Whether you’ve spent the day hiking to the Top of Texas or another prominent peak, or paddling your kayak around a wildlife-rich wetland, or cycling steep routes following your bump of perception, or biking to town for the week’s groceries, you’ve earned your dinner. But after a hard day’s work, who has the energy to cook up an elaborate supper? It’s far easier to shove a Lean Cuisine® into the microwave, a frozen pizza into the oven, or worse, stop for a Cardiac Special at the nearest take-out. Don’t get me wrong. I like convenience foods as much as anyone, but not as a steady diet. With a little prep, you can put a delicious home-made meal on the table inside half an hour. Why not consider some of my favorite quick meals? Here’s an easy one, risotto…

 

 

What’s risotto? It’s simplicity itself. Just simmer short-grained rice—Arborio, if you’re a stickler for authenticity—in broth, stock or wine, until it’s tender and bathed in a creamy, starchy sauce, and you’ve got risotto. Flavor with herbs, butter or cheese, and you’ve made a great main dish. Include some freshly baked breadstuffs from the HyperMart’s bakery to fill in any odd corners, and finish off with a pot of hot tea, and the result is a meal to remember. For the version above, I added sautéed chopped onions and radicchio—a red slightly bitter lettuce—which gives the final dish a rosy hue. Read more on making risotto…

 

 

Pasta is another versatile food and a terrific way to end an active day. You could heat up a bottled sauce, but that becomes dull. Instead, sauté some chopped or sliced vegetables (you choose the veggies) in olive oil and garlic, and season to taste with herbs, salt and pepper. Toss with whatever pasta shape you fancy, sprinkle on a bit of grated cheese, and dig in. A hunk of garlic bread goes down well with pasta, or pick up a crusty loaf at the HyperMart on the way home from your adventure. In the photo above, I’ve cooked up a skillet full of mushrooms, peppers, onions, baby zucchini, and plum tomatoes to toss with linguini. With salad and bread, the whole meal came together in half an hour, and there were plenty of leftover veggies to have on another night with stir-fried beef, leftover roast chicken, or pasta.

 

 

Staying with the pasta theme, ravioli is about as easy as it gets—if you buy frozen ravioli or the pre-made variety in the HyperMart’s cooler section. All you need to do then is boil the ravioli a few minutes, then sauce it—a cinch. Bottled sauce is fine, though with some doctoring it’s made better. Or do as I did here and open a large can of whole tomatoes (crushed or diced tomatoes are alright, too), then pour it over sautéed chopped onions and thoroughly cooked ground beef (ground turkey is a good substitute). Break up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon or a fork, add salt, pepper, and dried herbs to taste (I used oregano), and simmer the sauce while you’re bringing a pot of water to boil for the ravioli. Open a bag of salad mix, drizzle a dressing over the lettuce, and by the time the ravioli is drained and plated with sauce, all that’s left to do is pour a glass of wine. Tutti a tavola a mangiare!

 

 

Now for something entirely different—cornmeal mush. Doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it, so we’ll use the Italian name and call it polenta. Don’t believe the foodie magazines which say polenta is difficult to make. It’s so easy it takes more time to write about making polenta than it is to cook up a pot of it. Boil a blend of salted water and cornmeal (yellow or white, it doesn’t matter), stir vigorously for a few minutes, and then eat. Try it with cheese. Grate the cheese of your choice into the cooked polenta immediately after lifting it off the heat. Eat cheesy polenta as the main dish with a side of steamed kale or a salad, or dress it up. Try hot stew ladled over the top, or serve is alongside a quickly cooked chop, steak, or chicken breast. And if you have leftover polenta, just mold it for eating another day. Molding it is simple, too. Read more on how to do it…

 
Have I whetted your appetite? Good! Whether you’re a devoted home chef or decidedly cooking-challenged, these supper ideas should be within your grasp. Bon appetite!