Carla Snyder - One pan, two plates: More than 70 complete weeknight meals for two

MORE THAN 70 COMPLETE
WEEKNIGHT MEALS FOR TWO

Carla Snyder

PHOTOGRAPHS BY Jody Horton

Text copyright 2013 by Carla Snyder .

Photographs copyright 2013 by Jody Horton .

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2435-3

Designed by Cat Grishaver

Food and prop styling by Kate LeSueur

Chronicle Books LLC

680 Second Street

San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

FOR MY KIDS,

Jessica, Justin, and Corey;

AND FOR THE COUNTLESS OTHERS WHO COOK FOR TWO
WITH JOY, EXCITEMENT, AND ANTICIPATION.

On the trip home from work, our minds are often churning with all the things that need to be done... cleaning, laundry, bills, e-mail, and the chore of making dinner. With so little time in the day for all that must be accomplished, it seems unfair to return home to the immediate task of creating a meal. But it isnt so much the actual cooking thats driven most of us to high-fat takeout and pricey restaurantsits the hour-plus of organizing, shopping, prepping, and cleaning up. Wouldnt it be nice to stay home and produce a delicious, healthful, hot meal in less than 1 hour, with easy prep and minimal cleanup? Maybe even share a glass of wine with your significant other?

). How is this possible? I plumbed my twenty-five years of knowledge as a cooking school instructor, caterer, and recipe developer to find ways to orchestrate components with similar cooking techniques into complete meals in a single pan.

Its simple, really. Take Sauted Pork Chops with Sweet Potato, Apple, and Mustard Sauce (). The recipe begins with a simple saut of two pork chops. The chops are removed from the pan when partially cooked, and thin slices of sweet potato and apple are added to the hot pan along with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a splash of cider. That aromatic mix is covered and cooked until almost tender, and then the pork chops are returned to the pan and the whole thing is finished in a few more minutes, with perfectly tender chops. After you arrange the pork and potato mixture on plates, a quick sauce comes together by simply whisking a tablespoon or so of Dijon mustard into the pan juices. A drizzle of sauce and dinner is donea fresh, healthful meal thats balanced in flavor and pretty on the plate, all in less than an hour with one pan to clean.

Whether you are a young couple just starting out or empty nesters, youll find it much cheaper and quicker to cook recipes for two instead of the usual four to six servings you find in main-course recipes. Cooking for two also means that youll have no surplus food to wrap up, refrigerate, and incorporate into another meal within a few days. Imagine, no more guilty leftovers tossed in the trash because they went bad or they just werent appealing reheated in the microwave the next day.

With the recipes in this book, you are also spared having to put time and thought into side dishes, since the whole meal has been composed for you. One of the biggest dilemmas for home cooks is what to serve alongside the roast chicken or beef tips. In One Pan, Two Plates , the complete meal is right there.

About that one pan: Most of the One Pan, Two Plates cooking is accomplished in a heavy 12-in/30.5-cm skillet with a lid. The heavy-gauge pan allows you to cook over hotter, faster heat and the large size is perfect for two complete portions. While you will, of course, be wrangling a few basic tools such as a sharp knife, cutting board, mixing bowls, spoons, whisks, and strainers, no other pans or fancy kitchen equipment are required.

But the real beauty of this collection is its unwavering focus on made-from-scratch meals with all the healthful and tasteful benefits associated with eating well. You will invest a small amount of time cutting and chopping fresh vegetables like onions, garlic, carrots, and celery, but that time will reward you with delicious, good-for-you meals, a life-enhancing trade-off.

The book begins with a chapter called The Carbohydrate Cure, pastas, grains, and sandwiches that have the double advantage of being both healthful and inexpensive. Many of the ingredients are sitting there in your pantry, waiting to be transformed into delicious comfort-food meals like Pasta Carbonara (). Filling grains like rice and barley and quick-cooking legumes like lentils in a rainbow of colors, as well as good-quality canned beans, are easily transformed into delicious stews like jambalaya and biryani and elegant, tender risottos.

The other three chapters, Hungry for More (dinners featuring beef, lamb, pork, and veal), Poultry with Soul, and Angling for More all feature the more meat-centric meals that many of us associate with dinner. Each recipe features a protein in the form of meat, poultry, or fish with an accompanying vegetable cooked in the same pan. Dishes like Rib-Eye Steaks Florentine with Parsnip-and-Potato Galettes ().

I cant resist the cooking-school teacher inside me, so each recipe includes a helpful hint with in-depth information about the dish or an ingredient. And because a glass of wine makes every meal more civilized, Ive paired each dish with a wine or beer suggestion for serving alongside. Sometimes I offer a few suggestions for quick and easy go-withs such as microwave rice, tossed salads, garlic bread, et cetera, in case you just want a little more on your plate for variety, or you are extra hungrybecause lets face it, sometimes we are hungrier than others.

As an added bonus, the recipes in the book are also arranged in a Find It Fast index to help you select meatless or seasonal meals, using headings such as Meatless Mondays (vegetarian meals), Baby Its Cold Outside (winter meals), Hot Town Summer in the City (summer meals), Falling Leaves (autumn meals), and Spring Forward (spring meals).

I wouldnt go so far as to say that One Pan, Two Plates will change your life, but I hope this streamlined style of cooking will help you to eat more healthfully, with less work and worry. Ive always believed that dinner doesnt have to be stressful, but that it should always be delicious. So whether youre a kitchen newbie or an experienced cook, browse through this book, choose a recipe, and get the cooking started in your home tonight.