New comfort-food dish is a quick skillet supper

This recipe was just so fun. For long years we’ve loved chicken-dressing casserole as the ultimate in comfort food. Then I found this derivation: Chicken-and-Cornbread Dressing, featured in Southern Living’s One-Dish Dinner segment—the same group of recipes from which that marvelous Skillet Chicken Pot Pie (a few blogs ago) sprang.

Chicken-and-Cornbread Dressing was intended to be an all-in-one skillet (cast-iron or otherwise) supper. The self-rising white cornbread mix sped things along a bit. Morsels of chicken are stirred into the dressing mixture that has lots of chopped onion, celery, and sage.

Served with a little sliced avocado on the side, this legendary Southern side dish moved up into main-course billing.

Chicken-and-Cornbread Dressing

1 cup chopped sweet onion

1 cup chopped celery

2 tablespoons fresh sage

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 cups self-rising white cornmeal mix

2 cups buttermilk (see low-fat substitution below)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs, lightly beaten (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Saute first 4 ingredients in hot oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Remove from skillet; wipe skillet clean. Stir together cornmeal mix, buttermilk, and next 4 ingredients just until moistened. (For low-fat substitution, pour 6 teaspoons vinegar into a 2-cup measuring cup; then pour in skim milk up to the 2-cup line. Stir; allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes.) Stir in onion mixture and chicken just until blended. Pour batter into hot 12-inch skillet. (This also can be baked in a standard casserole dish that has been sprayed.) Bake at 425 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 8 to 10 servings. (Source: Southern Living January 2012)

Comfort food reaches new heights with this veggie-laden Shepherd's Pie

I always wondered what might happen. Then I didn’t have to wonder any more. A tummy bug laid me low for the weekend—my usual prime time for cooking and blog-readying. Too yucky-feeling to lift more than a finger, I was panicked. This was zero hour for stirring things up in the kitchen, yet there I lay, stretched out on the sofa, dishrag-limp. Plus I needed some mild comfort food to try to digest for my own well-being.

Hubby to the rescue—as always. My wonder-spouse who cheerfully dashes off to the grocery at the last minute to ferry home obscure missing ingredients so I can cook some blog item stepped up to the plate (pun intended?) He’d make some of the dishes I had had on my weekend wish list! Bless him!

No better food could have existed than Shepherd’s Pie, with the recipe furnished by a recent Kroger grocery circular. It was just what the doc ordered for my recovering system—and it contained some wondrous fresh veggies that helped make it a meal-in-one.

Carrots and onion wedges roasted in olive oil in a 425-degree oven until they were tender (Hubby says 20-25 minutes wasn’t quite long enough; he went for about 35). Then the meat mixture (we subbed ground turkey), its seasonings, cornstarch, and broth simmered in a skillet until thickened; the roasted veggies stirred into that. Atop all was a layer of mashed potatoes, which can be ready-made, leftover, or instant. In our case hubby found in the veggie bin several potatoes he needed to use up. Nothing makes him jollier than being caught in the act of preventing food wastage.

Hubby muttered a little about the logistics of the assembly process (his tendency would be to get all ingredients neatly lined up on the counter first, whereas I would just fling them from the shelf as needed). But after he got in the groove, he kinda found himself having fun—and took pride in the finished product. (A future foods blogger in the making?)

Shepherd’s Pie was soothing and flavorful—best of all, in this case, it was prepared by someone else, which says something about the relative ease of this recipe. Meat and potatoes—a true guy-thing that warmed this gal’s heart.

Shepherd’s Pie

3 carrots, cut in 1- or 2-inch pieces

1 onion, half-diced and half cut in rough wedges

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt (or salt substitute), pepper, and dried Italian herbs, to taste

1 pound ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 1/4 cups beef broth

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 cup frozen peas

3 cups mashed potatoes (ready-made, leftover, or instant)

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place carrots and onion wedges in baking dish; toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes or until fork-tender. Meanwhile brown the ground beef, diced onion, and garlic in a large skillet. Drain excess fat. Combine beef broth, cornstarch, Worcestershire sauce, and spices in a separate bowl. Pour liquid over meat; simmer over medium heat until rich and bubbly. If desired chop roasted vegetables into smaller pieces. Add peas and roasted vegetables to meat mixture; pour into a casserole dish. Top with prepared mashed potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown. Serves 6.

Try Asparagus Salmon Salad for a serving of health in a bowl

A recipe that's literally health in a bowl--Asparagus Salmon Salad.

I picked up the recipe from a cookbook called Simply Colorado--one time when I was visiting in that great state of Colorado. The line of recommendation that appeared under the title read, "Attractive salad that's ready in minutes."

All that is true. It assembles lightning quick--a good mini-meal to put together, for example, when you get home from Sunday church and want to get food on the table quickly. With both vegetables and the fish in the salad, you really don't need to serve it alongside anything else, since it works as an entree. (We did, however, heat up some Renie's Cheesy Potatoes--in a few days I'll be sharing the recipe for that good dish.)

What I failed to say was that the salad, when assembled, looks and tastes as though it is something you might be served in a fancy, upsale restaurant.

To the basic ingredients I added a sprinkling of Swiss cheese on top. With just me and Hubby under our roof, Asparagus Salmon Salad lasted for two dinners and a lunch.

In it we got our quota of salmon, spinach, and tomatoes--those oft-touted power foods--for the week, so I felt virtuous, plus the dish is so colorful and attractive, I felt as though I was a master chef--all over an entree that can be put together in under 20 minutes from start to finish.

Asparagus Salmon Salad

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon dried whole thyme

1/4 teaspoon salt (we use salt substitute)

3/4 pound fresh or frozen whole asparagus

1 can (6 3/4 ounces) salmon, drained and flaked, or leftover salmon (I baked a fresh salmon filet in the oven for about 15 minutes to use as my salmon ingredient)

spinach leaves

2 tomatoes, cut in wedges

freshly ground pepper

shredded Swiss cheese

In a jar combine oil, vinegar, mustard, thyme, and salt; shake vigorously. Chill. Steam asparagus until tender (about 3-5 minutes); cool. Line salad plates with lettuce leaves. Arrange asparagus spears, salmon, and tomato wedges on lettuce. Drizzle dressing over top; season with pepper. Sprinkle shredded Swiss cheese on top. Chill until ready to serve.