Quick & Simple Dinners Meal Challenge

My friend Carrie over at Natural Moms Talk Radio is doing a challenge: Quick & Simple Dinner recipes. I’m all over this one – after all this site is dedicated to easy! Here’s a family favorite that’s quick, simple and frugal!

Tuna Casserole

1box elbow macaroni, cooked al dente
16 oz sour cream
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of tuna
2 cups peas (frozen is fine)

Pre-heat oven to 350. Combine all of the ingredients in a casserole dish – mix well. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Does it get any easier? 5 ingredients, 1 pot, 1 colander, 1 casserole dish. AND I bet you have all the ingredients on hand right now. And I’m not kidding when I say family favorite – my boys (hubby & son) love this! This freezes well to, so go ahead and split it or make two!

Here’s a couple tips: If you like it creamier, only cook 3/4 of the box of macaroni. Save the rest for a craft or something. Also, I do not recommend using low-fat or fat-free sour cream – it just doesn’t bake well and doesn’t remain creamy. You can however use low-fat or fat-free soup. I always use whole-wheat noodles. And finally, use solid white albacore tuna.

Head over to Carrie’s blog for more entries!

Scallops with Spicy Papaya Sauce

Ingredients:

1 small papaya, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp minced jalapeno peppers
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 pound sea scallops
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Take a medium sized bowl and place in it the cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno, onion, red pepper and papaya, stirring them together and then setting the bowl aside when finished.  Then take a plastic bag that can be sealed, placing the scallops, pepper, salt and flour in the bag before shaking it in order to coat the scallops with the flour and the seasoning.  Once that has been completed, place a skillet on medium-high heat on the stove, cooking the scallops in the skillet until they turn a golden colour.  Place the scallops over the papaya sauce that you set aside earlier, before serving the whole dish immediately.

Low Fat Baked Potatoes with Sweet Chilli Tuna Topping

Ingredients:

4 large unpeeled potatoes (about 740 g or over 1 pound)
425 g (13 oz) Can of Tuna in Springwater
2 sliced spring onions
1 chopped tomato
2 chopped gherkins
1/4 cup of sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of chopped coriander
Salt and pepper
1 cup of low fat sour cream

Directions:

First preheat you oven at 200 C (400 F). Take the potatoes, prick them with a fork and place them in a microwave safe glass bowl. Cover the bowl with a glad wrap and nuke it for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the filling by putting the tuna, spring onions, tomato, gherkins, sweet chilli sauce, sour cream and chives in a bowl and mix together well while adding salt and pepper to taste. After nuking the potatoes and they become tender, drain them and put them in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes till the skins bakes. Remove from the oven and cut each potato across from the top, pushing up the sides providing space for the filling. Spoon the filling over each of the potato to finish. It makes 4 servings.

TUNA TAMALE PIE

Ingredients:

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3 cups boiling water
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
2-1/2 cups cooked kidney beans, drained
2 cups stewed tomatoes
1 cup finely shredded cheese
2 -  6-1/2 oz. cans chunk style tuna
1 or 2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 cup pepper

Slowly stir cornmeal into boiling, salted water, while stirring
constantly. Cook until thick. Mix the rest of the ingredients in
a bowl.

Pour half of the cornmeal mush into a greased 2 qt. baking dish.
Top with the tuna mixture. Cover with the rest of the mush.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.

NINE SALMON RECIPES

Boiled salmon.
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Ingredients:- 6 oz. of salt to each gallon of water, sufficient water to cover the fish.

Mode:- Scale and clean the fish, and be particular that no blood is left inside; lay it in the fish-kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it, adding salt in the above proportion. Bring it quickly to a boil, take off all the scum, and let it simmer gently till the fish is done, which will be when the meat separates easily from the bone. Experience alone can teach the cook to fix the time for boiling fish; but it is especially to be remembered, that it should never be underdressed, as then nothing is more unwholesome. Neither let it remain in the kettle after it is sufficiently cooked, as that would render it insipid, watery, and colourless. Drain it, and if not wanted for a few minutes, keep it warm by means of warm cloths laid over it. Serve on a hot napkin, garnish with cut lemon and parsley, and send lobster or shrimp sauce, and plain melted butter to table with it. A dish of dressed cucumber usually accompanies this fish.

Time. 8 minutes to each lb. for large thick salmon; 6 minutes for thin fish.

Note. Cut lemon should be put on the table with this fish; and a little of the juice squeezed over it is considered by many persons a most agreeable addition. Boiled peas are also, by some connoisseurs, considered especially adapted to be served with salmon.

Salmon and caper sauce.
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Ingredients:- 2 slices of salmon, 1/4 lb. batter, 1/2 teaspoonful of chopped parsley, 1 shalot; salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste.

Mode:- Lay the salmon in a baking-dish, place pieces of butter over it, and add the other ingredients, rubbing a little of the seasoning into the fish; baste it frequently; when done, take it out and drain for a minute or two; lay it in a dish, pour caper sauce over it, and serve. Salmon dressed in this way, with tomato sauce, is very delicious.

Time. About 3/4 hour.

Collared salmon.
—————-

Ingredients:- A piece of salmon, say 3 lbs., a high seasoning of salt, pounded mace, and pepper; water and vinegar, 3 bay-leaves.

Mode:- Split the fish; scale, bone, and wash it thoroughly clean; wipe it, and rub in the seasoning inside and out; roll it up, and bind firmly; lay it in a kettle, cover it with vinegar and water (1/3 vinegar, in proportion to the water); add the bay-leaves and a good seasoning of salt and whole pepper, and simmer till done. Do not remove the lid. Serve with melted butter or anchovy sauce. For preserving the collared fish, boil up the liquor in which it was cooked, and add a little more vinegar. Pour over when cold.

Time. 3/4 hour, or rather more.

Curried salmon.
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Ingredients:- Any remains of boiled salmon, 3/4 pint of strong or medium stock, 1 onion, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 1 teaspoonful of Harvey’s sauce, 1 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, 1 oz. of butter, the juice of 1/2 lemon, cayenne and salt to taste.

Mode:- Cut up the onions into small pieces, and fry them of a pale brown in the butter; add all the ingredients but the salmon, and simmer gently till the onion is tender, occasionally stirring the contents; cut the salmon into small square pieces, carefully take away all skin and bone, lay it in the stewpan, and let it gradually heat through; but do not allow it to boil long.

Time. 3/4 hour.

Salmon cutlets.
—————

Cut the slices 1 inch thick, and season them with pepper and salt; butter a sheet of white paper, lay each slice on a separate piece, with their ends twisted; broil gently over a clear fire, and serve with anchovy or caper sauce. When higher seasoning is required, add a few chopped herbs and a little spice.

Time. 5 to 10 minutes.

Salmon a la genevese.
——————–

Ingredients:- 2 slices of salmon, 2 chopped shalots, a little parsley, a small bunch of herbs, 2 bay-leaves, 2 carrots, pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 4 tablespoonfuls of Madeira, 1/2 pint of white stock, thickening of butter and flour, 1 teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, the juice of 1 lemon, cayenne and salt to taste.

Mode:- Rub the bottom of a stewpan over with butter, and put in the shalots, herbs, bay-leaves, carrots, mace, and seasoning; stir them for 10 minutes over a clear fire, and add the Madeira or sherry; simmer gently for 1/2 hour, and strain through a sieve over the fish, which stew in this gravy. As soon as the fish is sufficiently cooked, take away all the liquor, except a little to keep the salmon moist, and put it into another stewpan; add the stock, thicken with butter and flour, and put in the anchovies, lemon-juice, cayenne, and salt; lay the salmon on a hot dish, pour over it part of the sauce, and serve the remainder in a tureen.

Time. 1-1/4 hour.

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