“Mom, what’s for dinner?” Ugh. The question I loathe most yet hear every single day. Not only is the planning, shopping and preparing process a lot to handle on top of everything else going on, but then it all adds up to the most dread part: the cleanup.
As a result, one-pot meals have really become more popular over the years. In the next few pages, you’ll hear from local residents Maria Ragone, Katie Goncalves and Kristin VanSingel who shared with me their favorite one-pot recipes, including Huevos Rancheros, Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Chili and Chicken Marsala. Can’t wait to try them myself!
HUEVOS RANCHEROS
Ingredients
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1 tbsp olive oil
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1 medium onion, chopped
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1 garlic clove
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1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
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8 oz diced beef or chicken
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1 tbsp chili lime seasoning (no salt added)
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1 16 oz can black beans
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Hot sauce to taste
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1 tsp salt
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1 tsp pepper
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6 eggs
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1 avocado
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1/2 heart of Romaine lettuce
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1/4 cup fresh cilantro
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6 oz shredded cheese
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6 crunchy tostadas
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6 tsp sour cream
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1 lime
Directions
Sear the meat in the olive oil in a large pan with sides. Add in the chopped onion and garlic, and cook until the onion is translucent. Stir in the tomatoes, chili lime seasoning, hot sauce, black beans, salt, pepper, and let simmer on medium heat for five to ten minutes, until the meat is cooked.
While the sauce is cooking, set up the shells onto each plate, cut up the avocado into slices, cut the lettuce into thin shreds, chop the cilantro, and cut the lime in half. Divide the sauce evenly among the six shells.
Cook the eggs in the same pan to your liking; the Ragones like over-medium,. Put one egg on top of each shell, sprinkle with shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream, cilantro, avocado slices and a squirt of lime.
CROCKPOT CHEESY CHICKEN CHILI
Ingredients
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1 pound of frozen chicken breasts
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1 15 oz can of corn, not drained
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1 10 oz can of Rotel tomatoes with chiles (any heat level you prefer), not drained
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1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
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1 tbsp of garlic powder
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1 tbsp of cumin
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1 tsp salt
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1 tsp pepper
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8 oz package of cream cheese
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Desired chili toppings
Directions
Add in all the ingredients to a crockpot, turn the crockpot on high and cook for six hours. Then, add the package of cream cheese to the top of the chili and warm through until it is melted (about 30 minutes).
When the cream cheese is melted, using a spoon, break up the pieces of chicken until they shred and stir everything together. If the chili is too thick for your preference, you can add chicken stock a little bit at a time until it is thinner.
Serve with any toppings you like for chili. The Goncalves family likes cilantro, tortilla chips, hot sauce, jalapeno slices and a little extra shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
CHICKEN MARSALA
Ingredients
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½ box thin spaghetti (or noodles of your choice)
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½ cup flour
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¼ tsp salt
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¼ tsp pepper
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¼ tsp garlic powder
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½ tsp dried oregano
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3 tbsp peanut oil (or oil of your choice)
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1-1.5 lbs of chicken breasts, sliced thin and cut into strips
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1 cup mushrooms, sliced thin
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750 ml bottle of marsala wine (VanSingel uses Cribari Cellars American Marsala)
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2 cups chicken stock
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1 tbsp minced garlic
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4 tbsp butter
Directions
Boil water in a pot, add salt to your liking and cook noodles until done to your preference. Drain noodles into a colander and place the empty pot back onto the stove. Mix flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano into Ziploc bag and set aside. Cut your chicken breasts into strips and coat in the flour mixture, being sure to shake off any excess flour.
Heat oil in pot over medium heat and place chicken strips in pot and cook until chicken is almost cooked through completely (chicken will finish cooking thoroughly when it is simmering in sauce). Depending on how much chicken you have, you may have to cook the chicken in two batches. If you have to cook it in two batches, you may need to add additional oil to the pot. If this is the case, then once the second batch is cooked, add in the first batch of chicken back to the pot.
Add in mushrooms to the pot along with minced garlic. Stir to combine for 30 seconds. Be sure to scrape up bits from the bottom of the pan. Add marsala wine into the pot and bring to a boil, soon reducing to a simmer for 10 minutes (sauce will reduce in size by 25-50%). Add in chicken broth and butter, bring to boil and simmer for another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked completely through. (If the mixture is too “liquid-y” for your preference, you can add in a small amount of a cornstarch slurry to tighten up the sauce). Place noodles back in the pot, mix and serve directly from the pot.