At our house weeknight dinners usually take 15 - 25 mins to prepare. Not because I don't like to cook, or because I'm a jet-setting career woman with a kid and a husband and don't have time. I'm simply impatient and love instant gratification even more! Or maybe can't focus on anything for longer then 15 minutes because I start kinda staring into space a little bit... then wandering around the room.... yes! Sort of like someone who is affected by the shifts in the moon's trajectory! Exactly!
Anyway, I like weeknight dinner to be a quick production I call 1, 2, 3 cooking. Some kind of meat or fish, plus grain or starch, plus vegetable element, and then rotate to exhaustion for endless combinations.
Take yesterday's dinner:
~Yeah yeah, there is one "over browned potato", I know, I know, everyone still lives.~
Menu: Seared Salmon + Herb Potatoes + Garlicky Green Beans
1. Herb Potatoes - Peel and chop potatoes into cubes (the smaller the cubes the quicker they'll cool) and boil them in slightly salted water for about 8 mins or so, until the potato cubes are easily pierced by a fork. Drain water well then add the potatoes to heated skilled with 2 tbs of cooking olive oil. (At this point I take out a portion of potatoes for Jr.) Add your favorite herbs and spices! I use oregano, basil, dill and red pepper. Fry them for a few minutes making sure to turn ALL of them once in a while (or you'll get one that'll get away from you and burn...).
2. Salmon - pour 1 tbs cooking olive oil in a skillet, warm it up place salmon in and one twist of salt and pepper. After about 4 mins turn it on the other side for 2-3 more minutes on lowered fire.
3. Garlicky Green Beans - In my super market I buy a packet of nicely cut green beans so I don't need to chop them up. Add a little drizzle of cooking olive oil to a small pot. Add the green beans and let them hang out in there for a minute or so turning them over. Chop-up 2 cloves of garlic or use a garlic squeezer and add them to the green beans and mix. Add a quarter cup of water and cover the pot to cook for a few more minutes. The water will mostly have cooked off and the green beans should be soft yet still crunchy. Secret Ingredient Alert*** If you like Warcestershire Sauce, throw in a tea spoon of it in. Or a tiny bit of soy sauce will also do the trick.
I gave Jr. the green beans without the Warcestershire Sauce, he threw them at me, one by one, and then grabbed the ones (with the sauce) from my plate. Then he told me he wants to date an exotic dancer... And I had a heart attack... No, just kidding. But that's the scenarios I imagine every time he exhibits independent thought.
Vito also liked the dinner and did not announce that he wants to date any exotic dancers... what a relief!
Happy weeknight cooking!
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