QUICK MEALS TO THE RESCUE

                                    Quick meals to the rescue

           Our warm fall and late November Thanksgiving have conspired to shock me with the sneaky approach of December and its holiday activities. It is not a case of ignoring the calendar on my refrigerator. It is rather a refusal to rush any holiday before its time that now finds me facing decorating, shopping, writing cards, Christmas baking and entertaining crammed into just three weeks. It is difficult not to leave everyday meals to become an afterthought to all these other activities, allowing our nutrition to suffer under stress.

          One solution is to prepare something nourishing that can be served for multiple meals and the other is to find recipes that combine a number of ingredients and are quickly cooked. Nourishing soups are wonderful for both lunch and dinner and made in a large quantity can be quickly reheated as needed. Mild Portuguese sausage linguica and Swiss chard give my soup additional flavor.

 

                                     Lentil-Swiss chard and linguica soup

          In a large pot heat 2 tbsp. olive oil to shimmering and stir in 2 oz. prosciutto sliced in ¼ inch strips. Fry to crisp with occasional stirring and set on paper towels to drain. This will make an elegant garnish for the finished soup.

          Stir in 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped stalk of celery in the same oil plus 1 diced parsnip and 1 carrot. Cook vegetables with stirring for about 8 minutes without browning.  Add 3 chopped garlic cloves, 1 large bay leaf, 1 tsp. thyme, 2 tsp. smoked paprika and cook until fragrant for 1 minute. Add 1 cup red wine, 6 cups chicken broth, 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with basil, 1 ½ cups rinsed French lentils and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover pot and cook for 45 minutes.

          Remove from heat, discard bay leaf and after cooling, purée 1/3 of the soup in the blender and return to the rest in the pot to boil. Add 3 cups of washed and torn chard leaves. Remove casings from 2 linguica sausages, dice and add to the soup. Cook for 3 or more minutes until the chard is soft. Serve hot garnished with some of the crisped prosciutto.

          Quickly browned meat in an interesting sauce, served over rice or pasta makes for an easy and quick supper. The next recipe is for chicken but could be used as well for leftover turkey’s second act, without the necessity to brown the meat. 

 

                              Chicken velouté with artichokes and sundried tomatoes

          Cut up, depending on size, 1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts in ½ inch strips, stir fry to brown in 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter in a large pan and set aside. You should have at least 2 cups of cooked chicken. Add 1 tbsp. butter to the same pan and sauté 2 sliced large shallots for 4 minutes. Stir in 2 tbsp. flour and ¼ tsp. ground cloves to make a roux, slowly add 2 cups chicken broth to make the sauce. When sauce is thickened, stir in 2 oz shredded Gruyère cheese and ¼ cup shredded Parmesan and ¼ cup sundried tomatoes cut in thin strips. Simmer for 2 minutes. Drain 1 can of artichoke hearts. Stir artichokes and the chicken in the sauce and heat for 2 minutes. Stir in 3 tbsp. heavy cream and when heated serve on pasta.

           Desert can still be a part of a quick meal. Instant pudding mixes that require only 2 cups of milk and 2 minutes of whisking can present an appetizing choice when garnished with fruit or nuts as found with a pistachio pudding with grape and pistachio nut topping.

          “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. No time to say hello, good-bye …” sings the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland and the holiday season may sometimes seem just like that. Instead of being overwhelmed and distracted by tasks at hand, one could try to take a deep breath and appreciate the joy of the season imbued in those same tasks done with love.

 (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day:” and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)