Editors of Adams Media - The 50 Best One-Pot Recipes. Tasty, Fresh, and Easy to Make!

The 50 Best
One-Pot Recipes

Tasty, fresh, and easy to make!

Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.

Avon, Massachusetts

Contents

Introduction

Cooking dinner every night doesnt have to be a challenge, even if youre determined to try new dishes and dont want to use every pot, pan, and bowl in your kitchen. Here are fifty delicious, easy recipes that involve as little prep work and standing-over-the-stove time as possible. They were created with an emphasis on making the main entre in one pot if not the entire meal. And it wont take longer to clean up the pots, pans, and dishes than it took to eat the food you prepare.

Simplifying the cooking methods expedites your cooking and cleaning process and leaves you more time to savor your meals and enjoy the company of the people you eat them with.

One-pot meals range from fresh-tasting stir-fries to hearty casseroles to elegant pasta dishes. Here youll find traditional American favorites, like Classic Meatloaf with Mushrooms, along with repertoire-expanding international dishes, including Mediterranean Chicken and Olives, Cassoulet, and Beef Sukiyaki. Try a familiar dish with a new twist, like Beef Marsala Stew or Slow-Cooked Pork Lo Mein. With these fifty recipes, you have a whole new world of easy-to-make, satisfying meals to enjoy!

Mediterranean Chicken and Olives

This makes for a very economical meal; aside from the chicken thighs (which are normally less pricy than breasts) you probably have most of these ingredients in your cupboard! (See sidebar for info about preserved lemon.)

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 small chicken thighs

1 large yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground ginger

teaspoon turmeric

teaspoon paprika

Salt to taste

teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 preserved lemon, rinsed and diced

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried coriander

1 7-ounce jar pimiento-stuffed olives, drained

2 cups cooked couscous or rice

1. Add the oil to a deep 3-quart nonstick skillet and bring to temperature over medium heat. Brown the chicken, frying it for about 5 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm.

2. Add the onions and saut until transparent. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, paprika, salt, and pepper; stir into the onions and saut for 1 minute.

3. Add the chicken back to the pan; pour the tomatoes over the chicken and sprinkle the lemon over the tomatoes. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.

4. Sprinkle the parsley, coriander, and olives over the top; cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Serve warm over cooked couscous or rice.

Preserved Lemons

To make preserved lemons, cut 5 lemons into partial quarters, leaving them attached at one end; rub kosher salt over the outside and cut sides of the lemons, and then pack them tightly in a sterilized 1-quart glass jar. Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt and enough lemon juice to cover the lemons. Seal and let set at room temperature for 14 days, inverting the jar once a day to mix. Store indefinitely in the refrigerator.

Chicken in Creamy Lemon Sauce

Invest in the larger size slow cooker so you can prepare meals that serve four (plus leftovers, in most cases). Put this dish together in the morning and aside from finishing the sauce, dinner is done by the time you get home.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1-pound bag frozen cut green beans, thawed

1 small yellow onion, cut into thin wedges

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 cloves garlic, minced

teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup chicken broth

4 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel

Optional: lemon peel strips

1. Place the green beans and onion in a 3-quart or larger slow cooker. Arrange the chicken and potatoes over the vegetables. Sprinkle with the garlic and pepper. Pour the broth over the top. Cover and cook on low for 5 or more hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and moist.

2. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to 4 serving plates or a serving platter; cover to keep warm.

3. To make the sauce, add the cream cheese cubes and grated lemon peel to the broth in the slow cooker. Stir until the cheese melts into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Garnish with lemon peel strips if desired.

The Worlds Easiest Vegetable Dish

When theyre prepared correctly, youd swear that freeze-dried green beans taste as good as fresh. About 5 to 10 minutes before you plan to serve them, pour boiling water over the freeze-dried green beans so that theyre completely submerged. When youre ready to serve them, drain and toss the green beans with a little fresh lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Tex-Mex Chicken Pasta Salad

This dish features the many-layered flavors of Mexican cuisine and is made even easier by purchasing an already-cooked rotisserie chicken.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 3-pound rotisserie chicken

12 ounces rotini pasta, uncooked

1 8-ounce carton sour cream

cup chipotle liquid meat marinade

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, crushed

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 medium red sweet pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips

1 fresh Anaheim chili pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips

Optional: fresh cilantro, chopped, to taste

1. Remove and discard the skin from the chicken; remove the meat from the bones and shred it. Set aside.

2. In a Dutch oven, cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain and keep warm.

3. Wipe out the Dutch oven, add the oil, and bring it to temperature over medium heat. Add the onion, sweet pepper, and Anaheim pepper; saut for 5 minutes, or until crisp-tender.

4. Add the sour cream, marinade, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, and crushed red pepper to a bowl; stir to mix. Add the cooked noodles, chicken, and sour cream mixture to the sauted vegetables; toss to coat. Leave on the heat long enough to reheat the noodles and warm the chicken, if necessary. Serve warm.

Deep-Dish Turkey Lasagna

You boil the lasagna noodles in the Dutch oven and then drain and layer the lasagna layer in the same pot. Theres so much going on here, each mouthful delivers a new taste sensation.

Serves 8

Ingredients

12 dried whole wheat lasagna noodles

cup basil pesto

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 large egg, beaten

1 15-ounce carton ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

teaspoon salt

teaspoon ground black pepper

Nonstick cooking spray

2 cups fresh spinach, chopped