You can't really go wrong with the proportions, just taste and adjust, but the proportions above should be about right (to my taste) for a pound of chicken.

You can either eat the larb hot or cold. I like it cold on top of hot rice.

Very interested in anyone's reaction if they try this recipe...it's one of my favorites.

good luck,

Dan

[Mermade]

Here are some easy peasy things I'd recommend that take almost no cook time and are delicious.

Spaghetti Carbonara--1lb pasta, bacon, eggs, green onions, garlic, a bit of cream. Cook the pasta. Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry, remove most of the fat from the pan, add garlic cook until tender, add chopped green onion, drain the cooked pasta and add to the pan (remove from heat!), crack raw eggs onto the hot pasta and add a touch of cream, move the pasta in the pan until thoroughly mixed, salt pepper, generous grated parmesean cheese. Done. Bonus points for serving with garlic bread. Cooking time is almost equal to the time it takes to cook the pasta.

[Now some would debate whether this recipe is healthy, because of the starch and the fat. I am a firm avoider of culinary fads and fevers (no fat, no sugar, no this, no that) and strong believer that a wide variety of good ingredients used in moderation in combination with a very active lifestyle is the way to go.]

Stir Fry--Select what looks good at the grocery store produce section (mushrooms, squash, pea pods, broccoli, beans, whatever), select a protein (chicken, shrimp, beef, pork or you can even skip this if you want), saute the protein add veggies until done in a little butter or olive oil add fresh herbs, salt, pepper to season, you can even add a bit of cheese if you like. Serve a top rice or pasta. This has a million variations and takes very little time.

Protein w/ veg--Cut up a chicken (or buy it cut up), buy some chops or steaks, pick a favorite veg. Bake the chicken, broil or better grill the chops/steaks, serve with a steamed veg of your choice (butter salt and pepper makes veggies extra yummy but aren't necessary).

I realize I'm not providing many recipes. But honestly I think the key to being able to eat well on a day to day basis rather than going for junk, isn't about cooking so much as it is about properly shopping. I rarely shop with recipes in mind. I just shop for what looks good and is cheap on any given day. When you fill your fridge with protein choices, veggies, and fruit for both cooking and healthy snacks, then it's just a matter of appetite and cooking method to make it into a meal. Say I've bought a chicken, I can grill it with BBQ sauce, Rub it and bake it with a crispy skin served with mashed potatoes/a veggie/a salad, cut it up and stir fry with veggies on rice, add it with some fun ingredients (sundried tomatoes, garlic, artichoke hearts, parmesean cheese) and make a pasta... Other proteins have similar options.

Another way to eat well is to plan ahead. Do something that does take some extra time, like a lasagna (which actually isn't that time consuming), a soup, or a stew. Then you can enjoy leftovers all week.

[RunDownHouse]

[ QUOTE ]
I use olive oil rather than vegetable oil or shortening.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've tried using extra virgin OO and found that the smoke point is too low for the sear, so I use other stuff. I've tried everything from 100% shortening to prepackaged "wok oil," and I think simple veg oil or a veg/shortening combo is the best for cost and availability.

[edfurlong]

Have you tried dumping all the oil before tossing it in the over?

[Rococo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I use olive oil rather than vegetable oil or shortening.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've tried using extra virgin OO and found that the smoke point is too low for the sear, so I use other stuff. I've tried everything from 100% shortening to prepackaged "wok oil," and I think simple veg oil or a veg/shortening combo is the best for cost and availability.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you are having problems with smoking, try peanut oil, which has a very high smoke point and tastes great with chicken.