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dishes with meat - or meat substitute - as the main attraction

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tacos stir fry chicken a la king chicken florentine hoisin chicken a Thai dinner

gyros turkey sausages apricot-bourbon marinade grilled chicken marinade meatballs roast leg of lamb

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tacos

tortilla shells
ground cow or beans
tomato
avocado
olives
lettuce
cheese
sour cream
salsa

This one is a no brainer, but I write it down so I won't forget to get any ingredients when I go to the grocery store. Cook the meat or heat the beans. Slice the tomato, olives, avocado and lettuce. Shred the cheese. Open the jar of salsa and the tub of sour cream. Warm the tortillas. Put the meat/beans, and the cold stuff in the tortilla shell. Roll and eat.

Note: if you saute sliced cow or chicken with onions and bell peppers and serve with soft tortilla shells it becomes fajitas.

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stir fry

1 cup rice
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 chicken breasts, sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon ginger
pinch sugar
pinch salt
1/4 cup cashews
1 small can sliced water chestnuts
1 small package snow/sugar peas

Start the rice cooking. In a frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until slightly soft. Add the chicken and cook until done. Turn down the heat to medium. Add the soy sauce, ginger, sugar, and salt--stir. Add the rest of the ingredients. Heat until the peas are bright green. Serve over rice.

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the king is dead, long live the king
(once known as chicken a la king)

Make biscuits. Make gravy. Add cooked veggies and/or meat to the gravy. (favorite stuff to include corn, carrots, chicken, broccoli, green beans.) Split the biscuits in half. Pour the gravy mixture on top. Eat.

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chicken florentine

1 package Stouffers spinach souffle, defrosted
2-3 chicken breasts
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup milk
1 cup mozzarella or swiss
1 teaspoon mustard
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter

Mix souffle, rice, milk, 1/2 cup of the cheese, mustard. Spread in bottom of casserole. Place chicken on top of rice/spinach mix. Mix bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of the cheese, butter. Sprinkle on top of chicken. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes covered. Uncover, bake until top is golden (about 20 minutes more).

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hoisin chicken

2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 green pepper
1 small can water chestnuts
1 small can mushrooms
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
peanut or canola oil
cashews

Combine chicken, cornstarch, and soy sauce. Set aside. Cut pepper into 1/2 inch squares and stir fry with garlic, chestnuts and mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of oil until pepper is crisp/tender. Remove from pan. Stir fry chicken mixture in 1-2 tablespoons oil until cooked. Add hoisin sauce, vegetables, and cashews. Heat throughout. Serve over rice. Feeds about 4.

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a Thai dinner
(chicken satay with relish on the side)

This is another recipe that makes a bunch of food. Have some friends over to help you eat it all.

chicken/tofu marinade
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons garlic
2 tablespoons onion
1/4 teaspoon nam pla (fish sauce)

Mix together and soak the chicken/tofu in the marinade for at least one hour. Remove chicken/tofu from marinade and saute on the stove or grill. Add whatever veggies you wish--we like broccoli and water chestnuts--saute with the cooked chicken until the vegetables get hot.

Serve with rice or noodles (spaghetti noodles work here, but chinese noodles are good too), peanut sauce (below), relish (below)

peanut sauce
14 ounce coconut milk (you can use light if you like)
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons garlic
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Heat all the ingredients together. Cook about 5 minutes or until everything is melted and smooth.

relish
1 cup hot water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 cucumbers, chopped fine
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup white vinegar

Dissolve the sugar and the salt in the hot water. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let sit for about 1 hour in the fridge before serving.

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gyros

I have yet to figure out how to make a reasonable amount of gyros to feed only one or two people. So I usually only make these when we have people over for supper. It's great because you can make everything well before hand and just set it on the table when you get hungry.

pitas
leftover lamb (or other meat), sliced
diced tomatoes
shredded lettuce
cheddar or feta
chopped parsley
chopped onions

Cut the pita in half and stuff it with the ingredients listed above. Top with tzarziki sauce (below).

tzarziki sauce
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup shredded cucumber
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped onion

Mix well and let sit in the fridge for about an hour before serving.

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turkey sausages

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons sage
1 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons water
1/2 tablespoon garlic
2 tablespoons fennel (for Italian sausage)

Mix spices. Add turkey and water. Shape into 3-inch patties. Cook over medium-low heat. Makes about 20 patties. After cooking these, you can freeze or refrigerate to reheat later. Big tip: use latex gloves so you don't have to touch the squicky meat.

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apricot-bourbon marinade
(for chicken or salmon)

3 tablespoons apricot preserves
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup water

Mix all the ingredients together. Soak chicken or salmon in the mix for about 1 hour. Pull the meat out and broil in oven for 8-15 minutes (depends on the kind of meat and how thick it is). While the meat is broiling, put the marinade in a pot on the top of the stove and bring to a boil (killing any bacteria). Serve the meat with cooked marinade on top.

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grilled chicken marinade

1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cilantro
1 cup warm water

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Add chicken. Let soak in the fridge for at least an hour--overnight is good too. Remove chicken from marinade, pat dry, and grill (sauteed is good too). This marinade is also good for cow and pig parts.

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meatballs

1 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup onion
1 egg

Mix ingredients together. Form into "golf ball" sized balls (1 1/2 inches). Place on cookie pan. Bake 400 degrees for 20 minutes. For "Italian" meatballs add 3 tablespoons fennel seeds.

Once again, these freeze really well. To thaw, just dump a few into your spaghetti sauce as it is warming up. Since they will already be cooked, all you need to do is re-warm them. Big tip: use latex gloves so you don't have to touch the squicky meat.

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roast leg of lamb

boneless leg of lamb
(if you can't find boneless, debone it yourself)
kosher salt
fresh garlic bulb
fresh lemon
fresh or dried rosemary

Step 1:
Write down how much the lamb weighs. Calculate cooking time. 20 minutes per pound at 350 degrees. So a three pound lamb would cook about 1 hour. Recalculate time after deboning if necessary.

Step 2:
Untie the lamb and cut the large chunk of fat out of the inside (and bone if it isn't already deboned). Leave any fat on the outside, it will burn off and form a crust that keeps the lamb moist inside.

Step 3:
Kosher the lamb following the directions on the box of salt. Don't skip this step even though it takes a while. It gets the blood out of the meat and the lamb will taste better because of it. (koshering involves soaking the meat in cold water for half an hour, draining and salting all sides of the meat and letting it sit on a draining rack for another hour, then rinsing.)

Step 4 (do this step while lamb is koshering):
Cut garlic into wedges about 1/4 inch to a side. Cut lemon in half and pick the seeds off the top. Chop 1 tablespoon of rosemary very fine.

Step 5:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Do it right now!

Step 6:
Tie the lamb back up like a football so no loose bits of meat are sticking out. Place it fat side up on a rack in a pan with foil on the bottom. (I use a cookie rack inside a cake pan.) The idea is to get the lamb up out of the drippings and let heat circulate. The foil is to make cleanup easier.

Step 7:
Stick garlic into the lamb. The easiest way is to jab a small paring knife into the meat, rotate the blade 90 degrees, and slip the garlic wedge in while pulling the knife out. Coverage varies according to taste. Since there is no such thing as "too much garlic" I put the wedges in every half-inch.

Step 8:
Rub the outside of the lamb with the lemon. Sprinkle with rosemary. If you have a meat thermometer, insert it now.

Step 9:
Turn oven from preheat to bake and insert lamb. Bake 20 minutes per pound or until meat thermometer reaches 150 degrees or until knife inserted into center of meat is hot when touched to your lips.

Step 10:
Remove lamb from oven. Cover it with a sheet of foil and a couple of dish towels to keep in the heat. Let it stand for 10 minutes to reabsorb its juices. Slice against the grain of the meat and serve. I usually pull the now-roasted garlic out as I slice and put it aside so I can eat it straight. Yum.