Go-To Meal

Everyone should have a go-to meal...the meal for which you always have the ingredients at hand, and that all family members will eat. Hopefully, it's healthy, economical, and simple to prepare. This is the meal you pull out when you're too tired to think or too busy to cook elaborately.

My go-to meal is pasta with meat sauce and spinach. We like it for its taste (most important with kids), convenience, and ability to fill up teenage boys in a single bound.

There's nothing earth-shattering about my choice, but I do think it marries a kid-favorite with an adult sensibility. I add frozen, organic spinach to the sauce for a good dose of veggie nutrition, as well as color. I also keep small packages of grass-fed chopped meat in my freezer just for this purpose. You don't need a lot of meat for this dish, so better quality meat goes a long way.

I saute the defrosted meat in a splash of wine and olive oil, along with some finely diced onion or even shallot. When nicely browned, I add a can or two of diced tomatoes. Of course, you could add fresh tomatoes this time of year, but this recipe is about convenience. Add a pinch of sugar (to cut the acidity of the tomatoes, if necessary). A leftover rind of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese is good, too. I keep the rinds in a bag in the fridge...they are good for flavoring soup, also.

Bring sauce to a simmer, and cook as long as possible. The longer you let this simmer, the more flavor it will develop. Add a bag or two of chopped, frozen spinach near the end of the cooking time, and reheat until simmering again. Serve over pasta, preferably whole grain.

Today is one of those days. I know I will not feel like thinking about dinner eight hours from now, so this sauce is simmering along while I Get Things Done.

Pasta with Broccoli

One way to get vegetable-averse DS12 to eat broccoli is to incorporate it into a pasta dish. This is a staple in my house, and not your typical restaurant pasta/broccoli dish (at least, I've never seen this version offered in a restaurant.) It is, however, very common in Italy.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, saute a few cloves of smashed garlic in some olive oil (maybe 1/4 cup of oil for 1 pound of pasta). Add some finely chopped anchovies for that elusive umami taste and some omega-3 fatty acids. They'll disintegrate in the hot oil and you'll never even see them. Add some good quality paprika, maybe two tablespoons, to the oil, and stir. Remove from heat to keep garlic from browning too much. To the boiling water add the pasta (I like Barilla Plus/ Multigrain) and about 1 pound of broccoli florets. (I've never actually weighed the broccoli, tending to eyeball the amount. I think more is better.) Cook for about 10 minutes. Pasta should be cooked al dente, which sometimes tastes undercooked. Italians prefer it this way and it lowers the glycemic index of the pasta. Drain the pasta and broccoli mix, reserving about 1-2 cups of the pasta water. Toss the pasta and broccoli with the oil mixture, adding the reserved pasta water as desired to moisten. Add some grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, and salt to taste.

You could add some cooked and diced chicken breast to this dish, but I like it best vegetarian. I love anchovies, and think they work well in this dish, but you can leave them out (I have to sneak them in when the kids are around.) You can also scoop out the garlic from the oil before adding it to the pasta.