Sharing Plate – Your Cooking Coach |

I love one pot meals. They are so simple and quick to make- I try to come up with them as much as possible. What is better than a one pot meal, you ask? Well, it would be the one for which I have all the ingredients at home- no need to go to the grocery store. I realize most people hate going to the market- I am not sure why.. I love going to the grocery store. I am at a food store, literally everyday. I love coming up with what to make in the morning and then I go shopping for all the ingredients. I sometimes get embarrassed about being seen at the store by the employees. They all recognize me and sometimes ask me (in a very nice way) why I am here every day??

Anyway, as I was saying, this dish was very easy to make. I always have chicken sausage and chopped spinach in the freezer. I also make a batch of tomato sauce every week or so- it is great to have around, especially when packing lunch for my daughter. I put all the ingredients together and baked it in the oven. It was a quick, delicious, one pot meal…
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Here is another delicious recipe for one of our favorite things to eat. I am afraid, I will be running out of ideas soon for making different kinds meatballs. I realize I can use different kinds of meats, etc but I do love using turkey meat as it is so healthy to eat, especially since I am trying to reduce the amounts of red meat I feed my family.

This particular one has a mixture of sundried tomatoes, garlic, pine nuts and basil. The mixture adds a delicious flavor to the meatballs as well as the sauce. The trick to soft meatballs is the panko breadcrumbs soaked in milk. The meatballs come out melting in the mouth. The sauce is made with fresh cherry tomatoes- super simple to make and the most delicious as well.

Overall, it is a fabulous meal to make. I also made a warm spinach salad and served red wine with dinner- yum!!
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I love making roast chicken for many reasons. One reason is the leftovers. I like coming up with something completely different with yesterdays leftovers.

In this case, I had about a cup of shredded chicken from the delicious roast chicken. I also always keep fresh tomato sauce in my fridge all the time. Once a week I buy fresh tomatoes and make a quick fresh sauce. I wanted to add some vegetables and noticed a zucchini in my fridge. I then remembered my daughter’s look every time I serve zucchini- so I decided to peel it, chop it and add it to the mix with some carrots- she noticed the carrots but not the zucchini. The chicken and tomato sauce mixture was delicious. I quickly boiled some pasta and we had a delicious, quick and healthy meal.
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Swiss chard is my new favorite greens to buy. For a very long time, I would walk by it in the super market and not think about it.

After I took part in a farmer’s market program sponsored by my daughter’s school- I found myself convincing kids to pick up the Swiss chard to take home. I did the same myself and forced myself to come up with recipes using this delicious green.

When I made this pasta with sausage and Swiss chard, my daughter asked me what the green was- I told her it is like spinach and served her a big portion. She loved it!

This dish is very simple with homemade tomato sauce and a pack of chicken sausages- both are a staple in my house. I had the pasta cooked in no time and again, this is a one pot meal- yay!!
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If I had to describe this dish in one word- yum comes to mind. I have mentioned before how I love this combination of flavors- especially in a pasta. I love, love broccoli rabe- it is one of my favorite vegetables.

The problem is my daughter and husband don’t care for it as much- the pasta dish I mean. They like pasta with red sauce and the one I normally make has no sauce. They don’t like it- but I love it.

This is a compromise since it has a fresh ricotta sauce. I was watching Rachel Ray and she made something similar- where she roasted the broccoli rabe and the garlic and mixed everything with ricotta. I thought it was a fantastic idea and decided to add sausage in there as well and make it a one pot meal. I made a special trip to Whole Foods and bought fresh ricotta- if you can do purchase it for this recipe. It makes a big difference in taste- a lot creamier and fresher.

The dish is super simple and quick to make- ideal for a weekday plus I got a thumbs up from the rest of the family!
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