I think everyone has that handful of tried-and-true dinner recipes that are always crowd-pleasers and are always at the ready to be made in a hurry when life gets crazy. Maybe it’s something that you always have the ingredients for in your pantry. Maybe it’s something that comes together quickly. Maybe it’s something that everyone in your family always loves. Whatever it is, we seem to all rely on a small repertoire of specific dishes.
It may not seem like it because I post a pretty big variety of recipes, but I have those go-to recipes, too—and we eat them a lot. I thought it might be fun to pull back the curtain of fancied-up recipes and tell you guys about my everyday dishes that seem to be made in our kitchen on a regular basis.
Hash.
I’m under the belief that you can pretty much put anything in a bowl with a runny egg over it and it will be delicious. Hash is no exception. Typically, hash is some combo of potatoes, meat and veggies sautéed together. We hardly ever have the same hash combo twice, but our standard mixture is bacon, potatoes or sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, sweet peppers, and some sort of green. It’s a delicious way to use up veggies and a great quick and easy breakfast, lunch or dinner. I’m only a little ashamed to admit that we eat hash at least two or three times a week. Never made hash before? I have a bacon and egg hash recipe that’s a good starting point.
Shrimp and Grits.
My husband is from the Great White North had never really had grits before he met me, but I schooled him quickly on the joy of creamy, cheesy grits. We almost always have frozen shrimp stashed in the freezer so shrimp and grits comes together in a flash for us. If we happen to be out of shrimp, we’ll sometimes put other toppers on the grits. Roasted Brussels sprouts and onions are killer! Grits are definitely a pantry staple for us.
Carbonara.
Are you noticing a theme with our favorites? Bacon and garlic! Between those two items, you can add so much flavor to any dish in a flash.We always make sure to have bacon and garlic on hand. And carbonara is maybe the simplest showcase of the joy of bacon and garlic. Carbonara comes together in less than 15 minutes. I’ll work on the pasta while Craig makes us a side salad and before you know it, we’ve got a nice, well-rounded dinner. The leftovers are also delicious!
Penne Rosa.
Another pasta recipe, but we love Penne Rosa because it’s a really well-rounded one-bowl dinner. You get whole grains, veggies, greens and healthy fats and protein from the Greek yogurt. My original recipe calls for shrimp, but we actually skip the shrimp and leave it as a vegetarian dish most times. It’s the prefect Meatless Monday dish! No one wants to spend hours in the kitchen on Monday evening, and this recipe comes together in about 15 minutes. We eat this guy a few times a month.
What are you go-to dinners?
