Issue Date: August 10, 2008
Recipes for "skillet" dinners
One-dish meals using your oven -- instead of the stove top -- to quick-roast these one-dish meals.
Most of us will soon be back to busier schedules and will need one-dish meals to match. With less than 10 minutes of preparation time, you can enjoy cassoulet-style sausage and white beans or roasted ratatouille with tuna.
There are two tricks here: Use a heavy baking sheet with a rim, which spreads out the food so it cooks quickly. And insert the pan of prepared ingredients in a preheating (not preheated) oven for maximum heat blast, which helps the food cook and brown simultaneously. If you work fast with a knife, you'll be done prepping the vegetables and meat long before most ovens have preheated, so start by adjusting the oven rack to its lowest position and preheating the oven. If you are a bit slower, first prepare the ingredients, then preheat the oven for about five minutes before putting in the food to cook.
In 30 to 55 minutes of virtually unattended quick-roasting, you'll have a wonderful dinner tonight, and there should be enough for tomorrow's lunch or dinner as well.
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Roasted Ratatouille with Tuna and Capers
The following vegetables, cut into large bite-sized chunks (8 heaping cups):
1 medium-large onion
1 medium zucchini
1/2 medium eggplant
1 yellow bell pepper
4 medium red potatoes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
Salt and black pepper
3 6-ounce cans tuna packed in water, undrained
1/4 cup drained capers
Adjust oven rack to lowest position and, 5 minutes before you are ready to put the food in, turn the oven on to 425 degrees. Toss all vegetables with oil, thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Turn onto a 12-by-18-inch heavy rimmed cookie sheet sprayed with vegetable cooking spray. Set pan in oven. Roast, stirring after 20 minutes, until vegetables are caramel brown, about 25 minutes total. Stir in tuna and capers; cook until heated through, 5 minutes longer. Turn into a large bowl.
Serves 6
Per serving: 250 calories, 16g carbohydrates, 25g protein, 10g fat (2g saturated), 26mg cholesterol, 5g fiber, 471mg sodium
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Roasted Italian Sausages with Tomatoes and White Beans
2 1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausage links (pork or turkey), cut into 2- or 3-inch pieces
3 pints cherry tomatoes
1 medium-large onion, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
4 garlic cloves, sliced
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 tsps. dried thyme leaves
2 whole bay leaves
Salt and pepper
3 16-ounce cans white beans, such as cannellini, drained, with 1/2 cup of liquid from the beans reserved
Adjust oven rack to lowest position and, 5 minutes before you are ready to put the food in, turn the oven on to 425 degrees.
Mix everything but beans and their reserved liquid in a roasting pan. Set pan in oven. Roast until sausages are brown and tomatoes have reduced to a thick sauce, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven, stir in beans and reserved liquid, and continue cooking until casserole has heated through, about 10 minutes longer. Remove bay leaves and transfer to a large serving bowl.
Serves 8
Per serving with Italian pork sausage: 695 calories, 38g carbohydrates, 32g protein, 51g fat (17g saturated), 108mg cholesterol, 11g fiber, 1,667mg sodium
with Italian turkey sausage: 425 calories, 38g protein, 18g fat (4g saturated), 1,471mg sodium
Contributing Editor Pam Anderson is the author of five cookbooks. Her latest is "The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight& Eating Great" (Houghton Mifflin, $27).
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