This is a great sauce for chile rellenos, enchiladas, steak, chicken…or dipping chips. You control the heat, making it as spicy as your taste likes! Unlike salsa, this is a thin, smooth sauce, increasing its versatility with foods.
Ingredient: onion
Mustard Caper Sauce
This quick sauce is great for serving over chicken or pork chops. Or salmon. Whatever. It takes just a few minutes to prepare, so you can throw it together while the meat is cooking.
Basic Bolognese Sauce
This is, for me, the ultimate Italian sauce. It’s perfect for noodles, for lasagna, for parties. Yes, it takes a long time to make this sauce from scratch, but you can freeze it so it’s ready for quick meals at any time. I love to make this sauce on a Sunday afternoon. The scent permeates house, making everyone hungry, and, truth be told, I’m getting hungry just writing about it!
Modify this recipe to suit your own personal taste, but don’t omit the vegetables. They give depth and body to this sauce.
Guacamole
For many years, I pretended I didn’t know how to make guacamole. My husband, swearing he had one half of a top secret recipe, insisted guacamole was man’s work. Of course, since he only had half the recipe (the avocado half, from what I can tell), this meant, well, no homemade guacamole.
Needless to say, this wasn’t workable on any level, so I just, you know, started making my own guacamole. It’s really quite simple — the ingredients are very flexible. And, since I live in Southern California, getting my hands on fresh avocados is so easy. One note: the texture of guacamole can range from creamy smooth to chunky — it’s all about your preferences.
One note: Many grocery stores carry vacuum-packed avocados in the deli/fresh foods section, and I am here to tell you they taste terrific.
Broccoli and Goat Cheese Frittata
Frittatas are one of the most flexible foods you can have in your cooking repertoire. They’re perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, and even late night dining. And while this recipe features broccoli, the truth about frittatas is this: you can make them with a variety of ingredients — substitute asparagus or spinach or whatever you have on hand for the broccoli.
And don’t think you have to confine yourself to goat cheese. Freshly grated Parmesan is a great substitute.
Another trick — one that makes preparing this recipe even faster — is to used already cooked veggies. If you do, reduce the saute time in Step 2. You can also use fewer eggs if you have fewer people. Adjust the other ingredients accordingly.