Cutlet

Can’t decide whether you prefer spaghetti sauce or Alfredo sauce? With this double-sauced casserole, you get to enjoy both.

Try these citrus-flavored cutlets with sweet potatoes sprinkled with nutmeg. If you double the recipe except the pineapple slices, you’ll have enough turkey for Turkey Tortilla Soup (page 54), too.

I love making turkey cutlets, especially when I’m in a hurry, because they generally require very little trimming and cook exceptionally quickly. Whether you pan “fry” them or grill them, as I have done here, they take only a couple of minutes per side. After basic preparation, I always like to add a simple sauce. I could have thrown together another salsa suggestion here, but wanted to be a bit more creative with this one. And I’ve gone to upscale sandwich shops and cafés and ordered turkey sandwiches spread with cranberries and sweet mustard or mayonnaise, so I thought that might be a great place to start. I was very pleased very quickly, and I think you will be too.

Rarely do I shock myself with how great a made-over dish can taste. I’m pretty realistic. Apple pie is pretty much an impossibility if I want it to taste like traditional pie and be lower in fat and calories because of all of the butter. There really is no substitute for butter in a traditional pie crust. I thought this dish would be an impossibility as well. But when we pulled the chicken out of the oven the first time, everyone in my test kitchen was shocked at how fattening it tasted. We knew it would be good, but we had no idea it would actually be great, especially given how much quicker it is than the traditional version! Just be sure you don’t overcook the chicken. If you do, not only will the chicken be dry, the breading will fall off.

Make a Thanksgiving dinner, Southwestern style, any night of the year with this stuffing shortcut.

This one is good for B, L, D: brunches, lunches, or dinners.

This meal is a combo of two favorite preparations: francese and piccata. Francese are egg-battered cutlets or fillets, and piccata are simply flour-dredged or plain cutlets or fillets sautéed with lemon and wine. I was never good at making decisions, especially regarding dinner, so I made up this two-for-one dinner. Serve with wilted fresh spinach or green salad.

This dish is one buttery, delicious, edible ode to spring. (Also, the flavor is so sexy, it could bring on some serious birds-and-bees action!)

Adding bocconcini, bite-sized mozzarella balls, to the tomato-basil salad makes it a Caprese salad!

This is an even easier meal, perfect for one or two tired souls with still-active taste buds. John and I make this one a lot—and even more as we grow older. We’re getting a little slower, but our appetite and taste buds will clearly be the last to go! Sometimes, when we are really hungry, we serve a half-recipe of Aglio e Olio (page 121), garlic and oil pasta alongside.