Favorite quick, simple, and delicious dinners thread

[NorthwestUteFan]

Recent changes in my wife's work schedule mean that I am now elected to cook dinner for my family 4 nights a week. I LOVE great food and love to make complicated dishes, but the kids have somewhat delicate palates and frankly I don't have the time while I have to keep several young boys from bouncing off the walls and breaking everything I own.

As such I want to share and pick up a few simple yet tasty dishes that young kids are likely to eat, and which an adult will still find tolerable.

Please share! Feel free to post any family favorites.

[NorthwestUteFan]

I will go first.

Cranberry Chicken
~1-2 lbs of chicken (4-8 breasts, equivalent amount of loins, etc)
1 16 oz can cranberry sauce (whole berries)*
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup mix
8 oz Catalina dressing.

Lay chicken pieces in a suitable pyrex cooking dish. Mix cranberries, soup mix, and dressing thoroughly. Pour over chicken.
Cook in oven, uncovered, for 1 hr at 350 degrees.
Serve over rice

Prep time: <10 minutes

Combine with cut green beens, salad. All three of my boys LOVE this one.

*you could also easily make the cranberry sauce from scratch. Boil 1 cup of water, stir in 1 cup of sugar. Add 1lb fresh cranberries. Cook until the skin on the berries splits, then mash and cool.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Simple Broiled Tilapia*

Tilapia filets
extra virgin olive oil
lemon pepper**
sea salt
garlic (prefer fresh, but garlic powder or garlic salt will work)

Lay filets in a pyrex dish. Cover liberally with olive oil, lemon pepper, garlic, and salt. Cover dish with aluminum foil.
Cook at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with white rice or Spanish Wild Rice or Rice Pilaf. Also goes well with quinoa.

Prep time: <10 minutes




*this works for Orange Roughy and red snapper, and probably trout, salmon filets, etc. While I love the flavor of orange roughy, I prefer to use tilapia because it is far more renewable (orange roughy is a deep-ocean fish, long line caught, takes a long time to mature, only lives in a certain area off New Zealand, etc, while tilapia is easily farm raised - and much cheaper).

** Substitute the lemon pepper for Lawry's Seasoning Salt for a different taste. This version goes very well with potatoes broiled potatoes.

[MarkGrace]

Canned cranberry sauce and lipton soup mix? Dude, you're scaring me. The fish looks good, though.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Canned cranberry sauce and lipton soup mix? Dude, you're scaring me. The fish looks good, though.

I said it was simple, and that my kids will eat it. Typically they will only eat hot dogs, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, and pizza, so I am trying to get away from that.

Make the cranberry sauce fresh and use your own french onion seasonings and it is fabulous.

[Mrs. Funk]

I posted a recipe for broiled chicken quesadillas awhile ago here.

It's tasty and pretty approachable. I've gotten my younger siblings to eat it no problem.

[happyone]

Here is one for grilled lemon chicken that my kids really like/d

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup butter or margerine
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice - bottled will do in a pinch
1 tsp garlic powder

melt butter and combine with lemon juice, garlic powder in a blender for about 30 sec or so to imulsify

marinate chicken in lemon/butter mix for a min of 1 hr

grill until chicken is done basting often with the marinade - 10/15 min depending on you grill

[BigFatMeanie]

This is a good and easy recipe:

http://www.food.com/recipe/pioneer-w...migiana-395949

I agree with assessments that the sauce is too sweet and told my wife to cut down on the sugar next time she makes it.

[Donuthole]

Beans and Eggs, bitches!

Beans and Eggs

Open a can of black beans. Heat them up. Scramble or fry eggs.

Serve with tortillas and crema.

Now that's quick, simple, and delicious, and your kids will eat it.

[falafel]

"Eggs. I did eggs."

"The hell you did! Bologna and beans!"

[happyone]

Here is a mild mexican style cassarole that my kids liked (the purists here will probably not appreciate this)

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
*1 14 oz can kidney or pinto beans
*1 14 oz can chili beans
12 oz frozen corn
1 lb mild chedder or montery jack cheese
1 bag toritilla chips
chili powder, ground cumin, ground oregeno to taste

* use any canned beans you like

grate cheese

saute hamburger, onion and garlic together until ground beef is done. Add tomato sauce, corn, beans and spices and heat until mixture is warmed thru.

In a large oven proof bown or deep sided cassarole crumble a layer of chips. Spoon the gound beef mixture over the chips followed by some cheese. repeat until beef mixture is all in the bowl, the top layer should be cheese - I normally get 2 layers or 3 layers

bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is bubbly about 20 - 30 minutes

[Jeff Lebowski]

Some of these recipes don't sound very simple or quick.

Here is one that we do a lot lately: Get some frozen crusted tilapia filets from Costco or elsewhere and broil them in the oven. Heat up some white corn tortillas and make fish tacos with pre-cut cole slaw cabbage, some sharp cheddar, salsa, and jalapeno ranch dressing. You can do the entire meal in just a few minutes.

[LiveCoug]

Some of these recipes don't sound very simple or quick.

Here is one that we do a lot lately: Get some frozen crusted tilapia filets from Costco or elsewhere and broil them in the oven. Heat up some white corn tortillas and make fish tacos with pre-cut cole slaw cabbage, some sharp cheddar, salsa, and jalapeno ranch dressing. You can do the entire meal in just a few minutes.

What do you do for this? Do you get the hidden valley ranch packets, add milk, mayo and jalapenos? What else?

[Jeff Lebowski]

What do you do for this? Do you get the hidden valley ranch packets, add milk, mayo and jalapenos? What else?

No. Just buy this:

http://www.litehousefoods.com/products/jalapeno-ranch

[Jeff Lebowski]

We have used this brand:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Treasures-...16-oz/10996857

I think Costco has something similar.