Around our house ‘quiet time’ is when people are going less than 50 mph. As a result dinners can be rushed or multitasked between web pages, graphic work or zooming out to whatever is on the schedule.
That can result in quick but boring meals but with a little ingenuity you can elevate humdrum to spectacular in just a few minutes by adding a different twist to a dipping or marinating sauce or adding an ingredient that is just a little bit different and unexpected.
Here are a few that we use to ‘kick it up a notch’.
Easy Honey – Mustard Sauce: Stir together prepared mustard and liquid honey (about 40-60 ratio or to taste) in a bowl. 30 seconds and you have a great dipping sauce for chicken fingers. I like it on mashed potatoes as well, and I suspect it might make a decent glaze for ham.
Crowd Pleasing Cabbage: Cabbage can be a hard sell at times. After boiling your cabbage quickly stir fry it with a handful of diced onions and then dust with a pinch of nutmeg before serving. Works everytime around here.
Ah-so-so Spaghetti Sauce: Commercial spaghetti sauce is often acid (low quality tomatoes) or rather bland. You can kick it up a bit with a splash of Soya Sauce and Worcestershire Sauce. If the sauce is acid tasting a half teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of brown sugar will fix that in a jiff.
Barbecue Sauce: How simple can it get? Mix prepared mustard, soya sauce, ketchup and worcestershire sauce in a bowl (experiment / play until you have a base taste you like). Add a ‘bam!’ of garlic powder and a couple shakes of salt and pepper and you are all set.
Easy Salad Dressing: To the old standard of 2/3 oil and 1/3 vinegar add a squirt of ketchup and one of prepared mustard. Add your favourite salad spice(s) like garlic, rosemary, oregano, fennel etc. and give the whole works a shake and you have almost instant salad dressing.
Quickest Salsa Dip I Know Of: To a half quart container of sour cream add three or four healthy tablespoons of salsa. Stir. Done!
Amazingly Simple Breakfast or Lunch Salad: I first saw this in the restaurant at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Dice up several slices of peeled watermelon and two or three beefsteak tomatoes. Mix in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 of vinegar. Chill in the fridge overnight and… serve for breakfast or lunch! Wonderful with kippers and I suppose pan-fried trout!
As James Barber once said “Good cooking is about what’s in the cupboard!”. Sometimes a little ingenuity will go a long way towards relieving humdrum meal syndrome!