My Slack at work has a "cooking" channel and it reminded me that I have never posted my kale salad recipe, as I recently promised on Twitter. I also put out a call for recipes that organizers can make during GOTV and found that they landed in about 5 categories; salads, crock pot recipes, pasts with stuff in it sheet pan dinners, and hotdish/casserole. I got a lot of great suggestions and invite you to check out my Twitter feed for some of them, but because I am in the best position to recommend things I've tried before I am sharing my-go to recipes in each category .
I want to be clear, these recipes are for this particular moment. I'm not suggesting these can be made in a campaign office kitchen. I am assuming you are working from home so have access to a kitchen but maybe not a ton of time. The recipes I suggest below are among my go-to's. In order to qualify for this post a recipe had to 1) contain ingredients that can be found at almost any grocery store (or suggest a substitution) 2) be relatively healthy 3) be a complete meal in one dish and 4) do not require precise measurements and 5) take less than 20 minutes of active prep time. The aim here is simplicity- if I had to look up cooking time or ingredients it didn't make the cut.
Try them and let me know what you think! From my kitchen to yours, campaign love and mine.
Filling Salads
No shame in the bagged salad game. Especially when you dress it up with fresh tomatoes and grilled chicken. My recipe below is my favorite thing to make and eat and I often offer it at the end of a training because its as much value add as anything I have to say.
Kale Salad (inspired by the Lincoln in DC)
The secret to a good kale salad is that you have to massage the dressing into the greens. Do not skip this step!
Rip the leaves off a head of kale and place into a large bowl. Massage lemon juice and olive oil to taste into the kale. Warm about 3/4 cup of pine nuts in the microwave or toast them on the lowest setting. If you can't find pine nuts, crushed hazelnuts (as I used above_ or walnuts work as well. Dump about a half a cup of grated parmesan (def buy pre-grated, refrigerated) and about half a cup of dried unsweetened cranberries (you can substitute raisins) in the salad. Add your nuts once cooled. Mix and enjoy!
Crock Pot
Mushroom Barley Soup
Slice an onion and carrot and add 16oz of presliced mushrooms to a skillet and saute in butter. Add to a crockpot along with with 6 cups of chicken broth, 1 cup of pearl barley. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on low for 6 hrs.
Pasta and stuff
There were a lot of recipes that were like "make pasta and add stuff." This is adapted off a recipe from New York Times and I promise my version is better. It includes anchovies, which I think breaks my fancy ingredients rules, but you could substitute capers or briny olives if you can't get anchovies, don't care for them, or are a vegetarian.
Better Midnight Pasta
Cook some linguine or whatever pasta you like. While that's happening, defrost some frozen peas in the microwave and chop some grape tomatoes in half. Chop up a tin of anchovies. Toast some bread crumbs in a toaster or on the stove. Drain cooked pasta and let cool for a minute. Add vegetables, anchovies and olive oil, lemon juice and parmesan to your desired level of sauciness. Top with breadcrumbs and another squeeze of lemon juice if desired.
Sheet Pan Dinners
I like my salmon on the rare side but if you don't you will either want to leave yours in longer or up the temperature.
Teriyaki Salmon and Broccoli
Heat an oven to 375. Cover one salmon filet and bag of broccoli crowns from the store in store bought teriyaki sauce
Hotdish
Y'all didn't think I had lived in Minnesota this long without hotdish (extremely similar but ineffably distinct from casserole) coming to mind as a quick dinner staple did you? The following is a variation on my husband's favorite recipe growing up "Hall's Chicken" which after hearing about it 60 or so times I requested from his mother. In this version I add tater tots to make it more substantial and a true hotdish. While probably the least healthy combination on this list it is filling, keeps well in the fridge and pleases pretty much every crowd.
Hall's Chicken Hotdish
Preheat oven to 350
Cook about a 1lb package of boneless skinless chicken breast cut up into bite size chunks on the stove in some olive oil. Follow by cooking about an 8oz package of pre-sliced mushrooms.
While the chicken and mushrooms are cooking, mix a jar of salsa, a medium container of sour cream, and a can of cream of mushroom soup in a casserole dish.
Mix the mushrooms and chicken in the salsa mixture. Cover the top with frozen tater tots and then top with a bag shredded cheddar and a can of sliced green olives. Bake for 45 mins. Top with sliced green onions if desired.
Let me know if you try these!
Campaign Love and Mine,
Nancy
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