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Published: August 19, 2008 08:24 pm
Simple and savory
Easy entree and quick dishes don’t have to skimp on flavor
By Bev Davis
Register-Herald Senior Editor
Although Lesley Weigel has a little more time now that she’s taking a hiatus from her career as a paralegal, she remembers the time crunch she faced as a working mom.
“I love to cook. I would stay in the kitchen if I could. I’m glad to have more time to cook, but over the years, I learned to make a lot of things that can be prepared quickly. Working moms just don’t have a lot of time to prepare meals,” the Beckley resident said.
One of her son’s favorite meals was barbecued chicken pizza.
“It’s ready in five minutes, and it’s a great meal. I’ve never known a kid who turned down pizza, even if the ingredients on it are healthy.”
Even though her son is an adult out on his own, Weigel enjoys putting together a nice dinner meal she can enjoy with her husband Ted.
“I don’t mind to spend time preparing one dish that may take a little more time, but I try to come up with side dishes that are easy to make.”
Her oven-roasted green beans and baked Vidalia onions, for example, can be prepared within the last few minutes her herb-roasted pork loin with glaze is finishing its cooking time.
“Ted and I enjoy a side dish like the Vidalia onion in place of a baked potato or some of those other starchy vegetables,” she said. “I like to prepare meals that are more healthy, but I don’t like to skimp on taste, so the onion dish has become one of our favorites.”
Weigel enjoys watching the Food Network and frequently downloads their recipes.
“I try most of them. Sometimes I follow the recipe exactly. Other times, I experiment a little.”
She enjoys home decorating and, at times, misses a house-flipping business she started in Williamson several years ago.
“I was getting out and getting dirty and working from daylight till dark and coming home dog tired, but I always loved the finished product,” she said.
It was only when the time came to sell a renovated home that Weigel realized how attached she had become.
“It’s your baby. You have invested so much time and energy into it, it’s hard to let go of it.”
A changing market persuaded her to give up that business and work full-time as a paralegal.
Following her second marriage a couple of years ago, Weigel moved to Beckley. Although she continued to work as a paralegal in Williamson, Weigel also cared for her mother who recently passed away.
Since then, Weigel has turned her attention to decorating projects on her home, cooking and giving herself some time to adjust to all the changes in her life.
“I’d like to go back to work part-time at some point, but right now, I want to spend time getting my home in shape and just taking some time for some of the things I enjoy — like cooking.”
Weigel shared some of the recipes she uses most often.
Herb-roasted pork loin with glaze
2 tablespoons Dalmatian sage
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon coarse pepper
Several cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons additional minced garlic
One 4-pound boneless pork loin
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
8 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove most of the fat from the roast. Cut small slits in the roast every inch and insert a thin slice of garlic.
In a bowl, combine sage, salt, pepper and minced garlic. Rub thoroughly over roast. Place roast in a foil-lined uncovered roasting pan on the middle oven rack.
Bake approximately 2-1/2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches at least 150 degrees F.
While roast is baking, combine sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, water and soy sauce in a small sauce pan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken slightly. Brush glaze over roast several times during the last half hour of cooking.
Pour remaining glaze over roast, reserving some for additional dipping sauce.
Oven-roasted green beans
2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Toasted slivered almonds (optional)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place beans in large bowl and drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with almonds, if desired. Toss well to coat.
Arrange green bean mixture in single layer on preheated baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes until tender-crisp. (Only 37 calories per serving.)
Baked Vidalia onions
Beef bouillon cubes
Butter
Honey
Vidalia or other sweet onions
Peel onions and cut a thin slice from the top and bottom of each.
Scoop out a hole about an inch deep from the top of each onion.
Put onions, top-sides up, in a 2-quart microwave-safe dish with a lid. Don’t use plastic wrap. It will melt.
Add 1 beef bouillon cube, 1/2 tablespoon butter to shallow hole in each onion. Top with 1/2 teaspoon honey.
Microwave on high for 8-10 minutes or until onions are tender.
Let rest about 10 minutes to begin cooling.
These onions may also be cooked on the grill. Wrap them in heavy foil and grill over high heat 20 minutes.
Quick and easy barbecued chicken pizza
1 package precooked diced or sliced chicken
1/4 cup bottled barbecue sauce
1/2 cup marinara sauce or pizza sauce
One 16-ounce package of pre-baked pizza crust
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (dried is fine)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a small bowl, mix barbecue sauce and marinara sauce. Spread evenly over the crust. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Arrange cooked diced chicken and red onion slices and cilantro over top. Bake 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
Cool 5 minutes before slicing.
Peanut butter fudge cake
Tools needed: wooden spoon, wire whisk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan.
Bring to a boil:
1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 stick margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
Set aside.
Mix:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 cup buttermilk. Add to flour mixture. Add 2 beaten eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla, then add boiled mixture to flour mixture and combine well.
While cake is baking, prepare icing, which will be placed on hot cake immediately after the cake is removed from the oven. Then, allow cake with icing to cool at room temperature.
Icing:
Bring to a boil 1/2 stick margarine and 1/2 cup peanut butter. Add 1 box confectioner’s sugar, 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Stir well with wooden spoon, then use wire whisk. Pour over cake.
Fried hot dogs
4 hot dogs
Mayonnaise
Mustard
4 hamburger buns, toasted
4 tomato slices
4 onion slices 4 lettuce leaves
Cut a slit lengthwise through each hot dog, cutting just far enough that it remains in one piece when opened flat. Plate flat side down in a very hot skillet and cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Drain hot dogs on paper towels.
Put mayonnaise on one side of the bun, mustard on the other. Add hot dog. Top with tomato, onion and lettuce.
— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com
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