(Or just help me diversify my culinary armamentarium.)
Situation:
I find myself cooking the same recipes over and over again, and I’m getting bored. I’d really like some recommendations for new things to cook for dinner–recipes, pointers thereto, or just suggestions.
However:
There are of course certain conditions I’d like these tempting new meals to meet. Before we get into those, thought, I’ll mention some of the things I cook a lot (too much). Spinach lasagna. Soups, chiefly of the bean variety. Chicken stir-fry w/ different vegetables. Ginger chickpeas. Pizza, variously topped. Salmon w/ different spices/sauces. Vegetarian black bean chili.
Preferences:[ul][li]Healthy! Practicing good nutrition is really important to me. I try not to eat too much fat, and I’m quite athletic, so I also try to eat plenty of protein. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are good, too. []Simplicity! I’m a very busy college student. Though I love to cook, I just don’t have time right now to make marzipan swans. I eat most of the recipes above w/ simple side dishes like salad, steamed vegetables, rice, or bread and cheese.[] Leftovers! (Hopefully not gallons of 'em. Small freezer.) I don’t have time to cook every night, so it makes me very happy when I can nuke up last night’s marzipan swan. []Quirks! I’m really not a picky eater, but: [list] []No ham. []Flavor = good. Wolf-ass = bad. []Too much salt makes Yersinia puffy. [/ul] [/list][/li]I hope y’all can offer some suggestions. I’m particularly interested in adding lean beaf and soy for protein and flavor variety b/c I’m not familiar with cooking either one.
A great website to also check out is: http://food.epicurious.com/
They have a great advanced search that you can check off for what you’re looking for to narrow off the kind of recipes you want.
This is an example of one of their recipes that I’ve tried with great success:
VEGETABLE STIR-FRY WITH TOFU
6 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces firm tofu, well drained, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed, caps sliced
2 cups broccoli florets
2 red bell peppers, cut into strips
2 bunches green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup sake or dry white wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon oriental sesame oil
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in large nonstick skillet or wok over high heat. Add tofu; stir gently until starting to brown around edges, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to bowl. Add 3 tablespoons oil, ginger and garlic to skillet; stir 1 minute. Add mushrooms; stir-fry until tender and golden around edges, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli, bell peppers and green onions; stir-fry until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Return tofu to skillet; stir to mix. Stir in sake, soy sauce and sesame oil; simmer 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to large bowl and serve.
P.S. You can change the shiitake mushrooms and use a cheaper mushroom.
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
some oil
some Salsa
Lots o’ Cumin
Juice of 1/2 lime
Red wine/beer (optional)
Rice
Cheese (Cheddar or Monteray Jack)
1 - Cook Rice
2 - Put some oil in a frying pan. Add black beans & corn. Add a bunch o’ Cumin. Fry up until everything’s hot. You can add some red wine or beer if you like things saucy.
3 - When everything’s hot, throw in a couple glops o’ salsa - I like the chipotle flavor, and the lime juice. Stir a couple more times, get everything hot.
4 - serve over rice, with cheese on top. If ya wanna be fancy, add sour cream/cilantro/onions/whatever strikes your fancy. Also good with that green tabasco sauce on top.
This is low-fat, assuming you don’t go overboard with the oil, and the beans/rice/cheese form a whole protein. Cheap, too!
I’ve been in the same situation. Something that has worked for me is pulling my cookbooks off the shelf, dusting them off and actually cooking recipes out of the books. Too often, I just fall back on what I know. I’m making a concious effort to use recipes and it has been great.
Also, here’s a super-duper easy delicious recipe that is one of my standards:
1 Prepaired Pork Loin (Lean and yummy --if this violates the “ham” rule, substitute any flavored roast like meat)–Cook according to directions.
Mixed salad greens --I buy the organic field greens type thing you can usually find in the produce section
Dried cherries, raisens, apricots or other dried fruit
Goat cheese–I buy the goat cheese crumbles
Raspberry vinagrette
Misc. veggies of your choice.
After cooking the Pork Loin (or substituted roast like meat) take it out of the oven to cool while preparing the salad. Put mixed salad greens in a bowl. Put dried fruit, goat cheese, whatever misc. veggies you want in the bowl. Slice the pork loin and pile pieces of it atop the salad. Pour on some raspberry vinagrette. MMMmm…MMMmmm. Good eatin’!
Low fat (relatively), high nutritional content and lip-smackin’ good. Cut out the cheese to reduce fat.
I’m a big fan of enchiladas. You can make and freeze your own sauces (green tomatillo sauce is very easy) or buy canned.
Inside you can put a great variety of things, including fresh-cooked or leftover veggies (spinach, peppers, potatoes, corn, beans, etc.) with or without meat. Mashed tofu with vegetables works well too. Add cheese on top and/or inside, if you like it.
Quick and easy and very good for leftovers or freezing.
Epicurious looks helpful, thought slightly daunting. I think I’ll make the stir-fry and pork loin thingy soon, and probably some enchiladas. Will also look through the mega-recipe thread some day that I’m not trying to write a paper for tomorrow.
Also, haunt used book stores and garage sales. You can usually find old cookbooks for cheap – the best ones are the self-published ones for various groups (church cookbooks, etc.) Since the recipes are submitted by members, you have a pretty good shot that they’ve been used and tested often by various family members.