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Getting the family back on an unforgiving school-year schedule is tough, and capping the day with a sit-down meal can seem impossible. If you care about your kids' well-being, though, it's not optional. The research is clear: Children who eat dinner with their families most nights are much more likely to do well in school and less likely to become overweight, develop eating disorders, smoke cigarettes or abuse drugs. The combination of structure, nutrition and communication that family meals represent is a powerful, positive force in a child's life.
That said, I'm not going to pretend that getting school-night meals on the table is easy — or that they have to be homemade. The best most parents can do is a patchwork of make-ahead, quick-fix, heat-and-serve and takeout dinners — and that's good enough.
Make ahead
A casserole or other one-dish dinner in the refrigerator, ready for the oven, is pure gold on a school night. If you can make time on the weekend to assemble one, you'll be patting yourself on the back the rest of the week.
Lasagna is a can't-miss dish in most families, and one of my favorite cookbook authors, Pam Anderson, has a terrific lasagna recipe in her forthcoming "Perfect One-Dish Dinners: All You Need for Easy Get-Togethers" (Houghton Mifflin, Sept. 20). The book is geared toward entertaining, but Anderson's Quick, Creamy Lasagna, with its filling options and simple assembly, is sure to become a family favorite.
Quick-fix
This is the time of year to freshen your lineup of go-to recipes for busy weeknights, and America's publishers are here to help.
Just out from Chronicle Books is "Time For Dinner: Strategies, Inspiration and Recipes for Family Meals Every Night of the Week" by the editors of Cookie, a stylish mommy magazine that Conde Nast axed along with Gourmet last fall.
The book is chock-full of gorgeous photos and clever recipes (sweet and sour chicken with plums, whole-wheat spaghetti with fried onions and bread crumbs, individual potato-chip frittatas made in muffin tins).
In "High Flavor, Low Labor: Reinventing Weeknight Cooking" (Random House, $27) recipes "balance my desire for real and satisfying food with the demands of my real and overscheduled life," writes author J.M. Hirsch.
Hirsch has been working on getting his picky son, Parker, to eat more vegetables, and the 6-year-old is developing a pretty sophisticated palate. It shows in recipes like red curry beef, anchovy butter chicken, chili balsamic-marinated sirloin and wasabi miso-glazed salmon. They wouldn't have flown with "my" picky eater, but if your kids are more adventurous, you'll find a lot to like in this book, which goes on sale Sept. 7.
Heat-and-serve
If you value your sanity, don't begin a school week without at least one family-sized heat-and-serve entree in your freezer or refrigerator. For the super moms out there, that may mean a stash of lovingly cooked and carefully labeled entrees. For the rest of us, it's the best our supermarkets or warehouse stores have to offer.
Sweet & Sour Chicken With Plums
If you prep the ingredients the night before, you can have this on the table in 15 minutes.
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3cup sugar
1/4cup white distilled vinegar
1/2cup pomegranate or pineapple juice
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3 firm, sweet plums, pitted and cut into chunks
1 large rib celery, sliced
1 bunch green onions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into small cubes
1/4teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
Salt and pepper
Whisk the cornstarch, sugar, vinegar, juice and soy sauce in a small bowl; set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the plums, celery and green onions for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
Add the chicken, five-spice powder and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken begins to brown, 3 or 4 minutes. Stir sauce mixture, add to pan and cook, stirring, until it thickens, another minute or two. Complete the meal with quick-cooking brown rice and frozen sugar-snap or baby peas. Makes 6 servings.
Adapted from "Time for Dinner" by Pilar Guzman, Jenny Rosenstrach and Alanna Stang
Per serving: 283 calories (24 percent from fat), 6.1 g fat (1.3 g saturated, 1.8 g monounsaturated), 94.1 mg cholesterol, 23.3 g protein, 21.6 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 406 mg sodium.
The Wichita Eagle—08/25/10
Red Curry Beef
Author J.M. Hirsch calls this flavor-packed dish "Thai-inspired sloppy joe." Look for red curry paste in the Asian aisle at the supermarket.
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/4cup coconut milk
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1 bag (5 oz.) baby spinach, chopped
Juice and grated zest of 1/2 lime
1/2cup shredded fresh basil
1/2cup crushed unsalted peanuts
Bring the rice and 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat and set aside, covered.
Meanwhile, heat the oil, curry paste, soy sauce and sugar in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add ground beef and cook, crumbling meat with a wooden spoon, until cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Stir in the coconut milk and return mixture to a simmer. Stir in the green onions and spinach, and cook just until the greens wilt, 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir in the lime juice, zest and basil. Serve over rice, garnished with peanuts. Makes 4 servings. Complete the meal with melon chunks or grapes.
Source: "High Flavor, Low Labor" by J.M. Hirsch
Per serving: 591 calories (46 percent from fat), 30.3 g fat (9 g saturated, 9.5 g monounsaturated), 73.7 mg cholesterol, 31.7 g protein, 48 g carbohydrates, 3.5 g fiber, 731 mg sodium.
The Wichita Eagle—08/25/10
Quick Creamy Lasagna
If your kids are old enough to be home alone after school, they're probably old enough to heat the oven and pop this in for you. For most families, this makes enough for at least two meals.
Salt
15 ripple-style oven-ready lasagna noodles (such as Ronzoni; from 2 boxes)
Filling:
4 cups cooked, shredded chicken OR 2 cups (1 lb.) lump crabmeat plus 2 cups cooked salad shrimp
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
12 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2cup reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 jar (24- to 26-oz.) good-quality marinara sauce
4 cups (1 lb.) grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Vegetable oil spray
Place oven rack in lower-middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees.
Dissolve 1 1/2 tablespoons salt in 2 quarts piping hot tap water in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add noodles and soak until soft, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, mix filling of choice with basil, 8 ounces of the cream cheese and 1/4 cup of the broth. In another bowl, mix remaining 4 ounces cream cheese and 1/4 cup broth; set aside.
Smear 1/4 cup marinara sauce on bottom of baking dish. Layer ingredients in this order: 3 noodles, scant cup marinara, 1 cup filling, 3/4cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Repeat layering 3 times, for a total of 4 layers.
Top with remaining 3 noodles, cream-cheese broth mixture, 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan.
Spray a large piece of aluminum foil with oil and place it, oil side down, over the pan, sealing tightly. Bake until bubbly throughout, 40 to 45 minutes (50 to 55 minutes if it went straight from the refrigerator into the oven).
Leaving the lasagna on the same rack, remove the foil and broil until spotty brown, about 5 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. Makes 10 to 12 servings. Complete the meal: Cook a package of frozen broccoli florets or simply make a green salad.
Source: Adapted from "Perfect One-Dish Dinners" by Pam Anderson
Per serving (based on chicken filling): 496 calories (40 percent from fat), 21.4 g fat (10.9 g saturated, 6.2 g monounsaturated), 103.4 mg cholesterol, 38.3 g protein, 35.4 g carbohydrates, 2.3 g fiber, 866 mg sodium.
The Wichita Eagle—08/25/10
Italian Beef and Cheese Calzone
1 lb. ground beef
1/2cup chopped green bell pepper
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes with onions, drained
1/2teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 package (13.8 oz.) refrigerated pizza crust dough
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brown ground beef with bell pepper in large nonstick skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is not pink, breaking beef up. Pour off drippings. Stir in tomatoes and oregano; continue cooking 5 to 7 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat; stir in cheese. Set aside.
Sprinkle cornmeal evenly over rimmed baking sheet. Unroll pizza dough lengthwise on baking sheet, straightening edges of dough if necessary. Spoon beef filling over long half of dough, leaving 1-inch border on 3 sides. Gently lift and pull top half of dough over filling to enclose; pinch dough edges to seal.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into 8 slices.
The Wichita Eagle—08/25/10
Slow Cooker Taco Pasta
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
3/4cup water
1/2pkg. taco seasoning
1 can mild chopped green chilies
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 pkg. (8 oz.) macaroni or pasta, prepared
2 cups mild shredded cheddar cheese
In large skillet, brown ground beef and onion; drain fat. Add tomato sauce, water, and taco seasoning; mix. Simmer 20 minutes. Transfer to crock pot and add chopped green chilies and kidney beans.
Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, stir in prepared pasta and cheese. Makes 4 servings.
The Wichita Eagle—08/25/10
