Dinner for two in under 30 minutes!
As the mother of two young boys (6 years and 4 months), and the wife of a man who truly loathes doing the dishes, cooking dinner in one pot has major advantages. I love stews and braises, which can often be cooked in a single dutch oven, but these days I'm usually pulling dinner together after the babes are sleeping, so the quicker I can cook something, the better. I've been using my cast-iron skillet a lot to make quick sautés--it's ideal for anything from vegetables to chops to seafood. Last night I made this scallop-Swiss chard-potato dish; it was inspired from what I happened to have on hand. Scallops can be a little pricey, but half a pound was perfect for two people, and the other ingredients were very inexpensive. Any seafood or meat would work here, smaller pieces will cook faster. The only fussy part was cutting the potatoes thin enough to cook quickly, and as it turned out I could have left them in bigger pieces and they absolutely would have cooked through. I checked the clock when I got the ingredients out of the fridge, and cut down on time by trimming and washing the chard while the potatoes were cooking. The whole thing took exactly 25 minutes! Not bad for a weeknight dinner.
1 I used 5 ingredients: potatoes, scallops, Swiss chard, ginger, and olive oil. Plus salt and pepper!
2 The potatoes went in first, with olive oil.
3 I browned the scallops after the potatoes were tender and browned.
4 The potatoes and scallops came out, and the ginger went in.
5 Then the Swiss chard; you could use any leafy green, or even string beans or snap peas in this step.
6 Dinner!
From: Ruby | 1/15/10 at 1:33 pm
Thanks for a great blog showing how easy it can be to get dinner on the table FAST.
I often find myself cooking recipes that say they will take 30 minutes, but by the time I finish prepping the vegetables, cutting up the meat and doing the actual cooking, an hour has passed. I like the way you had pictures of the steps; it makes me think I could do this one in 30 minutes.
From: AmandaB | 1/15/10 at 4:35 pm
Just curious what your 6 year old ended up eating, I have a 5 year old and a 5 month old as well! I love these kinds of dishes, but getting my child to eat scallops would be a serious stretch. Not sure if this is the appropriate venue, but I'd love it if Everyday Food would give more family friendly dishes for busy families. If I made this dish I could probably toss the chard, ginger and potatoes with tortellini for my son to eat. I love this blog, by the way, I check it every day!
From: Liliana | 1/18/10 at 3:57 pm
This dish looks so easy and delicious – and healthy! I am making it tonight. Thank you.
From: Carla Lalli Music | 1/19/10 at 11:37 am
Hi there. I have to admit, my 6-year-old was sleeping when I made this for my husband and me; often we get the kiddies to bed and then eat dinner together--this night it was 9pm! However, my 6-year-old is a good eater and does enjoy scallops, as long as they are nicely browned. They are naturally sweet, and he likes the texture. He wouldn't touch Swiss chard, though. I would serve it to him anyway, and he might venture a taste. Good to hear your older boy would try the greens with pasta. Thanks for letting us know what you would like to see us address in the magazine; publishing family-friendly dinners is definitely part of our mission.
From: Chelsea | 3/2/10 at 6:47 pm
I just made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. I adjusted the recipe for one and I was happy to have a healthy, tasty dinner ready in about 15 minutes.
From: nina | 6/22/10 at 11:11 pm
your husband is a lucky man!!