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Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 08:28 AM   #1
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Quick Meal Ideas

I'm looking for quick dinner ideas - kind of like 30-minute meals but maybe quicker.

Here's my offering

SPAM PRIMAVERA

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cn Spam, cut in strips
2 Carrots, thinly sliced
1 Zucchini, thinly sliced
1/4 c Finely chopped onion
1 Garlic clove, minced
6 tb Olive oil, divided
1 9 oz package linguini,
-cooked
1/2 c Grated parmesan cheese
2 tb Lemon juice
1/4 ts White pepper

1. In a large skillet, cook Spam, carrots, zucchini, onion and garlic in 3
Tbsps olive oil until vegetables are crisp and tender.

2. Toss together linguini, vegetable mixture, parmesan cheese, 3T olive
oil, and lemon juice until well coated. Serve immediately.

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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 02:17 PM   #2
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

does spam qualify as food?
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 02:50 PM   #3
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

Quote:
Originally Posted by vic
does spam qualify as food?
Hey hey hey, speaking as a resident of the state with the nation's largest per capita consumption of this fine extremely salty I mean mystery meat well what's that gelatin from anyway? quality hurricane food ingredient for spam musubi, er, um, never mind.
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 02:57 PM   #4
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

gee, you wouldn't have thought that would have been so hard to spit out.

though the original recipe sounds fine minus the spam. (wasn't it monty python which had that very funny bit on spam?)

here's my favorite vegetarian chili basically from jane brody's good food book (carni come spam, optional). i've substitute my favorite canned corn for her green beans.

olive oil, butter, garlic, chili powder, dry mustard, cumin, celery seed, pepper, carrots, celery, shoepeg corn, onion, canned diced tomato, tomato sauce, green pepper, kidney beans.

first cook the spices (w/garlic) in oil 1-2 mins. add corn, carrots, celery & tomato cook 10 min. add onion & pepper & cook 10 min. add rest of tomato sauce & beans, cook 10 minutes.

ooops. i guess that's 32 minutes plus chopping time. i don't know how much time you have to add if including spam.
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 03:07 PM   #5
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

For a nice quick breakfast, the Brits have something called Big Breakfast, it comes in a can and is Pork&Beans, little sausages, potato chunks and mushrooms.

Yuuuum me.


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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 03:58 PM   #6
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

I use a stainless steel European pressure cooker. Almost any meal can be made quickly with this thing. Yesterday I cooked collards, kielbasa, carrots and onions, 15 minutes under pressure, and a little getting the ingredients in and up to temp.

I can make very satisfying meals quickly with this piece of equipment.

Ha
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 04:10 PM   #7
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

89 yr. old Senator Robert Byrd of West Viginia eats a sandwich of SPAM and mayonnaise on white bread three times a week - hasn't killed him - he's looking pretty well preserved - and he's one of the few Senators making any kind of sense lately
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 04:21 PM   #8
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

My favorite quick entre is sauteed boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

I do a brief sautee in oil and butter, then sautee some diced shallots in teh same pan, followed by a half cup of white wine and then a half cup of chicken broth. Reduce a bit, dump the sauce over the chicken and rice.

Second favorite is marinated Flank Steak. This one's only quick if you don't count the marinating time.

Marinate for as long as you can (minumum 4 hours - preferably overnight) in some soy sauce, some vinegar (red, balsamic), little bit of Worsteschire, bunch of minced garlic, dash of sesame oil, couple Ts brown sugar.

Grill it medium rare, slice it thin on the bias, and top it with some toasted sesame seeds and chopped scallions - ummmm.
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 04:36 PM   #9
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

In undergrad, I had a room mate who used one of those first model sandwich makers (early model George Foreman grill) to cook spam covered with flour. The smell used to make me wretch. Smelled like you were breathing a dog's breath after it had licked a lot of bad things.
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 04:41 PM   #10
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

Quote:
Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum
(wasn't it monty python which had that very funny bit on spam?)
http://www.mailmsg.com/SPAM_python.htm
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 04:56 PM   #11
 
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

Here is a quick meal that I prepare every so often.

Quick Pesto Pasta


1.) Boil Penne Pasta - Drain

2.) add Olive Oil and Dried Basil Leaves and Parmesean Cheese (Optional add chopped Sun Dried Tomato)


A good bread with real butter and Cabernet to accompany. :P

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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 05:31 PM   #12
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

C-T,
saw this one on French TV so it must be good.

Giant Penne. Use large pastry tube to inject the fresh (soft) Penne with a mixture of Brie, crushed almonds, and pine nuts.

Sautee in a white wine which will produce a sauce.

Drizzle with a mixture of olive oil and lime juice.
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 05:35 PM   #13
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

Hmmm...quick meal ideas...

Bottle of tequila and a bag of limes?
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 05:39 PM   #14
 
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cute n Fuzzy Bun'ny
Hmmm...quick meal ideas...

Bottle of tequila and a bag of limes?
I'm in! 8)
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 05:45 PM   #15
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

Actual quick meal. Really.

2-4 steaks of any type, preferably of the tender variety. Filet mignon is usually specified, but feel free to substitute. Salt well on both sides. Let stand 20-30 minutes at room temp.

Turn the knob on your pepper grinder until it almost comes off, or do whatever you need to do to adjust the grind to as coarse as possible.

Grind a buttload of pepper onto a plate, press both sides of the steak into it. Be generous. Dont bread the frickin thing, but there oughta be a lot of pepper on it.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of butter in a saute pan until the butter starts to brown and you begin to get some shimmer/smoke.

Add steaks, cook about 4-5 minutes per side on medium high heat until you get a fairly dark brown crust and plenty of brown stuff on the bottom of the pan. Remove the steaks to a plate and cover with foil.

Remove pan from heat and turn off any burners. Hold the pan at arms length without anything flamable nearby or for 2-3' overhead. Add 1/3 cup of cognac. Light it on fire. Oh yeah, disable your smoke detector or do this outside. In about 20 seconds the fire will go out. Add a cup of room temperature heavy cream. Stir gently over medium to medium high heat and simmer for about 7-8 minutes, until the mixture is fairly thick, like a thin gravy. Add a few pinches of salt, a couple of fresh tablespoons of cognac, and add the steaks back in. Simmer for about 30 seconds, spooning the sauce over the steak. Plate and serve your steak au poivre.

Most of the heat leaves the pepper during cooking, but there is a really distinct pepper flavor. If you dont like pepper, you wont like this.

If the flaming act doesnt sound exciting to you, take the hot pan outside, add the cognac and wait a minute while it sizzles. Most of the alcohol will evaporate and waft away.

If you light yourself or your house on fire, its your own damn fault. No liability claims will apply.

Once you do this, you can set it up in about 2 minutes, and the rest is done in under 20 minutes, only a small portion of which needs to be attended cooking time.

Oh yeah, and dont get a cholesterol test for 2-3 days after eating this...
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 06:03 PM   #16
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cut-Throat
Not ordinary weekday stuff, But very, very good!
Wanna tell my wife that? I made it last night and two nights in a row about 3 weeks ago at her request...
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 06:06 PM   #17
 
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cute n Fuzzy Bun'ny
Wanna tell my wife that? I made it last night and two nights in a row about 3 weeks ago at her request...

I can't eat like that. - I'd gain too much weight.
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 07:08 PM   #18
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

CnFB,
bottle of Dos Hornitos and Limey = Drunken Australian
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 08:09 PM   #19
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

I just bought on sale 16 cans of Starkist solid white tuna for 64 cents each.
They are great for quick nourishing meals.
1 can in water tuna
finely chopped small onion
finely chopped stalk of celery
choice of a tablespoon of, mayo, whipped cottage cheese or olive oil
large sliced tomato
large thinly sliced cuke
optional 1/2 teaspoon of "real" delicatessen mustard.

Should only take between 10 to 15 minutes to prepare and a delicious frugal meal.
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas
Old 06-22-2006, 08:29 PM   #20
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Re: Quick Meal Ideas

I make this about every other week.

My sweetheart went to Greece* and while there she had a dish very similar to this that she liked very much. I decided to try and replicate it, and found that it is quite easy and tasty.

Smoked Salmon Alfredo Pasta

As is often the case, the amount of the various ingredients can be varied a fair bit, so feel free to just use whatever seems right for your tastes.

Ingredients
Several ounces per person of your favorite smoked salmon (we get a wild sockeye smoked salmon from the deli)
A chunk of butter
Whipping cream or half and half
Capers
Green peppercorns
Chopped garlic
Chopped green onions
Parmagiano cheese (grated)
Farfalle (bowtie) pasta

The farfalle takes about 12 minutes to cook, and that's about what the sauce takes too, so the actual preparation time can be under 15 minutes if you move efficiently.

Get your pasta cooking.

Melt your chunk of butter in a skillet or sauce pan. Toss the capers, garlic, onions and green peppercorns into the butter to saute a bit. A grind of black pepper or some red pepper flakes wouldn't be a bad addition.

After a couple of minutes add your cream. What you want to do is stir the melted butter into the cream, and get things to where the mix is lightly bubbling in a low simmer. Continue cooking this, stirring pretty regularly. You don't want to get it hot enough to scorch the cream - just some small bubbles distributed around the pan.

About 3-4 minutes before the pasta will be done stir in the cheese, a bit at a time, until the sauce is thickened. It will get a bit thicker as things cook. If it looks to be getting too thick, thin it with a bit of the cream or milk, but add just a small amount at a time.

Separate the layers of salmon and spread them out on each plate. Sprinkle the salmon with dill (if you like it).

When the pasta is done drain it and put it on top of the salmon - this heats the salmon a bit. Spoon the sauce onto the pasta.

A spiicy gewurtztraminer goes well with it.

To go with this I quartered some small yellow tomatos (you could get some red ones too and alternate the colors to jazz things up) and put them around half the periphery of the plate (pasta/salmon/sauce in the middle). Then I put some freshly steamed asparagus (steaming works MUCH nicer than boiling) along the opposite half of the plate to finish framing the pasta.* Steamed sugar snap peas or even frozen peas work fine too.

I did try some different cheeses in the recipe.* Avoid asiago, as it turns into rubbery chunks (much like bubblegum).* But a nice Stilton works quite well, and that is what I now use, along with the Parmagiano for a bit of extra thickening. You could use Gorgonzola instead of Stilton if you like.

Enjoy!

cheers,
Michael
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