Weeknight Meals

If you’ve been on the lookout for new ways to use leftover ham, here’s a main dish to try. Pineapple slices are a great complement as a side dish or for dessert. Replace the spicy brown mustard with a flavored mustard, such as orange, horseradish, or honey, if you wish.

Today’s low-fat sausages make it easy to enjoy heart-healthy versions of some Eastern European dishes, such as this one.

Both the turkey supper and the vegetarian version are good over brown rice. Add a cup of soup or a fruit salad to round out the meal.

This bubbling stew incorporates the basics of a traditional Italian dish called ribollita, but it takes much less time to prepare. A savory way to use leftover ham, the stew is just right for warming up before the Friday-night football game.

It takes only a few minutes to make this out-of-this-world steak sandwich. Smoked paprika is what adds the “ultimate” to this dish.

Can’t decide whether you prefer spaghetti sauce or Alfredo sauce? With this double-sauced casserole, you get to enjoy both.

For dinner in a flash, start with the very thin slices of lean beef known as minute steaks. It does take more than a minute to cook them—but not much!

To add lots of flavor and no fat to meats, rub them with a spice rub. Make the rub mild to extra-spicy, depending on the level of heat you like best. Use leftovers from this recipe for Flank Steak Burritos (page 186) or Cook’s-Choice Fried Rice (page 210).

Cubes of beef are browned and simmered with colorful vegetables and thin noodles in this tasty, soupy Asian stew.

An almost-effortless dish, this stew requires no peeling and little or no cutting!

Although this dish is delicious if served immediately, the chicken and noodles absorb even more flavors if the mixture has time to stand for a while.

For a delicious Italian dinner, serve this flavorful combination of portobello mushrooms, bell peppers, and plum tomatoes with brown rice or on your favorite whole-grain pasta.

This basic stir-fry recipe gives you many options. You can choose between the Asian and Italian flavorings (see Italian Stir-Fry on page 147), and you can vary the meat by replacing the chicken with round steak, pork chops or tenderloin, firm-fleshed fish, bay scallops, or tofu. Save even more time by using precut vegetables or frozen mixed vegetables (no need to thaw before cooking). Even if you make only half this recipe, you’ll probably want to make the entire amount of sauce.

This recipe will eliminate all doubt that good-for-you tofu can be tasty, too!

Snow peas paired with either chicken or shrimp is a classic Asian combination. When you can’t decide which you’d prefer, try this recipe, which gives you both.

Comforting, spicy, and oh-so-good describe this hearty dish.

So few ingredients, so much flavor! This super-easy, super-quick entrée definitely belongs in your repertoire.

Barbecued chicken reaches a new level with the addition of rosemary and flavored mustard.

Crisp, crunchy romaine leaves enclose warm chicken and brown rice for an Asian entrée that you’ll want to add to your go-to list.

Break out of a plain-chicken rut with this southwestern-style dish. The only way it could be easier would be for the dish to prepare itself!