Meatloaf is one of the classic frugal main dishes of all time.  You take the most inexpensive cuts of meat you can get and then add inexpensive fillers to make it go even further.  In addition, you add finely minced vegetables so your kids won’t notice.  Whoever invented meatloaf was either exceptionally lucky or pure genius.  Below is my latest meatloaf recipe that I baked in a cast iron skillet.  So to answer the question above, I’d say “one”.  But the real question is what pans do you need to make a meatloaf, a roast, cornbread, a cake, fried eggs, bacon, hamburgers, etc…   My answer is “just my one cast iron skillet”.

Super Meaty Meatloaf

• 1lb ground beef
• 1lb ground pork
• 2 eggs
• 1T all purpose seasoning
• 1 onion, finely minced
• 2t thyme, dried
• 1T sage, rubbed
• 1t red chile flakes
• 1T parsley, dried (or 3T fresh, chopped)
• 4T ketchup (or catsup)
• salt and pepper (depending on how much salt is in the all purpose seasoning)

Mix all ingredients well and shape into a cylinder.  Place into a lighly oiled cast iron skillet and put into a 350F oven for 1 hour.  After about 40min coat with the ketchup.

You’ve probably noticed that this meatloaf is pretty much all meat.  I’m still doing the low carb thing and its working (down 15lbs so far!)  so I left out the bread/crackers in this one.  You could add in a few slices of bread torn into pieces with some milk to wet the bread.  Crackers would also work.  I’d probably not use more than a cup of crushed crackers or two cups of bread for this amount of meat.  The thyme and sage in this give a little hint of breakfast sausage flavor.  You could also leave those out and use breakfast sausage instead.

To keep this low carb, another nice addition would be some finely chopped mushrooms.  I’ve done that before and it comes out really great.  Just chop the mushrooms into small bits and then fry to remove most of the moisture.  Then just add them to the meatloaf.  You could also add italian seasoning mix (1T) and parmesan cheese (1/2 to 1 cup) to make the meatloaf taste like a giant meatball.  I could probably come up with an infinite number of possibilities.

I served this meatloaf with a Broccoli gratin, which I guess I should include:

Broccoli Gratin

• 3 cups broccoli, steamed until just tender
• 2T butter
• 1/2 medium onion, finely minced
• 1T whole grain mustard
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup gruyere, or other cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

Saute the onion in butter until soft, about 10min.  Add in the rest of the ingredients, except broccoli, and simmer over low heat until the cheese melts and you have a nice sauce.  Turn off the heat, add the broccoli and toss well.  Put into a baking pan (or another cast iron skillet!) and bake uncovered for about 30min on 350F.  Serve with meatloaf.

One of the reasons this came out so well is that I cooked the short ribs long enough to kill the toughness but short enough to leave a really nice chewy texture.  So instead of the meat falling apart like eating pot roast or beef stew, it was like eating tender steak.  There was enough time for the flavors to come together and make a really nice sauce.

French Braised Short Ribs

• 2lbs short ribs cut into 1/2″ pieces
• 1T oil
• 1/2 of a medium onion, chopped
• 1T tomato paste
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5 green olives, chopped
• 2t thyme
• 2t beef bouillon (or two cubes)
• 1 cup of water
• 10 mushrooms, sliced thickly
• salt and pepper

Brown the beef in the oil.  Let it get brown!  Add the onion half way through.  Add everything except the mushrooms and turn to low, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook for another 10 minutes.  Is the sauce is watery when you add the mushrooms, turn up the heat and leave the lid off.

Serve with a starch like mashed potatoes or over some noodles.  I ended up just eating it straight.  YUM!

So, as with most of my recipes, this recipe should really be titled (Here’s What You Do When You Don’t Have The Right Ingredients To Make) Spinach-Artichoke Dip.  The key was finding the “magic” with the standard recipe and making sure I, at least, had the right ingredients to recreate that magic.  It turns out the special flavor in spinach-artichoke dip doesn’t come from the  spinach or artichokes- its the cheeses and raw garlic!  I know this because I tasted along the way and it was pretty blah until there was this big bang of flavor as soon as those items came together.

The actual recipe below is for a pretty spinachy dip.  It turned out to be more flexible this way and I used it as a dip, sandwich spread, inside a hamburger (Jucy Lucy), in an omelete, and as a small, low-carb side dish.  In fact, it’s been almost a week and I still have some left that I’m working through slowly.  I was thinking about stuffing the rest into mushroom caps and baking.  YUM!

Quick Hot Spinach Dip

• 1 bag frozen spinach, defrosted and liquid squeezed out
• 8oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, grated
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper

Mix up the ingredients and microwave for a few minutes.  Stop and stir about every 30 seconds until it’s mixed well.  It doesn’t really need to be baked like many recipes but it would be nice placed in a ceramic dish, topped with some extra cheese and then broiled for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

I really think the key ingredients are the cream cheese, mayo and garlic.  The recipe above gives the classic taste minus the artichokes.   If you wanted to turn this into the real thing, I would either use half the spinach and add a can of artichoke hearts, coarsly chopped.  I think as long as you have cream cheese, mayo and garlic you can really spin off on some delicious and wild variations.  I was thinking about adding some smoked paprika and chorizo for a Spanish flavor.  Some raw vegetables like onions and celery might add a nice crunch as long as you don’t cook it too long.  It would be tasty cold but you would probably want to add in some sour cream and cut back on cream cheese or else it would be too stiff.

(Not my actual dip, but a re-enactment using paid actors)

I don’t know how Italian an Italian beef sandwich really is, but the classic Chicago Italian beef sandwich has paper-thin beef soaking in a thin, heavily seasoned gravy piled HIGH on a crusty-on-the-outside/soft-on-the-inside Italian roll.  The sandwich is then, optionally, piled high with a mix of spicy pickled vegetables in olive oil called giardiniera.

As usual, I really didn’t have the right ingredients for this, which might be a beef rump or cross-rib roast.  I did have a nice, inexpensive chuck roast so decided to make that work.  Let me tell you that it did work!  This is the best creation I’ve made in a while.  I’m also doing this low-carb thing to drop a few pounds (already dropped 12lbs!)  so passed on the roll.  Any kind of roll would do.  I would heat them in the oven for 10 min at about 350F and then slice just before piling with beef.  If you did have a rump or similar roast, I would cook it to rare, slice thin and then simmer in the sauce for about 15min.

Italian Beef

• 1 chuck roast
• 2t garlic powder
• 2t onion powder
• 1/2t thyme
• 1T oregano
• 1t red chile flakes (optional)
• 1T salt
• 1t black pepper
• 2 cups (or 1 can) beef broth
• 8 cloves of garlic minced (yes, eight!)
• 2T Worstershire sauce
• 1t tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)
• Crusty rolls

Mix up the spices and sprinkle 1/3 on the roast.  Set aside 1/3 for the giardiniera.  Brown the roast on both sides well in a dutch oven or similar pot over medium heat.  Add the rest of the ingredients (except the rolls, duh!)  and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours on low heat, covered.  You want to roast easily slicable but not so tender that it falls apart.  You’ll need to check it periodically to make sure it doesn’t get too tender.  I think mine cooked in about 1 3/4 hours.  When it’s tender enough, take the roast out and let the sauce keep simmering to reduce a bit.  The sauce will be more like an au jus than a gravy.  Slice the roast as thin as you can and put it back in the sauce and turn off the heat.  Time to make the giardiniera.

Quick Giardiniera

• 1/4 of a small onion, sliced thinly
• 3T olive oil
• 10 sport peppers or hot pickled peppers, chopped coarsely
• 10 small pimento-stuffed olives,. chopped coarsley
• 1T vinegar
• 1/3 of the spice mixture above (hope you didn’t forget!)

Saute the onion in olive oil over low heat until just wilted.  Add the rest of the ingredients and turn off the heat.  Let cool and transfer to a bowl.

To assemble a sandwich, pile the beef on a hot, crusty roll and top with the giardiniera.  I put the beef into a bowl, added some sauce and topped with the giardiniera.

Incredible shrinking curry

• 1T oil
• 1t turmeric
• 1t curry powder
• 1t mustard seeds
• 1/2 onion, chopped finely
• 1 tomato, chopped finely
• 1/2 can coconut milk (about 1 cup)
• 1t chicken bouillon
• 1 cup water
• 1 chicken breast, sliced thinly

Heat the oil in a wok or deep pan over medium heat and add the three spices.  Fry for 1 minute and then add the onion.  Fry another 5 minutes until onion starts to soften.  Add tomato and cook until tomato is soft.  Add coconut milk, bouillon and water and simmer for 5 minutes until smooth and creamy.  Add the chicken and stir until just cooked.  This makes enough for 1 or 2 depending on your appetite.

This recipe is super flexible.  There are a ton of vegetables that could go into this.  It could easily be made all vegetarian or vegan as well by omitting the chicken and bouillon and substituting tofu, tempeh or seitan.  Great vegetable additions would be peas, carrots, potatoes and cauliflower.  A quick and easy thing would be to use frozen or canned vegetables.  If you’re not watching carbs, serve this with basmati rice to stretch it out further.

After creating the cauliflower leek soup last week, I realized that not only did the cauliflower add thickness to the soup, it also added a silky creaminess that you normally only get with lots of fat.  This gave me the idea to make a cream of asparagus soup with no cream.

Asparagus has been good at the farmer’s market, so I bought a few bunches last week.  We ate the tender parts roasted on the grill but I saved the tough stems to use for the soup.  How’s that for frugal!!!  Here is my simple recipe that was super healthy and quite delicious.  I will definitely make this again.

Cauliflower asparagus soup

• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped in 1 inch pieces
• End from 2-3 bunches of asparagus
• 4 cups of water (or chicken or vegetable stock)
• 2t chicken bouillon (omit if using stock above)
• white pepper and salt to taste

Put the cauliflower and asparagus in a large pot with the water (or stock) and bouillon.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour.  Let cool to at least room temperature and then blend until very smooth.  The stems are fibery so you’ll need to strain it with a coarse strainer.  I didn’t have a suitable strainer and actually strained this through a mesh bag that onions came in.  It totally worked!!!  Season with white pepper and salt.  If you don’t have white pepper you can use regular pepper.  White pepper really is perfect for this, though.

I have more cauliflower and vegetables lined up to try more variations on this.  I can’t wait to try this cauliflower soup with:

• brocolli
• roasted peppers
• pumpkin
• bacon and onion
• bacon, onion and clams (like chowder)

I better cut this post off now because I keep thinking of new variations.  I hope this gives you ideas of your own.

This recipe came from a Romanian friend of my sister whom she met while living in Montreal, Canada  Apparently, in Romania, a party just isn’t a party without this traditional salad.  I’m told that it’s common for Romanian women to roast many, many eggplants when they’re in season and then freeze them for use all year round.  I can definitely vouch for the fact that roasted eggplant freezed beautifully and is nearly as good in this recipe as freshly roasted eggplant.

In addition to this salad, she also passed along some additional Romanian dishes like a cabbage salad with bacon and caraway, and deviled eggs with a sour cream and pate sauce.  YUM!  I’ll post them soon.  Now for the recipe:

Romanian Eggplant Salad

• 2 globe eggplants, roasted
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise, homemade or store-bought

Roast eggplants in a 450F oven or on an outdoor barbecue until the insides are very soft.  Let them cool in a strainer to drain well.  When cool, remove the skin and mash the pulp by hand.  (Using a food processor for the eggplant makes it too airy.)  Puree the onion in a food processor until it starts getting soupy.  I sometimes add some water to help it along.  Squeeze out most of the moisture from the onion using a paper towel.  Add the onion and mayo to the eggplant and mix well.  Add salt to taste.

It’s traditional to serve this salad with sliced tomatoes and bread.  You can also use this as a spread on crackers or on a sandwich.  While I’d love to share a photo showing an amazing arrangement of tomatoes and bread with this salad, I usually just grab a spoon and go to town.  After you taste this salad, you might just do the same thing.  Enjoy!

There are certain vegetables that go with practically anything, like potatoes.  Potatoes taste great, are inexpensive and easy to cook.  Unfortunately, they aren’t the most nutritious vegetable.  Considering what they’re made of (pretty much just water and starch) they’re as much a vegetable as wheat and oats are.  Because of this, I don’t buy potatoes often (except for sweet potatoes, which are incredibly nutritious.)

You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this.  I’m actually asking myself the same thing.  So to cut to the chase, I had cauliflower and leeks from the farmer’s market that I needed to use and thought I might be able to make a potato leek soup, without the potatoes.  It was so simple and came out so well that I’m posting the recipe so I can make it again.

Cauliflower leek soup

• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped in 1 inch pieces
• 3 small leeks (or 1 big one), chopped then cleaned well
• 1T olive oil
• 4 cups of water
• 2t chicken bouillon mix
• salt and pepper, to taste

Saute the leeks in olive oil until starting to soften.  Add the cauliflower, water and bouillon and cook for an hour or until everything is very soft.  Let cool and then puree in a blender until very smooth.  Heat and serve.

This soup has the most amazing thick and creamy texture with a very mild flavor.  You’d almost think it was full of cream or butter.  The cauliflower makes a great base that doesn’t add any strong flavors.  I’m going to try this same formula but substituting the leeks for asparagus or celery.  You could also add some cream, butter and/or cheese.  I tried the above recipe plain and then added some parmesan cheese.  I actually think it was better plain.  Maybe a drizzle of a nice fruity olive oil just before serving would be nice.

Traditional Greek moussaka is a layered casserole of ground meat, eggplant, tomato, white sauce, and spices. The recipe that follows is far from traditional moussaka, which itself has many variations in Greece, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Egypt and other Mediterranean countries. This recipe came from my attempt to do something healthy and interesting with left over spaghetti sauce and some fresh vegetables from the farmers market. This is a good example of taking an idea from one culture and using ingredients and flavors from another.

Spaghetti sauce moussaka

• 3 cups leftover spaghetti sauce with meat
• 1 big chinese eggplant, sliced into 1/8″ rounds
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/8″ rounds
• 8 white muchrooms, sliced thinly
• 1 roma tomato, sliced very thinly
• 3T olive oil, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Put 1T of olive oil into the bottom of a baking dish and smear to cover the bottom.  Layer half of the eggplant and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Layer half the zucchini and then all the mushrooms.  Layer all of the tomato.  Cover with all of the spaghetti sauce.  Layer the rest of the eggplant and zucchini, adding more salt and pepper.  Mix the garlic, parsley and 2T of olive oil.  Spread on top of the casserole.  Bake uncovered at 350F for about 45 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.  If it starts getting too brown on top, cover with foil until done.

When I came up with this recipe I was going for something that was primarily vegetables.  Obvious additions to this would be a velvety bechamel (white) sauce and bread crumb or cheese topping.  You could also add some sliced potatoes or other vegetables.  Almost anything would be good in there as long as it can be sliced thinly or lays down flat.  You could do a Mexican variation by using leftover taco meat instead of spaghetti sauce and then add jalapenos, beans, and/or pepper jack cheese.  You could finish that off with sour cream or salsa.  YUM!  I think I may try that next time!

Go crazy and let us know what you come up with!

After a 5 mile run along the beach this morning, I walked through the Santa Monica farmer’s market to see what looked good- everything, of course!  I picked up some Chinese eggplant, zucchini, cauliflower, grapes, arugula, dill and chives.  I knew I wanted to do something with the zucchini and fresh herbs but wasn’t sure what.

When I got home I remembered that while at a Linen’s and Things close-out sale a few months back, I picked up what I thought was a vegetable peeler that turned out to be a julienne-peeler-thingy for a buck.  I never found any use for it but had this idea that I could use it to turn the zucchini into a sort of vegetable pasta.

The dish turned out to be super tasty.  The zucchini turned out to be a great alternative to pasta that is much lower in calories and higher in vitamins than any kind of regular or whole wheat pasta.  This dish would work well on nearly any kind of diet (atkins, south beach, ultralight, weight watchers) as the carbs, fat and calories are low but the flavor is high.

Squash pasta with fresh herbs

• 1 medium zucchini (for two small servings), julienned into long strips
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1t olive oil
• 1T each fresh dill, chives and parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add the olive oil and garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.  Add the zucchini and gently saute until it just starts to soften, about 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat, add the herbs, salt and pepper.  Serve immediately as a vegetable side dish, a substitute for pasta, or even as a vegan main course with a side of something with protein, like tofu, beans, lentils, etc…

This worked out so well that I’m already planning to try some variations of this with meat and tomato sauce and maybe peppers and onions.  What about squash alfredo?!?!   YUM! I’ll probably try to turn the eggplant into some kind of similar dish with a nice sauce and serve it as a vegetarian main course. I’ll post the recipe if it works out.

I hope you can do something interesting with these ideas.  Let me know what you come up with!