One-Pot Meals

Creamy polenta provides a wonderful counterpoint to this hearty stew. To time everything right, bring the water to a boil while the chicken is browning, then add the polenta to the water when beginning step three of the chicken recipe.

Curries can be quite mild or extremely spicy. It all depends on the type of curry powder that is used to make them—and how much is added. Feel free to adjust the recipe according to your own taste.

You can replace the zucchini with other vegetables, such as eggplant or bell peppers. Turmeric, which is related to ginger, is what gives curries and prepared mustard their distinctive yellow color. Look for it in the supermarket’s spice aisle.

Serving a sandwich for dinner can make even the busiest day feel less complicated. Start with a mixed-green salad, and try Parmesan Steak Fries (page 83) on the side.

This recipe is based on a Mexican dish created to use up leftovers. For an authentic touch, use fresh Mexican cheese (queso fresco) or aged (queso añejo) in place of feta. Look for both in specialty food stores and Mexican markets.

Look for hoisin sauce and rice vinegar in the Asian foods section of your supermarket. Although ingredients vary, hoisin is generally made with soybeans, chiles, and spices. It’s used as a seasoning at the table and in cooking.

To serve this Mexican mainstay, ladle the hot soup into bowls, and then let everyone pick and choose from among the suggested garnishes.

In my family, I’m the sloppy joe guru. I stand there for a ridiculously long time adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that, getting the taste just right. Needless to say, I was skeptical about a veggie version. What are sloppy joes without the beef? Well, I can tell you with confidence that they are amazing. In fact, no one even realizes that they don’t have meat in them.

This version of vegetarian chili uses textured vegetable protein as a substitute for the ground beef. Although it looks a little like granola in its dry form, it absorbs the flavor of whatever you put in the dish, so in the end even meat eaters don’t realize it’s not really beef.

This soup is perfect for a chilly autumn night, when you just want to wrap yourself in a warm blanket and watch television. It is as easy as cutting up the vegetables and waiting for them to cook. And the best part is, because the vegetables get puréed in the end, it doesn’t matter how big or small or funny shaped they are. But do be careful not to put too much in the blender at a time, unless you’re trying to redecorate your kitchen.

No one can deny the comfort food factor associated with a steaming hot pot pie with its crispy crust and delicious sauce. Even if your mom never actually made one for you from scratch, at least she probably bought you frozen ones on occasion. Our version is made with lots of vegetables, and it’s a treat for meat eaters and vegetarians alike.

I know what you’re thinking: “Aren’t tortillas those Mexican things that you make quesadillas out of?” Well, yes and no. In Spain, tortilla is an eggy dish a lot like an omelet or a frittata. When I was in Spain, my friend took me out for tapas (Spanish hors d’oeuvres) and one was tortilla. That one was gigantic—really thick, made in big round pans, and sliced for individual servings. Here is a smaller version, but it’s just as delicious. It can be served warm or at room temperature.

Soup is great because you can make a lot when you have time and freeze it in smaller portions so that you always have a quick home-cooked meal on hand. You can even take the frozen soup with you if you have access to a microwave to reheat it. Plus, it is chock-full of vegetables and pretty low in calories.

Eggs are always a good choice when you’re on a tight budget. They are loaded with protein, you can make them a million different ways, and they taste great. I think that’s the food trifecta. If the idea of making an omelet on the stovetop intimidates you, this one is the perfect solution—just put the pan in the oven, no flipping or folding required.

I love all pesto, but when it’s homemade you absolutely can’t beat it. It’s so fresh and delicious that you really don’t need to mess with it. This pasta is fabulous hot, but—bonus—it’s also great cold. So you can have it for dinner one night and then take the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Who doesn’t like lentil soup? This soup is as easy as cutting up a few vegetables and putting them in the pot. The hard part—if you’re hungry—is waiting for it to cook. This is great on a cold fall day when you need a little something to warm you up. It reheats really well, and you can even freeze it if you have any extra.

In our family, this dish is usually made with chicken. Then Megan started trying to convince us that tofu was actually good. I tried it reluctantly, and I was kind of surprised to find that the tofu wasn’t bad (shocking, I know). So even though I’m not a true tofu believer, this is pretty good, especially if you use baked tofu, which holds together when you cut it up much better than regular tofu does.

Here is the Vietnamese version of the familiar Chinese egg drop soup. At its heart is a base of onion and tomato, which is cooked down to concentrate flavors and impart a lovely color. The pork adds richness, and so do the eggs, which also contribute a creamy finish to round out the tangy notes. This soup was a weekly standard at our family dinner table, and my mom would sometimes substitute tofu cubes for the pork to vary the flavor. When I have extra time, I mince the pork by hand for an authentic touch. For instructions on how to do it, see page 69.

This stew is so popular that practically every Viet cook has his or her own version. I have read recipes that call for curry powder, annatto seeds, tomato paste, and beer. But this is how my mother learned to make bò kho decades ago. Although in Vietnam it is traditionally eaten for breakfast, here in the States it has become lunch or dinner fare in the Vietnamese American community. It may be served in shallow bowls with warm French bread for sopping up the flavorful sauce, or it may be spooned over rice or wide rice noodles (bánh pho). The addition of chopped Vietnamese coriander or Thai basil leaves is something that my parents picked up when we lived in Saigon. Also, despite the name, this is not a kho dish. Here, kho means “to simmer” or “to stew.” No caramel sauce is involved. Traditionalists like to use the boneless beef shank sold at Chinese and Viet markets for this dish, which they cook for hours to yield a chewy-tender result. Once in the States, my family switched to beef chuck, which is flavorful, suited to long cooking, and more readily available.

Most people are introduced to galangal, a relative of ginger, by way of Thai curries and seafood soups. The rhizome is seldom used in Vietnamese cooking, but when it is, it is paired with other bold-flavored ingredients. Here, its pungent heat brightens a northern fish kho, with the bittersweet caramel sauce tempering its fire. Use the smaller amount of galangal if you want a dish with less intensity. Although salmon isn’t native to Vietnam, it takes on the robust flavors of the kho remarkably well. Fresh side pork (pork belly), which you can find at Asian markets, is the stealth ingredient here, enrobing everything with its richness to create a unique surf-and-turf combination. The result is spicy, savory, and a touch sweet.