In the kitchen with Henny: One-dish dinners

Make life easier and have more time to enjoy your food without all the fuss by putting everything into one pan or pot and having all the elements of a great dinner without lots of work. I love the “prepare it all and just stick it in the oven when I get home” method that also works so well with crockpot dinners, where all the ingredients are put together before you go to work, and you can almost smell the amazingness in your kitchen from your office. The best part is knowing that when you get home, the only thing left is to do is grab a plate and a fork. 

It’s a meat-and-potatoes thing. Shepherd’s pie is a delicious comfort food that hits the spot every time. I took the challenge of making it in a crockpot instead of the time-consuming traditional way. This took less than a quarter of the time, and the flavors were enhanced by being released slowly over a longer time.

From all my Facebook recipe posts, this one went the most viral and is still getting shared and tagged months later. I hope you enjoy the simplicity of making this and the scrumptious compliments you’ll be receiving.

Makes 4-6 servings – use a 5-6 liter crockpot.

1 kg. of ground beef (about 2 lb.)

6-8 potatoes

¼ cup oil + 2 Tbsp. 

3 onions diced

4-6 cloves of garlic peeled

2 tsp. salt

Dash of pepper 

Feel free to add spices that you enjoy and season to your taste.

In a frying pan, heat the ¼ cup of oil. Then add the onions to sauté until translucent. Then add the garlic cloves and sauté for about another minute and shut off the flame. 

Thinly slice the potatoes or use the slicing blade on the food processor to scallop the potatoes. Add the salt and pepper to the sliced potatoes and mix well.

Pour 2 Tbsp. of oil into your crockpot and turn it to low. 

Here is how to assemble the ingredients in the crockpot:

– Half the potatoes

– Then a third of the onions

– Add all of the ground beef and break it up so it isn’t clumpy

– Some more onions

– The remainder of sliced potatoes

– Top it off with the last bit of onions.

Keep the crockpot covered and let it cook for 6-8 hours on a low temperature.

 

One of the favorite dinners in our home is the one-pan chicken and potatoes. For me the reasons are obvious: one pan, three minutes of prep, two hours to cook, and gets eaten up pretty quickly too. What I also love about this recipe is that I can prepare it all the night before and leave it covered in the fridge, so when the first person gets home the next day they just need to uncover it and pop it in the oven.

Makes 4-6 servings.

1 whole chicken or 4-6 pieces of bone-in chicken

4-6 potatoes

1-2 cups peas and carrots

½ cup water

1 tsp. kosher salt

3-4 Tbsp. apricot (or strawberry) jam

1 Tbsp. seasoning of your choice or combo, such as garlic, onion, turmeric, pepper

Cut the potatoes into cubes, with or without peel, and layer them in a glass baking dish (a disposable pan can work too). You can use frozen, canned or fresh peas and carrots and spread them over the potatoes, add the water and sprinkle on the kosher salt and mix it all in the pan. Add the chicken and then spread the jam on top along with your seasoning. Cover very loosely with foil and bake for 2 hours, then remove cover and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Variations 

In a crockpot: Follow the above directions but add 2 cups of water and let cook on low for 6-8 hours

With rice: Use 1½ cups of rice instead of potatoes plus 2½ cups of water

 

 

Tuesday in our home is “dairy dinner day” (say that five times fast!) My husband loves ziti with penne pasta, so I boil the noodles and then strain, then layer, then bake… you know the drill. But a few weeks ago I was on the phone with my mother in New York while I was doing my evening dishes. (This is how my mom helps with the dishes, we talk and I wash.) 

She told me that she made a one-pan ziti without boiling the noodles first and it came out amazing. I was like, “What? I can save 20 minutes every Tuesday and have one less pot to wash?” So for all you who are still boiling noodles, I am here to change your life! 

Makes 9” x 13” pan, serves 6

500 gr. – about 5 cups – of uncooked penne pasta

One jar tomato sauce – 750 grams, 26 oz. about 3¼ cups

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. salt

2½-3 cups of water

Feel free to add a bit of dry oregano, basil or crushed red pepper to your liking.

Preheat the oven to 170C/350F.

Place the pasta on the pan, then add the tomato sauce, 1½ cups of cheese (save the rest for the top), salt, seasonings of your choice and mix well. Add the water (use more for creamier texture and less for more al dente). Sprinkle the remainder of cheese on top and then cover first with baking paper and then foil. Bake for 90 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10 minutes to make it crispy.

Why in a crockpot, you ask? Well, first of all this is all about one-pot dinners. But what about dessert? Isn’t that the reason we eat dinner in the first place? Besides, I really wanted to see how this would come out, and I LOVE kitchen challenges!

I think this is perfect for when you are using the oven to make dinner and you want warm fresh cookies for dessert without having to interrupt your meal to make them. Or let’s say you’ve got dinner guests and you’d rather spend time with them than be busy making sure the cookies are warm and perfectly done just in time for dessert. 

As one of my clients said to me after being inspired to make a crockpot dinner, “It was like having a personal chef.”

I challenge you to make your life easier with a one-pot dinner and dessert.

Here’s my easy chocolate chip cookie recipe for your crockpot.

Makes a crockpot-sized cookie, serves 8.

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup oil

1½ cup flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ cup chocolate chips

In a bowl, mix the egg, vanilla, sugars and oil with a spoon or rubber spatula. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Line the crockpot with baking paper and spread the cookie dough on the bottom. Bake for 1½ hours on the low setting then shut off and keep it in the crockpot until you are ready to serve. Then remove the large cookie by lifting it up by the baking paper, cut the large cookie into slices and top it with whipped cream or ice cream.