One-Dish Meals

With spring and the summer months rapidly approaching, sometimes spending a lot of time in the kitchen making dinner and cleaning up the mess is the last thing we want to do. However, one-pot, skillet, or sheet pan meals might make this task fast, easy, and clean up a breeze. Many meals that we eat might already fit within the category of one-dish meals from soups and stews, one-pot casserole, crockpot or Insta pot dinners, skillet meals, and any dish that is made using only one-pot, pan, skillet, you get the picture.

Have you been thinking about trying a sheet pan meal that can quickly be cooked in your oven? Here are some tips and tricks from Sara Waldman (2016) in the Knowledge @ Noon “Sheet Pan Dinners” booklet as part of the Maris des Cygnes Extension District Master Food Volunteers with Kansas State Extension.

1. When selecting vegetables, try to pick ones that will cook at the same rate to help over or undercooking of vegetables, such as potatoes and beets together and mushrooms with asparagus. If you choose to intermix your vegetables (ones that will cook faster than others), try cooking the ones that will take longer, first adding the ones that take less time later in the cooking process.

2. Line your sheet pans for easy clean up with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

3. Try adding herbs and spices to your sheet pan dinners or anything that sounds good to you for flavor.

4. You can even marinate your selected meat before baking. Many proteins do best when they are marinated for a minimum of an hour and some overnight.

5. If worried about your sheet pan dinner, try adding a sauce to help finish the dish. Maybe a pesto, salsa, etc., is just what you need to add some flavor or texture to your dinner.

6. Try assembling the whole sheet pan meal ahead of time, covering, and refrigerating until ready to slide in your hot oven for extra busy nights.

With so many one-dish options out there, why not try something new? Make a one-pot pasta dish, sheet pan fajitas, or skillet chicken potpie. There are so many options that you can incorporate into your busy weeknight or weekend dinner or lunch meals. Make extra and use for additional meals throughout the week or freeze (in proper freezer containers) for later.

Are you looking for some great one-pan or one-pot recipes? Check out the Richland County Nutrition Coalition Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/1rcnc1, and the Pinterest page at http://www.pinterest.com/1rcnc1 for more information regarding this topic throughout the month of April.