Everything but the Kitchen Sink!

I come from an amazing Italian family.  It's well known that Italians love to cook and consume hearty meals.  A fondness for cheesy queasy and carb laden pasta dishes is part of our genetic programming and olive oil flows within our veins.  I've been cooking with my mother and grandmother since I was a kid and I have to say that I'm actually quite good at it; although I remain very humble in the kitchen and tend to sandbag a bit when it comes to my abilities.

For many years I shied away from the stove.  I have always loved to cook, but I do detest the prep time, the clean-up and how darn quickly the food just disappears.  I guess in my dream world I could plate a dish and then admire it for a while before it was to be consumed.  In the real world, time is of essence.  As a triathlete trying to work around 100F days and odd eating schedules, cooking time is at an extreme premium.

Six months ago I decided to forgo take-out, dining out and boxed Weight Watcher's dinners in favor of spending 30 minutes in the kitchen.  Meal prep requires a bit more thought than just ordering noodles from No. 1 Wok, but it's worth it.

I usually plan our main meal in the morning and hit the grocery store that same day.  I'm lucky enough to have two large chain supermarkets within a 5 minute drive of my home, so our meals are usually packed with fresh ingredients.  That being said, I do stockpile some items such as canned and frozen veggies because they are easy to use in a pinch and today's packing standards ensure that these food items remain nutritious.

Since hosting a dinner party last Saturday evening, I have been staring at leftover, plain whole wheat pasta in the fridge.  I could have thrown it out, but then I realized that there was a package of extra lean (93/7) ground beef in the freezer that I needed to use.  Good 'ole 'Hamburger Helper' popped into my head, but I wasn't about to go down the 'boxed food' route.  I found a bag of Steam Fresh sugar snap peas in the freezer and a can of diced tomatoes in the cupboard.  I added some sauteed garlic, onion, sun dried tomatoes, spices and...  Voila!  Dinner!

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Ragu:

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 pound extra lean ground beef (97/3)
2 cloves garlic, minced for best flavor
1 small, yellow onion, chopped
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
sea salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes (seasoned or fire roasted are great)
1 bag of frozen veggies.  I used Steam Fresh sugar snap peas b/c that's what I had on hand, but you can use anything.  I would have preferred some mushrooms and maybe some zucchini.
handfull of sun dried tomatoes (julienne work nicely; don't get oil packed)
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
leftover cooked whole wheat pasta, quinoa, etc... (or leave it out if you choose)

Sautee garlic & onion in the olive oil.  I use cast iron in my kitchen.  It retains heat well and hence, speeds up the time I have to spend at the stove.
Add ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper and brown
Drain any excess liquid from the skillet and set meat aside; do not rinse the pan
Quickly stir fry vegetables in the same pan (there should be enough juice coating the pan to do this- I used Steam Fresh veggies.  You do not have to put Steam Fresh veggies in the microwave to cook.  You can stir fry like any other frozen veggie)
Add in all of the tomato products + basil and simmer for a few minutes.
Return the meat to the pan
Add in the leftover pasta and heat (do this last so that you don't end up with soggy pasta)

Enjoy!  You are left with yummy Italian ragu and hopefully a little bit of room in your refrigerator, freezer and cupboard.  This dinner is not at all fancy and the taste is not 'heavy' which makes it a nice pasta dish for summer.  The goal of this post is basically to encourage you to experiment with all of the goodies that you have in your possession right now without the need for a cookbook.  The value is incredible (just think of how much food we all toss thanks to freezer burn or expiration dates), the prep is simple and just like 'that', you created your very own recipe.