One-Pot Dinners

Shakshuka has been popular lately. Consider cataplana.

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Ratatouille.
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Is that what you call it? One of our favorites is:

Butter, onion, capers, lemon juice, chopped fresh tomatoes, wine, mushrooms, chicken broth, lots of fresh spinach, some pasta.

Ratatouille?

When I was teenager, Parade magazine, that Sunday-paper insert, once had a one-pot-meal contest, and one of the finalists was what I later learned was a Polish disk called something close to “Zeberka Wieprzowena Z Kapusta”. It remains one of my favorite comfort-food dishes 40 years later.

I was doing curbside grocery pickup during the lockdown (and, often, before and since). They did a really good job, but were inevitably going to short me something that thwarted my best planned recipe.

So I occasionally defaulted to this – basically all chopped up, seasoned, and slow cooked all day:

  • Onions
  • Black beans
  • Shiitake mushrooms
  • Green and yellow zucchini
  • Smoked turkey and/or Andouille sausage

Separately, I’d chop up “crunchy bits” for texture (left raw, stored separate from the main dish, added at mealtime):

  • Green onions
  • Celery
  • Bell peppers – orange, red, green, yellow (all four, with luck)

Then, separately, I’d slice up tomatoes (left raw, stored separate from the main dish, added at mealtime).

Once I learned I could get a steady supply of extra-firm tofu (because nobody was that desperate), I started slow-cooking it on the second day:

  • Pressed extra-firm tofu (to remove excess water)
  • Marinade: rice wine/apple cider vinegar, sesame oil, S&P, garlic powder, Bragg Liquid Amino/Coconut Amino/Soy/Tamari, Sriracha, pure maple syrup – all emulsified in the mini-blender

I’d chop the pressed tofu into small cubes, bag it up with the marinade in a slow-cooker liner bag, tie it off with a twist-tie, and throw it in the slow-cooker – 6-8hrs on low.

It all got/gets mixed together in big dinner bowls at meal time, needing very little additional seasoning, if any.

We serve it over some sort of a starch: egg noodles, brown rice, cheese tortellini, pasta, potatoes …

I’ve made part one (without the tofu) many times. It stands on its own. But, IMHO, the tofu really kicks it up another notch.

And it’s really just a whole bunch of chopping, and then … waiting.

And you can really go with endless variations on the theme. That was why it was so handy when the grocery store shorted my order. Short of this ? Use more of that ! My plans were never thwarted because of inventory issues.

Buen provecho !

There are plenty of recipes online for one pot pasta dishes.

https://iwashyoudry.com/one-pot-spaghetti-meatballs/

https://12tomatoes.com/one-pot-chop-suey/

https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/one-pot-ziti-with-sausage/

https://tasty.co/recipe/easy-one-pot-mac-n-cheese

Chili, perfect for fall and winter. Any recipe you fancy.

Yep. I already do this. It’s wonderful.

As to the rest, thanks, everyone. I’m going to hold on the all-day stuff (stews, mostly) until cooler weather, and work on the stovetop, one hour or less stuff for after work, after school dinners.

Some good stuff here. Thanks again.

I once made pork spareribs in a slow cooker with sauerkraut and cream of mushroom soup. Served over mashed potatoes, they were decadently delicious.