Too tired to cook meals.

Sometimes, when you come to the end of the week, or maybe the end of the month, you feel that you've had it with cooking and preparing menus. You just want to have a salad, or even crunch a couple of cucumbers or a tomato and be done with it. But you know that a salad doesn't cut it for your family. They expect you to come up with something good to eat. And of course if you ask them what do you want to eat, each one will give you an elaborate menu or, what is even worse, they will simply tell you "anything you like".

So, for these days I found the perfect solution. You can make a satisfying meal with what you have in the kitchen. For these days you can forgo meat or chicken and make a meal out of your pantry. It will also be a good way to cut back on fats, especially if you consume a lot of red mead during the week.

It is very easy, you don't even need a recipe, but I'll give you some guidelines and you can use them as a template on which you can build up complete dishes with what you have at home.

PASTA WITH VEGETABLES AND CHEESE

                                       

This is a very broad title, and I chose it on purpose. Building on the principle of "pasta primavera", you can cook an inifinte number of dishes that need practically no preparation time, they only need the 10 minutes to cook the pasta. And while the pasta cooks, you just have to chop some vegetables and you're done. These dishes can go from a simple "warm salad"(see note) as I like to call them, meaning a pasta tossed with some vegetables and olive oil, to a more elaborate pasta dish. But don't be scared, by elaborate I only mean that you'll take a couple of extra steps to finish the dish. To make sure that I have the right amount of pasta, especially that I usually keep my pasta loose in jars, I use one handful per person, plus one extra handful. For this particular dish you'll need, for 3 servings:

3 portions of farfalle (bow tie pasta)

2 handfuls of baby carrots (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 cups of asparagus cut in 3/4 inch pieces

1 green zucchini

2 cups cherry tomatoes halved

2 cups of cubed queso blanco, or ricotta salata (the size of a dice)

3 garlic cloves, smashed and thinly chopped

A drop of olive oil

Start by cooking the pasta in boiling water, while you chop the veggies. Slice the baby carrots in half then in quarters. They are already as long as the farfalle, so we are just trying to make them thinner so they can cook  in the same time. Chop the asparagus spears the same lenght as the pasta. Cut the zucchini lenghtwise in half. Cut each half in 4, then each segment in 3 or 4 strips depending on how thick the zucchini is. The idea is to have all the veggies the same size as the pasta. When the pasta has been cooking for a couple of minutes, add the carrots. Then 3 or 4 minutes later, add the asparagus. While the pasta is in its last minute of cooking, in a nonstick skillet, heat a drop, not even a tsp, of olive oil. Add the garlic, stir for a minute, then add the zucchini. Stir, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the tomatoes. Stir and cook until the tomatoes are just tender. Add the cheese and remove from the heat. Drain the pasta with the vegetables and add them to the skillet. Toss and sprinkle with some fresh ground black pepper.

NOTE: You can make the same dish by using different kinds of pasta (fusilli, penne, etc.) and different vegetables: green beans, peas, whatever you have at home. Just make sure that you cut everything the same size. You can also use any cheese you like. If you want to make it simpler, just toss the pasta and veggies with a drop of olive oil, spinkle some cheese and ground black pepper and toss.

MACARONI AND CHEESE WITH EXTRA CARE

                                      

This is also a very simple dish that you can whip up in minutes and will get you excellent results. It's basically my recipe for macaroni and cheese, with an extra added ingredient: browned ground beef. I usually keep some browned ground beef in my fridge. I use it to cook vegetables, I add it to tomato sauce for pasta topping, or even in an omelet. If you don't have it at hand, it's very easy to make: just add some chopped onion and garlic to the ground meat, season with salt and pepper and cook  it in a nonstick skillet until it is browned and all its liquid is absorbed. You don't need a recipe or quantities for that. It all depends on how much you like onions in your meat, you can put more or less depending on your taste. You simply have to keep stirring frequently so that the meat doesn't clump together. Apply the same principle of the handful to measure the pasta. You'll need for 3 to 4 servings:

Small pasta, I use elbows

2 cups skim milk

3 tbsp flour

1 1/2 to 2 cups ground beef, browned

1 to 2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste, plus some extra fresh ground pepper

Start by cooking the pasta in boiling water. In the mean time, dissolve the flour in the milk, then transfer it to a nonstick skillet. Cook it on medium heat stirring frequently until it thickens and you get a white sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese, and then the meat. Check the seasoning. Drain the pasta and pour it in the skillet. Toss, sprinkle with black pepper and serve with a side of mixed salad.

Extra light Oriental classics.

Once again we're making a classic meal tweaked to be extra light. It has to be tweaked, mainly because it involves duck. I never ate duck before I got married, they used to make it at home, but I never liked it. I considered it very fat meat, a no no since my childhood. But for my husband it's something he grew up eating regularly. His family raised ducks along with many other farm animals, so duck was something very common in his family diet. The basic recipe for cooking poultry in Egypt is to boil the bird first to make stock, then brown it in some butter. You can now understand my dilemma concerning duck!! Have you ever seen how much fat it has under the skin? and in its cavity? It's almost 1/2 inch thick on the breast alone!

The first time I had a whole duck in my hands I was literally horrified: what was I going to do with all this fat? How can I cook the duck without all the fat? A friend told me that after I make the stock, I can freeze it and then remove the fat on the top. But that's not enough. What about the fat that is still on the bird? No way.

So, I tried first to roast the duck, of course on a rack, to keep the bird away from the dripping fat. Still, it wasn't lean enough. Then I saw on TV a chef saying that you can hang the duck over a pot of boiling water and keep ladleling this boiling water over the bird so that it can melt the fat and drip it into the pot. Easier said than done. I've tried it, but the only result I got was a "duck facial" for me, after leaning for so long over the boiling pot. The fat was still there, on the breast, on the thighs, everywhere.

What can I do? I decided to be bold and remove the fat: the huge pieces in the cavity are the easiest to remove, then came the skin. The first time I did it, I have to confess, it was rather difficult, now I'm an expert in skinning ducks. Of course my husband objected vehemently to the idea, but I did it anyway. If he wants traditional duck, he'll have it my way.

DUCK IN CLEAR STOCK

                                                

This is the basic recipe for poultry, actually for cooking all kinds of meat. Probably it's useful to have stock from the meat you've got, so you can use it to flavor other dishes, after you've eaten the meat. It's economical too. I don't use it as often as they used to do back then, but for duck, I can make an exception. You'll need:

1 whole duck

1 medium onion

1 tbsp celery salt

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

3 crystals of mastic (sold in Middle Eastern  stores, they look like small drops of amber)

Salt and pepper

1tbsp butter or cooking spray, optional

The first thing to do is to skin the duck and remove the fat from its cavity. This part is easy, just pull the fat with your hand and it will come out with no effort. Then, with a sharp knife (use a small one if you are not comfortable handling an 8 inch cook knife, we don't want you to get hurt) make a shallow incision along the breast bone. Pull the skin away from the bone, and with the knife separate the skin from the meat. You'll be surprised to see how easy it is to do. When you get to the shoulders, remove the skin as if it is a jacket, and continue with the thighs up to the tip of the legs. If you find any resistance, just use your kitchen scissors and cut the skin you have peeled off and continue. Choose a pot large enough to hold the duck, fill it with water and add the duck to it. Bring it to a boil over high heat, and let it boil for a while until all the dark foam that came to the surface stops coming up. Remove from the heat, drain the pot, rinse the duck, clean the pot and fill it again with water. Add the duck and return it to the stove. Let it boil while you peel the onion. Add the onion (whole), the ground cardamom, the mastic crystals (don't put too much or you'll risk having a very bitter stock), the celery salt, plus salt and pepper. Let cook until the duck is tender. Remove the bird from the pot and the onion (my mother loves it). Now you have two choices: you can serve it as is, or you can melt the butter in a nonstick skillet and brown the duck in it. You can do it whole or quartered. Today I didn't do that.

NOTE: You can use cooking spray instead of butter, I've tried it and it is equally good.
            
COUSCOUS WITH VEGETABLES

Now that we have our duck and the stock, what are we going to serve it with? I thought of this delicious dish that my husband is used to have with duck. His mother used to make couscous from scratch, and serve it just with the stock. I, on the other hand, use the couscous that comes in a box, and trust me it is really good. I make it plain, with no fat added, no salt added, simply because my husband likes to eat the leftover couscous with sugar as dessert. As you may know, couscous is a kind of pasta, so it's very acceptable to boil it just like pasta and then add to it the flavorings you want. I like to have couscous Moroccan style, with vegetables, never with sugar. So that's what we're going to cook today. You'll need:

2 cups couscous

2 carrots

1 zucchini

2 medium turnips

4 celery stalks

1/2 medium onion

1 can (15.5 oz) each chick peas and cannellini beans

1/2 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

1 tsp olive oil

4 cups stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the couscous according to package directions, or do as I did: I only boiled the amount of water needed, added the grains, removed from heat and covered the pot. I then fluffed the couscous with a fork, covered it again and let it continue cooking off the heat.

Finely dice the onion, chop the celery, cube the carrots and zucchini. Try to make them the same size. Peel the turnips and dice them a little bigger than the other vegetables. Boil them separately. I opted for this method because I was not sure of how long they needed to cook, and if they will be bitter. It turned out that they cook very quickly and they are sweet. So if you want to add them directly to your pot, you can do that after your other vegetables have been cooking for a while.

In a 4 or 5 qt pot, cook the onion in the tsp of oil until translucent. Add the celery, stir for a minute or two, then add the carrots. Stir and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the tomato sauce, stir and then add 2 cups of stock. Bring to a boil uncovered. Add the zucchini. Drain and rinse and drain the cannellini and the chick peas. Keep cooking uncovered, this will help the vegetables keep their vibrant colors. When the vegetables are tender, add the turnips. (If you didn't cook them separately, add them with the beans). You can add stock as needed during the process. It should not be very soupy. Serve with the couscous.

TIP: You can make this dish completely vegetarian by omitting the stock and using only water or adding 2 or 3 cubes of vegetable stock. Adjust the seasoning according to the ingredients you'll use.