Pizza Toast

For Weekday Supper, we always share meals that can be made quickly and without a lot of fuss.  But this week, we've sped things up even faster to share ways of getting food on the table in a flash!  Now, there are all sorts of ways to make lightning fast meals.

• use pre-cooked grains (that's what the weekend is for) for a stir-fry or salad
• slice/dice up leftover bits and bobs floating around in the fridge for quesadillas, pastas, or pizza toast
• cook angel hair pasta - it's so thin that it cooks in 2-3 minutes
• add a rotisserie chicken that you picked up on the way home from work to a salad that uses simply different lettuces, fruits and/or berries, and a simple vinaigrette
• pop a roast or chicken thighs into the slow cooker before you leave in the morning with simple sauce or seasoning that you can pour over.  Pile it onto crusty buns with your favorite condiments after you peel off your coat

Those are just a few options.  What are your tricks for getting a busy weekday supper on the meal in 15 minutes or less?

Cheesy Italian Sausage & Kale Quiche

Ah yes, how I adore the four basic food groups: Bread, booze, garlic, and CHEESE.  What's that?  Those are not the four basic food groups?  Oh yes, I forgot - there are five basic food groups.  How 'bout I add fish?  Yes, that sounds much more complete.

Today's Sunday Supper menu is focusing on one of those basic food groups.  Maybe my favorite one of them all.  Well, next to bread.  Bread and CHEESE are equal in my book.  Heck bread with cheese is pretty much what I call bliss.  Anyway.  Cheese  makes everything better.

Take for example, this already stellar quiche.  It's a glorious meal; slightly spicy sausage, ribbons of kale, and piles of paper-thin shallots - all resting in a thin, crispy phyllo shell.  Sounds pretty amazing right?  How in the world could it possibly get any better?

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Some meals taste even better the day after they are made.  Many soups, stews and chilis benefit from that overnight soak; they thicken up, and the flavors have time to develop.  The same holds true for many bean and lentil dishes.  I've even heard arguments for day-after pizza.  But my absolute favorite dish to eat the day after it is made (aside from Thanksgiving leftovers) is meatloaf.  Heck, I've been known to make a meatloaf for the sole purpose of having Meatloaf Sandwiches the next day.

The thing about meatloaf is, people seem to love it or loathe it.  I, for one, fall into the love category.  It's another one of those dishes that I grew up on, and a bite of good, homemade meatloaf never fails to put me at ease...bring me comfort.  Which is going to make it seem odd when I tell you that I have never once made the same meatloaf twice in my life.  I've never had a recipe for meatloaf.  It's one of those things that you can do that with, though.  I do prefer to use a half beef, half pork mixture.  The binder always seems to vary - sometimes I use crushed crackers, sometimes fresh bread crumbs soaked in milk, sometimes dry bread crumbs; I've even used rice and oatmeal.  Sometimes I shred veggies into it.  I often vary the glaze.  I've even studded it with cheese, or wrapped hard-boiled eggs into the middle.  I like it all!

Crunchy Ramen Salad - 3 ways

"Variation 1 - Collin Kronke's recipe"

If you dropped by for #SundaySupper this past weekend, you'll have noticed that we are teaming up with American Family Insurance this week for their Back to Table Campaign.  I'm so happy to be sharing another post in this effort!  And actually, it's a pretty fun post.  Why, you ask?  Well, because to go along with the Back to the Table Campaign, AmFam employees have been gracious enough to share some of their own family's favorite recipes - and then setting some of the Sunday Supper members loose with them!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on a recipe, and after much consideration, this is the one I chose.  This "Crunchy Asian Salad" that was submitted by Collin Kromke ("...we love the sweetness and crunchiness") grabbed my attention right away, because my grandma used to make a similar version.  I grabbed the recipe from her as soon as we were done eating it for the first time.  It definitely called for a throw-down type of situation.  So, that's what I made it.

And then I took it one step further and made my very own hybrid.  And I came up with a Crunchy Ramen Salad.  Which variation do you think that you'd gravitate towards?

Green Chile Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Aren't memories an odd beast?  Some are crystal clear, while others get lost in a fog of time.  And sometimes the memories that you're trying most desperately to recall are the hardest to shake the haze.  That's pretty much where this dish comes from.  The haze.  A tinkling sound that I'm trying sightlessly to locate.

So yes, when I was a kid...a teenager, probably...my mom made this dish that was absolutely out-of-this-world.  But she didn't make it that often.  It was, for all intents and purposes, a tortilla casserole.  I remember it having green chiles in it.  And I remember wishing that she would make it more often.  But it just sort of faded away.

Oh-So-Easy Pie Crust

*Update 9/7/11: See an updated version of this pie crust HERE (better photos...promise)

When I first knew that I really loved to cook, one of the first things I learned to make was pie crust. I wanted to make the pies to contribute to Thanksgiving dinner. This recipe for pie crust has never gone wrong for me. It's super easy and works every time. This crust is pretty basic and will work for most pies. It ends up being super-flaky and tender when you take a bite.

 I may post some other types of crust in the future, but this is my good 'ole standby!