One Pot Meals in a Super Small Space

[bugsbunny]

Maggie, Interblog, Protagonist and others inspired this thread from the Small Space Living thread - Thanks!

TUSCAN ZUPPA (similar to Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup)
Makes 6-8 servings

1 to 1.5 lb ground sweet Italian sausage
1⁄2 tsp crushed red peppers (more to increase heat level)
1 large diced white onion
4 Tbsp bacon pieces or 3 slices
2 cloves fresh garlic minced or 2 tsp pureed
48 ounces chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream (substitute 1 cup milk + 2 Tbsp butter)
3 large potatoes cubed (substitute 1lb. cauliflower flowerets / radishes halved)
1 bunch of kale torn into bite-sized pieces (2 inches)
Salt and pepper to taste

Remove the casing from the sausage. Sauté the Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a heavy bottom soup pot. While cooking, use a wooden spoon to separate the sausage into small bite-sized pieces. Set aside the cooked sausage and drain the excess fat from the pot.

Cook the bacon (if using fresh) leaving the bacon fat in the base of the pan.
Remove the bacon slices, break into small pieces and reserve.

Sauté the onions for a few minutes until soft and translucent.
Next, add the garlic to the onions, brown lightly for about 15-30 seconds being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add chicken broth, potatoes, cooked sausage pieces, cooked bacon pieces and cream. Simmer until potatoes are softened (30-45 minutes).

Add kale just before serving. Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top and garlic bread.


Recipe Note 1:
Radishes when cooked are not hot! They are similar to potatoes in texture and are a great substitute when avoiding nightshade vegetables.

Recipe Note 2:
This recipe will work using many types of pots and is easily scaled up or down. The recipe is easy to prepare in a soup pot on top of the stove or in a crock pot (using precooked chicken sausage and bacon if not cooking fresh in a separate pan).

Alternatively, use a dutch oven, a thermal cooker/Wonderbag (needs 4-8 hours) or electric pressure cooker, but used as a soup pot in sauté/simmer mode.

Enjoy!

Katy

[Lily&Me]

I always keep favorite rice mixes on hand....like Uncle Ben's Long Grain & Wild Rice, Zatarains Smothered Chicken & Rice, Jambalaya, Red/Black Beans & Rice, etc.

Pair with chicken, ground beef, lean stew meat, sausage, etc.,....precooked and frozen, if you are super organized....or leave the meat out and add a can of black or other beans of your choice.

Yes, sodium in these mixes can be high. If that is an issue, make your own favorite seasoning blends, carry dehydrated onion and green pepper, canned tomatoes, etc., and it is still quick and easy.

I picked up two cookbooks the winter before Doug died...and I went on my Widow's Diet of less meat and fewer meals in a day ...but they have great ideas if you are feeding a hungry man or a family, even if not so.

I'm going to get back into them and see what I can modify for myself.

The Prepper's Cookbook by Tess Pennington

Meals in a Jar by Julie Languille

Same principle as pre-made mixes, but you control the sodium and do it all yourself. .

Jars can be freezer or sealable bags, instead, particularly for dry mixes.


I love hot, cooked pastas tossed with garlic, olive oil, fresh spinach and Parmesan cheese....a complete meal in a bowl, and you can prepare the entire dish in the pot you cook the pasta in,

I'll be back with more.


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Copied from my post on the "Small Space Living" thread…

I have an 8-cup Aroma brand rice cooker, which is what I use to make jambalaya for pot-luck dinners— when I travel to other parts of the country for rallies people always expect me to bring a traditional Louisiana dish to potlucks. Not being terribly domestic to begin with, I always go for easy-to-prepare, and this is as easy as it gets.

1 package of Zatarain's spicy jambalaya mix, diced cooked chicken, diced cooked sausage, a tablespoon of Pons Tabasco-infused olive oil, and enough water to cover the lot by about an inch. Stir well, turn on the rice cooker, come back about an hour later and it's done to perfection every time.

For those who think that's too spicy, there's the mild Zatarain's jambalaya mix and regular extra-virgin olive oil, but that's the wimpy way to do it.

Sometimes when I'm preparing it for myself I use boiled shrimp instead of chicken, but never for potlucks because you never know who has a shellfish allergy. Sometimes I use mini pepperoni slices instead of sausage. Sometimes I add crumbled bacon, because even jambalaya is better with bacon.

Sometimes I'll do a different Zaratain's mix for potlucks. Every Zatarain's mix can be prepared in a rice cooker. The "dirty rice" mix with crumbled beef also works well because that's another traditional "New Orleans Style" dish.

One must understand I'm a reluctantly-domestic lifelong bachelor, and I don't have the patience to cook for real. That's why one-skillet, crock-pot, and rice-cooker meals are so appealing to me, and why I will avidly follow this thread.

[OTRA15]

Thanks for starting a great thread Katy, which covers us small trailer folks with limited space too!

FYI -- in addition to the Small Space Living thread already referenced, these also contain some interesting recipes and related discussions:

Crock Pot -- [includes Protagonist's Amazon link for 12v 1 1/2 cup crock pot]

Crock Pot (older thread)

Dutch Oven Cooking

Cast Iron and Fire Cooking


Looking forward to reading this thread as it develops.

'Tis the season to enjoy cooking on the road again!

Happy Trails,

Peter

PS -- Protagonist, guessing your rice cooker is different from the 12v crock pot noted above? Is it also 12 volt? Thanks

[OTRA15]

Ditto Maggie on all the sodium in pre-packaged manufactured stuff (and using the term "manufactured" brings it all home IMO). When I have time, I make up my own version of Lipton's Onion Soup mix to use with sour cream (and yogurt) for a delicious dip for unsalted blue corn chips. The Mrs. Dash line of salt substitutes and seasonings is great and comes in small shakers which are easy to use on the road.

PS -- And the one ingredient in your recent pasta recipe which is easy to stock fresh is a nice chunk of Pecorino cheese, which can be grated right onto the pasta with one of those small sharp flat-ish graters. Makes the store-bought grated cheese taste like pulverized cardboard IMO!

[Lily&Me]

Tuscan Chicken Stew

4 cloves garlic, chopped and cooked in a little olive oil

Add and cook:
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in bite sized pieces
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4'teaspoon black pepper

When chicken is browned, add:

2 cans cannellini or other white beans, drained and rinsed
1 jar roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth

Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in one bag baby spinach, cover and let sit off heat 5 minutes.

Stir well, serve.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I like to make up pesto in the summer, when basil and other greens are fresh and plentiful, then freeze in ice cube trays to pop into a plastic bag for later use.

Easy to squeeze into our tiny frig.

A couple of cubes mixed into hot, drained pasta, topped with a bit of cheese is a meal.

I made this one last year with spinach, and it was excellent.

Spinach or Arugula Pesto
by Roberta Bailey, motherearthnews.com

1 1/2 cups spinach or arugula
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 to 2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
2 tsp pine nuts, cashews or walnuts
4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Wash and towel dry the spinach or arugula. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend to a smooth consistency.


Maggie

[InterBlog]

Special diet recipes are also welcome. I can't have anything containing milk, milk derivatives or milk solids, even in trace amounts. Some other folks have issues with stuff like gluten, nuts, shellfish, etc.

[Piggy Bank]

I would be interested in 1 pot meals that don't have to cook for a long time.

We are not fans of cheesy or milky sauces. But like meat and veggies.

Has anyone considered using recipes with meats that are already cooked and can be reheated/re-styled into dinner?

For example, we like the already cooked bacon from Costco. It does need refrigeration, but since it's not raw, there is not a huge amount of hot grease to deal with. We use that for our breakfasts. I know that there are pre-cooked various types of sausages, and would be interested in recipes with these and pasta or rice.

Also has anyone used the canned chicken? The Boat Galley blog talks a lot about using that, but I have not tried it yet.

Thinking that maybe fajitas would be a good option for that.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Piggy Bank

Also has anyone used the canned chicken?

I started buying canned chicken years ago because it's an excellent part of a hurricane hunker-down kit, since it keeps a long time and needs no refrigeration, two things that are very important if there's a power outage due to a storm. It's excellent in soups, casseroles, and my rice-cooker jambalaya.

[Marks71]

This one took the internet by storm a while back, it's from Martha Stewart. One Pan Pasta. The only "sauce" is what develops from the little tomatoes and other ingredients. It sounds too simple to be true, but it works. Then after getting the basics down once or twice you can start customizing

http://www.marthastewart.com/978784/one-pan-pasta

[GoWhereTowed]

Not a pot dish but one of the best chicken salads I have ever had.Chicken Salad Supreme

Serves 8

2 ½ cups diced cold chicken (cooked)

1 cup celery, chopped fine

1 cup sliced grapes

½ cup shredded browned almonds (or slivered)

1 TBS minced parsley

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup whipping cream, whipped

I add—one chopped green apple

Combine all ingredients

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Marks71

This one took the internet by storm a while back, it's from Martha Stewart. One Pan Pasta. The only "sauce" is what develops from the little tomatoes and other ingredients. It sounds too simple to be true, but it works. Then after getting the basics down once or twice you can start customizing

http://www.marthastewart.com/978784/one-pan-pasta

That looks pretty yummy!

I'll be trying that one.


Maggie

[OTRA15]

Canned chicken is OK to use in a stew. It helps to brown it up with some onions if possible first. The newish line of Jones Bros. pre-cooked and browned sausages are great, and Costco has them frozen in huge bags, from which you can package up smaller batches to use as you need them.

[Wayne&Sam]

After seeing all that sausage, bacon and cream in the recipes, I was glad to see Maggie posting some healthier ones. Thanks!

[AWCHIEF]

There is some good stuff already . Also as one pot cooker I will be following along.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Wayne&Sam

After seeing all that sausage, bacon and cream in the recipes, I was glad to see Maggie posting some healthier ones. Thanks!

Turkey sausage is an excellent substitute, and one could always use evaporated or regular milk instead of the cream.

I think that pre-cooked chicken or meats of any kind could be substituted for doing them from scratch at the time.


Maggie

[OTRA15]

If red meat and dairy fats are being considered unhealthy, hasn't the relationship between such fats and high blood cholesterol been debunked recently?

[Piggy Bank]

Has anyone done any seafood one pots with canned? Again the boat galley blog mentioned salmon patties and crab cakes and also making soups with evaporated milk and crab and adding in boxed stock and a few veggies and potatoes. Idea being to have things that can travel with little refrigeration.

Just wondered if any of you have made any of these?

[Silverbee]

Here is a good one. You do need to broil the wings after they are done to make them crispy, although they can be eaten without this step.
http://damndelicious.net/2014/10/01/...icken-wings/?m

Also on the same website
http://damndelicious.net/2016/01/23/...aco-spaghetti/

In fact she has a category called One Pot
http://damndelicious.net/category/one-pot/