Easy Recipes - Penne with Vodka Sauce

This recipe is divine and it comes together in a flash.

Penne with Vodka Sauce

1 lb Penne pasta

2 Tb butter

1/4 lb Pancetta, chopped

1/3 C Vodka

1 1/2 C Spaghette sauce

1 1/2 C Cream

1/4 C Parmesan cheese, grated

Start a pot of water to boil for the pasta, salting it gently. When the water boils cook the penne according to package directions, then drain and reserve. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium high heat and melt butter. Cook pancetta until crisp, then add vodka and stir to cook off the alcohol. Add spaghetti sauce and cream, and heat gently until heated through. Add to drained pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Julie Languille - busy wife and mom, owner of

Dinners In A Flash dot com - Easy Dinner Recipes and Dinner Planning

Easy Recipe for Cheesy Polenta with Tomato Sauce

This easy recipes uses pantry ingredients and comes together in just minutes. Kids love the flavor, because with a starch base, tomato sauce and cheese, it is similar to pizza. Polenta is readily available at the grocery store all prepared and packaged in tubes. Polenta is a healthy whole grain food, it is gluten free and as is in the tube it has no fat. This recipe can be a main course served with a salad, or a very hearty and flavorful side dish.

Cheesy Polenta with Tomato Sauce

1 Tube prepared polenta - 18 oz

2 Tb Butter

Salt to taste

1 C Spaghetti sauce

1 C Grated cheese - cheddar, mozzarella, or Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the polenta into half inch rounds. Melt butter in a large, oven proof skillet until the foam subsides. Salt the polenta lightly and cook on one side until slightly browned. Flip the polenta slices over and top with spaghetti sauce and grated cheese. Place in the oven and cook until the chees is melted the sauce is bubbly and the polenta is heated through - about 10 minutes. Alternately, you can cover the pan and finish the polenta on the stove.

Julie Languille - Busy wife and mom, and website owner

Dinners In A Flash dot com - Easy Dinner Recipes and Dinner Planning

Easy Recipes for Sauteing

We’re in the process of building a house right now (don’t get me started) and my ovens aren’t wired yet, so I am limited to stovetop cooking which has given me a lot of time to perfect the art of sauteing a protein and creating a pan sauce. Here is some of what I have learned.

Pans

Non-stick pans seem to retard the caramelization. I don’t get as much pan browning, nor do I get those tasty crusty bits in the pan to deglaze and flavor my pan sauce. I love my stainless steel all clad pan. It heats evenly and well, doesn’t stick and I can swirl sauces and toss food in it if I like. It also doubles nicely as an omelet pan. Cast iron is inexpensive, conducts heat really well and evenly, but it is really heavy and unless you are a weightlifter, tossing food or swirling sauces will be really hard, next to impossible.

Saute pans / skillets typically come in two shapes, round being the more popular although I have seen oval which is nice for poaching fish or asparagus. Also, they typically come in two styles of sides, rounded sloping sides, best for tossing food and making omelets, and the more upright, straighter sides. The straight sided pans give you more flat surface area for cooking and work better for swirling sauces.

Size Matters

Of course, it always does. Be sure to choose a pan with plenty of room for the food you intend to cook, to avoid crowding. A crowded pan doesn’t brown food well, and the brown crusty deliciousness is where much of your flavor comes from. It is precious. If you don’t have a pan large enough, cook your food in two or more batches. I slightly undercook my first batches to allow for carry over cooking while it rests. When the first batch is ready, I cover it loosely with foil to keep it warm, but prevent steam from softening my prized and flavorful brown crust.

Fat

The type of fat you use is related to the temperature at which you plan to cook your food, and personal preference.

Butter

I prefer butter, because I love the flavor. The problem with butter is that the milk solids burn at high temperatures leaving unattractive, and bad tasting black specks in the pan and on the food. You can prevent this by clarifying your butter first. You can also buy ghee (Indian style clarified butter) at the grocery store or make your own. To make your own, melt butter until milk fats separate, then pour through coffee filters or paper towels to strain. You can also let the butter brown a bit before straining which imparts amazing flavor and even make it possible to convey more butter flavor while actually using less butter. This is called a beurre noisette in classic French cooking terminology and is basically means brown butter or hazelnut butter, because brown butter imparts a nutter, delicious flavor. Have I mentioned it is my favorite? Well, it still is.

Olive oil

Healthy, good, fast and flavorful olive oil is a great choice especially for Italian or Mediterranean dishes. It is perfect for sweating onions and garlic as the basis of a sauce, but for sauteing, it works well for all but the highest temperature cooking, at which point it may begin to smoke.

Lard

Good news! Lard from healthily raised pigs (as opposed to mass-farmed antibiotic fed pigs) actually contains a large proportion of healthy fats and is actually better for you than that cruddy margarine they tried to pass off on us back when I was a kid. Lard also brings a lot of flavor to the party, and really, cooking is about bringing flavor to the party.

Vegetable / Canola / Peanut Oil

These all work just fine and a neutral in flavor. Yeah, neutral, whoop. Peanut oil is good for deep frying.

Nut oils  - Hazelnut, walnut almond

Taste amazing, but are not for frying. Put them in your salad not in your pan. Drizzle them on finished dishes for a big splash of yum.

Preparing to cook

Choose your pan and your oil and get them heating. Decide whether you will pound your protein to even out its thickness and to tenderize it, or roll with it as it is. To pound, place between layers of good plastic or in a ziplock bag and pound with a mallet or the bottom of a heavy skillet (not hot) until evenly thick to your liking. Pat your protein dry and season it. You can dredge it lightly in flour if you like. This increases the crust factor, and helps to keep juices in. Take care not to over coat it though or it will get gummy. Try using wondra flour, it is so fine, it is never gummy.

Now We’re Cooking

When the pan is nicely hot add your protein and be rewarded with a satisfying sizzle. If no sizzle, it is better to back it out of the pan and wait until it it hot. Watch for the oil to just begin to shimmer, and test the heat with your hand several inches above the pan so you know it is hot. Don’t burn yourself.

Cook the first side until you have that gorgeous crusty brownness that we have been talking about, then flip it over and repeat. Here’s the trick, when the second side is almost brown, you need to test for doneness. I do that by poking gently with my tongs and judging the resistance. Is it squidgy like raw meat or partially squidgy? You may need to reduce the heat, or alternately you can finish the dish in the oven. Other, more scientific people use a thermometer, which is indeed the safest way to roll, but by the time I find my thermometer, I may have missed the perfect moment of doneness which would be bad. I am a poker.

When the food is done to your liking, remove it to a platter and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Pour off any cooking fat and add liquid to deglaze the pan (scrape up those good crusty bits). You can choose wine, stock, juice or a gazillion other things depending on your choice of flavoring. Balsamic vinegar is good too. Scrape up the browned bits, increase the heat and reduce the sauce.

Thickening You Sauce

You can relying on simply reducing your sauce of course, or you may add cream, or butter and flour mixed together (beurre manie “kneaded butter” in the fancy French culinary terminology), or a roux (fat, usually butter cooked together with flour) or a slurry of corn starch and water mixed together. For the thickening agent to do its job, the sauce needs to be simmering and if your thickening agent includes flour you’ll need to cook it at least a minute per tablespoon of flour added to cook off the raw flour taste. If you use cream to thicken, simmer more gently to reduce.

Finishing Flavors

At this point you may add any additional flavor to your sauce such as capers, or if you are using a red wine as a sauce base, you might consider a hint of jelly of bring the fruit forward again. Balsamic vinegar is also really good here or a splash of lemon juice. Taste your sauce, and correct the seasoning. If desired, add a knob of butter and stir like a mad woman for a couple of minutes to emulsify.

Serving

Plate your food and drizzle your masterpiece sauce over top. Pass any extra sauce at the table.

Bon Apetit!

Julie Languille

Dinners In A Flash - Online Dinner Planning Database with 1000s of Easy Dinner Recipes

Panko Crusted Tilapia Loins

Crispy and golden on the outside, tender and flakey on the inside. Panko Crusted Tilapia takes about 10 minutes to make and is delicious. The mild flavor of this fish pleases even picky eaters. Try it topped with mango salsa.

Panko Crusted Tilapia Loins

4 Tilapia loins, thawed

Seasoning salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 C Panko bread crumbs

3 TB Olive oil

Heat a skillet and the olive oil over medium high heat. Fill one shallow dish with beaten egg and another with panko breadcrumbs. Lightly season the fish on both sides, then dip in egg, then breadcrumbs pressing to coat. Pan fry about 4 minutes on each side until very brown and crispy, and cooked through. Serve with tartar sauce, cocktail sauce or any other condiment you prefer.

Julie Languille

Easy Dinner Recipes and Dinner Planning

Easy Recipe - Chicken Piccata and Risotto Milanese

Last night after a day of gardening, my family whipped together a delicious dinner of Chicken Piccata, Risotto Milanese and Kaylah’s Green Salad with Carrots and Apples.

I started the risotto first, by mincing the onion and shallot (because I had one on hand) and sauteing them in butter and oil. I added the rice to toast and coat, then added the first liquid coarse. Kaylah, my 9 year old, delighted in pounding the chicken breasts for the Piccata. Pounding makes them tender, and they cook quickly and evenly. I seasoned the chicken, dredged it in flour and started it cooking in butter and oil. Kaylha went on to create her signature salad and my husband came in to help finish the risotto while I created a pan sauce of lemon, wine, butter and capers for the chicken.

I made extra rissoto this time, because I want to try making risotto cakes. You scoop leftover cooled risotto and shape into patties, coat in breadcrumbs and panfry in butter and oil until crispy, golden and delicious. We’ll have that over a bed of greens today for lunch when we have earned a break from our projects. My daughter and I are cleaning up the garden, planting vegetable seeds and weed whacking all the extra exuberent growth that arrives this time of year.

Risotto Milanese

This is more of a method than a recipe. It is a delicious recipe, it’s really inexpensive, grows easily to feed a crowd and can by paused halfway through for early preparation for a dinner party, then finished just before dinner.

1 small onion, minced (or shallots, leeks or green onions)

4 TB Butter, divided

2 TB Olive oil

Arborio rice

Dry white wine - optional

Chicken, mushroom or other stock

Mushrooms, apsaragus or other vegetable or shrimp to flavor the risotto

Parmesan cheese, grated

Saute onion in oil and 2 Tb butter until softened. Add rice, measuring one handful per person plus one (or more) for the pot. Toast the rice until fully coated in fat, adding more oil or butter if needed. Add the first coarse of liquid. Pour in wine (if using) or stock until the rice is covered and the liquid is over the rice. Salt the mixture and stir. Let the rice cook until the liquid is nearly all absorbed then repeat the coarse with more stock, salt and stirring.

Prepare your flavoring. I used mushrooms, which I quarter then coat with olive oil and pan roast until tender and flavorful. If you are using asparagus, blanch it until just tender and chop it in bite size pieces. Use the blanching water as one of you liquids to flavor the risotto. For shrimp, peel, devein and remove tails. Frozen shrimp needn’t be fully defrosted. It will defrost and cook really fast in the risotto. shrimp risotto needs to be served really quickly when it is done so the shrimp doesn’t overcook.

Generally the risotto is perfect after 3 additions (courses) of liquid, but taste yours as it is almost done and adjust accordingly. Risotto is usually served al dente, meaning is still has a bit of bite and isn’t mushy. When the rice is nearly done add another knob (2 Tb) of butter and stir like a madwoman for a minute or two to emulsify the butter into the risotto sauce. Stir in a half cup or more of Parmesan cheese and your flavoring ingredient and serve when it is all heated through or cooked in the case you are using shrimp.

Chicken Piccata

4 chicken breasts, pounded in ziplock backs to an even 1/3 inch thick (good kid job)

Season salt

Flour to dredge

5 Tb butter, divided

2 Tb olive oil

3 Tb Lemon juice

1/4 Dry white wine

2 Tb Capers

In a skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 Tb butter and heat olive oil. Season chicken breasts on both sides with seasoning salt, then dredge lightly in flour, patting to remove excess. Pan fry until golden brown on both side and until cooked through. About 3  minutes per side. Cook in batches if necessary to avoiv crowding the pan. You can test for doneness by gently poking the chicken and insuring no squidgyness remains. When chicken is done, remove to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Deglaze the pan with the wine, stirring to disolve any browned bits in the pan. Add the lemon juice and the remaining butter and stirr briskly to emulsify. Add capers and stir until warmed. Then server chick with sauce drizzled over, passing any extra sauce at the table.

Kaylah’s Salad with Apples and Carrots

1 handful of greens per person torn.

1 apple, cored and chopped

1 C baby carrots, halved

4 mushrooms, sliced

Vinaigrette, store bought to dress

Combine all ingredients and serve

Lemon Cream Pasta With Shrimp

Tonight’s Easy Dinner Recipe was amazing. Dreamy, creamy lemon sauce over tender tagliatelle with succulent shrimp. Delicious and on the table in about 15 minutes. The tagliatelle was made with semolina flour and tasted really tender and homemade. I paired it with some broccoli dressed in lemon and butter and sprinkled with lemon zest. That and a green salad with pinenuts, craisons and my favorite vinaigrette (Le Martinique True French Vinaigrette) and we had a lovely dinner in minutes.

Lemon Cream Pasta with Shrimp

1 lb Shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 Oz Fettucine or tagliatelle

2 TB Butter

1 C Cream

2 tsp Lemon zest

3 TB Lemon juice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 C Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Start a large pot of water to boil and salt it generously. Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, melt butter over very low heat, and add cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Gently warm the cream sauce and don’t boil it. When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta, and 4 minutes before it is done, add the shrimp to the pot. When done, drain the pasta reserving 1/2 C of pasta water. Return the pasta and shrimp to the pan, add the cream sauce, and stir in the parmesan cheese. Thin with reserved pasta water if needed.

After I got the pasta going, I put the broccoli on to steam. I grated extra zest and juiced extra lemon juice for the broccoli. While both dishes were simmering away, I tossed my salad together.

This was so good and so filling. I think I may have just enough left to have for lunch tomorrow. Yum!

Julie Languille - Busy working wife and mom and website owner

Dinners In A Flash - Online Dinner Planner

Last Night’s Dinner - Halibut Cheeks

I had my dinner plan all ready, had my grocery list in hand and was strolling by the fish case not intending to stop when I spied them. Perfect, tender, fresh, enticing halibut cheeks. They are in season for such a short period, that I knew immediately I had to get some. So into my cart they went, and despite having my meals planned I did some hasty mental rearranging.

Hmmm, how best to prepare halibut cheeks. I briefly considered coating in panko and pan frying until crisp and golden, but quickly discarded that idea, because I thought the halibut cheek’s delicacy would be lost. Another possibility - pan seared with a ponzu aioli. Ponzu is my favorite sauce with any white fish sushi; I bet it would be divine with halibut cheeks.

I wanted a simple preparation that would present the fish as perfectly as possible. Then it hit me, I’d pan sear it and create a simple pan sauce of white wine, lemon, butter and capers. I’ll post the easy recipe below.

I served it with a green salad of greens from the farmers market, sliced mushrooms and chunks of pear - divine. We also prepared lovely globe artichokes with butter and a side of toated crusty bread with just a suggestion of garlic to sop up the suices. Divine.

Halibut Cheeks Piccata

1 lb Halibut cheeks

2 Tb butter, divided

2 Tb Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 C White wine - dry

2 Tb Capers, rinsed

Heat olive oil and melt 1 TB of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Season halibut on both sides, then cook in the hot pan for about 6 to 10 minutes until done, turning halfway. Halibut cheeks vary in size, so you’ll need to test the texture to make sure they are cooked through. Remove halibut to a platter and cover to keep warm. Add wine to the pan and scrape up all the crusty bits. Add the butter and capers. Simmer a minute until slightly reduced and thickened. Serve halibut cheeks drizzled with sauce and pass any remaining sauce at the table.

For more great easy dinner recipes visit: Dinners In A Flash

Julie Languille

Dinners In A Flash dot com

Easy Recipes for Outdoor Entertaining

One of the best things about summer is being able to throw a party in the backyard. Whether it be a family BBQ, a graduation of Father’s day party of even a 4th of July festival, summer parties are awesome. I love stringing up tiki lights, dreaming up a theme and whipping up the food. Since I can fit more people in my outdoor space than inside my house, I can invite more people. Something about the sultry summer air just invites people to linger and chat.

For Father’s day, grill some steaks or ribs with a side or corn to show dad you love him. For a graduation party a stack of burgers will keep the young adult crown happy. For dessert, consider homemade ice cream on top of warm brownies. Top them with chocolate sauce and salty peanuts tin roof sundae style.

For 4th of July, how about slow roasting a brisket, or pork should for BBQ beef sandwiches or pulled pork sandwiches? I love a North Carolina style pork sandwich with vinegary BBQ sauce and a coll and crispy topping of coleslaw. For 4th of July, berries are on season so you can serve red white and blue ice cream sundaes with strawberry and blueberry sauces.

A luau is a great theme for a summer party. Serve mai tais with fruit spears and tiny umbrellas. Grill shrimp on skewers alternated with pineapple chunks. String up the tiki lights, put out some grass skirts and coconut tops ans see if anyone is brave enough to model. If you have plenty of time and space roast a pig, either in a pit in the ground kalua style or rent a rotisserie and cook it over hot coals. Be sure to allow enough time for this, because a party can get out of hand if the pig doesn’t get done in time to eat and too many mai tais were consumed while waiting.

A wine tasitng event is a really great outdoor mixer, because you can serve the wine in several locations throughout your entertaining space. Pair each wine with some cheese and fruit. Your local wine merchant or gourmet grocery store would be glad to help you with the pairing if you need help. Be sure to serve heartier fare to to balance the food and drink intput.

Poor parties are great family fun. Almost every child on the planet loves to swim in the summer time and even adults are drawn into the childhood remembrances of frolicking in the water. Crank up the grill and plan really big portions. There’s nothing like swimming to spark the appetite.

One of my favorite easy recipes for outdoor entertaining is grilled pizzas. They go with almost any theme (Hawaiian, Meat lover, gourmet, kid friendly, and even upscale with goat cheese and arugula). Most of the work is done in advance making the crust or you can simply use frozen bread dough and each guest can tailor make their own pizza (especially the kids). Grilled pizza works as an appetizer, a main course or a dessert topped with grilles fruit and drizzled with white and dark chocolate. And people of all ages enjoy it.

Easy Dinner Recipe - Grilled Pizza

Grilled Pizzas
This is a family favorite that kids love. Individual pizzas cooked on the grill or campfire cook up fast and can be tailored to individual tastes. You can choose to make basic pizza or choose more sophisticated toppings like brie and portabella.

Serves 4

Ingredients


2     ea      Refrigerated pizza dough
2     Tb      Olive oil
1     Can    Pizza or spaghetti sauce
3     C       Mozzarella cheese - grated
Assorted pizza toppings - sliced tomato - pepperoni 

Instructions

Preheat the grill or campfire until hot. If it is raining, you can always use the broiler. Roll out the dough, stretch and form into individual size pizza crusts. Brush with olive oil to prevent sticking. Grill the crusts 2 minutes per side until firm. Remove and top with sauce, cheese and toppings. Grill until cheese is melted and toppings are heated through.
Note: You can also pre-grill vegetable toppings like peppers and portabellas.

For more great dinner ideas visit Easy Dinner Recipes - Dinners In A Flash

Wanting Easy Recipes? Think Chicken Recipes!

I am a stay at home mom, with a toddler and a pre-schooler; life is pretty crazy most of the time, to say the least. My husband drives truck and is gone several nights a week. So, you can add part-time single parent to my resume. Easy recipes and chicken recipes make my life so much easier at meal time. Days at our house are filled with baby dolls, games, and the occasional tea-party, and now that spring is finally here, we can play outside too. I don’t know how it is at your house, but after the day has taken so long to pass, it seems like my evenings go by in the blink of an eye. I know after dinner I have baths and bedtime stories, dishes and laundry. Worrying about what I am going to make for dinner and taking an hour to actually prepare the meal are things I just don’t have time for. That is why easy recipes are my *quick fix*.

In addition to easy recipes, there are other ways to shave some time of off your dinner preparation. Prepare your chicken recipe ahead of time. When it’s time to fix dinner, the easy recipe is already assembled, and you can move on to your next step! You can also cook an easy chicken recipe in your crockpot. Throw everything in that morning, and when you walk in the door, dinner is ready!

As a wife and mother, regardless of which easy method I choose, I try to fix my family easy recipes for healthy meals. Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way and healthy doesn’t always happen. If I left our menu up to the girls, we would have macaroni & cheese and hot dogs 7 days a week! On occasion they do get veto-ed. Because we are trying to be healthier, and I am on a time limit, I use easy chicken recipes a few times a week.

My 4 year old is at the age where she wants to help me in the kitchen, which means that her 2 year old sister also wants to help! So, this recipe is one of my favorites where the girls can get involved, and I don’t have to worry about them touching the raw chicken.

Easy Recipe - Breaded Chicken Cutlets
Kids and adults will love this dish. Easy and delicious. Serves 4

Ingredients
1/4 C Ketchup 1 Egg
1/4 C Mayonnaise 1/2 C Breadcrumbs - dry
1/4 C Flour 8 Chicken cutlets, about 1 1/2 pounds
Coarse Salt and pepper 4 Tb Olive oil

In a small bowl combine ketchup and mayonnaise and set sauce aside. In a shallow dish or plate, combine flour with a pinch of salt. In another dish, whisk egg and 1 tablespoon water and a pinch of salt. In a third dish mix together breadcrumbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Working with one cutlet at a time put cutlet in flour mixture, and coat completely then shake excess off. Dip the floured cutlet into the egg wash, making sure it is completely coated. Shake off excess. Next, put cutlet in the breadcrumbs, patting it in and making sure that all sides are coated. Shake off excess. In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium. Add four cutlets and cook until golden brown about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove and repeat with remaining cutlets. Serve.

You are probably thinking: How can the kids help with that? Pour the breadcrumbs into a Ziploc bag, and let the kids shake it up! It makes them feel important, and you get to spend quality time together talking about their day. Add a vegetable and some fresh fruit, and you have a well rounded easy recipe meal for those you love.

According to the USDA, we aren’t the only family trying to curb our red meat habit; chicken recipes are the number one easy recipes consumed by Americans today. It is so important that you handle raw chicken safely to prevent your family from becoming sick. Did you know that most food born illness outbreaks are the result of contamination by food preparers?

So, what do you need to know to make sure that your family stays safe from food born illnesses? It’s easy, really. When you bring your chicken home from the store, either freeze it immediately or store it in a refrigerator maintained at 40 degrees Fahrenheit for up to 2 days. When you prepare your chicken, first wash your hands, which is the most important step of all. When you cut your chicken up on your cutting board, make sure that you wash your cutting board with hot soapy water before using it to cut up the other things you need for your meal. It is recommended that you cook a whole chicken recipe to 165 degrees Fahrenheit as measured on a food thermometer.

I hope this has given you a light at the end of your mealtime tunnel. It doesn’t need to take an entire afternoon to prepare a healthy and chicken recipe meal for your family. There are so many easy recipes out there just waiting to be made. Help your family get healthy, and find those easy recipes with chicken!

Easy Recipes

What are the most important criteria for easy recipes? Is it the number of ingredients, the style of cooking or how long it takes to prepare? All of those factors are important, but there are other important things to consider for easy recipes too.

The criteria for easy recipes, for me, are a combination of factors. First, the easy recipe must not have an unreasonable number of ingredients. I like ten or fewer optimally. There are some times when additional ingredients are worth the results, but in most cases ten or fewer is a reasonable number of ingredients.

The cooking style is important too. Whether you are grilling, broiling, baking or simmering your easy recipe, it is best to only have one style. Easy recipes that use multiple cooking styles can become unnecessarily complicated. There are certain exceptions, though. For example you can brown an item on the stove and finish it in the oven. That’s no trouble, but certain dishes require you to parboil some ingredients before using it and that can add additional steps. This usually creates additional pots to wash too.

Another factor to consider is the length of time easy recipes will need your attention. Whether it is time preparing ingredients, like chopping vegetables and meats or if it is hands on time spent stirring, hands on time is a very important factor for easy recipes.

The side dishes you plan to accompany your easy recipes are an important consideration as well. The best approach is to plan them to not require your attention at the same time. The best side dishes for an easy dinner are things that you start and they finish on their own, like rice.

The cooking duration for easy recipes is less of a consideration if you are not needed to monitor the cooking, for example a braise or a slow cooker easy recipe is less demanding, because you don’t have to do much while it is cooking. In fact slow cooker or crockpot easy recipes are some of the best around, because you can do the preparation work ahead of time, possible the night before and in the morning simply start the easy recipe cooking and when you come home later in the day, a great meal is already waiting.

What about clean up? Is it a factor in an easy recipe? I certainly think so. What good is it to have easy recipes to prepare and then spend the evening washing pots, or wiping sauce off the ceiling? (Yes that lid on the blender, and its vent are both very important items for easy recipe cleanup!) Foil can really be your friend when it comes to easy recipe cleanup. Lining a pan with foil before you broil will save you lots of time. I think you really can’t beat the grill though, for easy recipe cleanup. Crank up the heat and scrape with a brush briefly, how hard is that?

The complication of the process is really a huge consideration for an easy recipe too. If a recipe has too many steps, complicated processes, or too many ingredients that need lots of processing, it really isn’t an easy recipe. Consider buying some ingredients preprocessed to simplify your easy recipe. Pre-grated cheeses, shredded cabbage and bagged salads can dramatically simplify preparation.

Another important factor to consider is the quality of the ingredients. The most important consideration for whether or a recipe is an easy recipe, is whether the deliciousness and quality of the finished dish justifies its cooking. And the greatest degree it is possible to make an amazingly easy recipe that is perfectly delicious and simple to prepare, the better. The quality of the ingredients will make all the difference here. I think it is possible to use some canned or frozen ingredients in your easy recipe and have a great success, but the best success comes from the best ingredients. Truly the freshest meats, fish and produce will make all the difference in the quality and enjoyment of your easy recipe.

Some ingredients to consider canned alternatives for easy recipes are beans and tomatoes. Lots of easy recipes call for canned tomatoes. Tomato season is relatively short, despite them being readily available, but out of season tomatoes don’t have much flavor. Canned tomatoes can be delicious in easy recipes, look for those made in Italy, which is famous for its tomatoes. Many easy recipes get a helpful shortcut from canned beans. Canned beans are so sturdy, their texture stands up well to canning and using canned beans in an easy recipes eliminates and overnight soaking in water.