Mini Salmon Biscuits

These tasty treats are like a cross between a biscuit and a muffin–light and tender with an airy crumb. When you first bite into them, they taste like a simple biscuit, but afterward the flavor of sauteed leeks and a hint of rich salmon lingers on your tongue. I came up with them as a way to introduce a savory flavor to my son, who would rather eat baked goods than whole foods, but they’re perfect for the whole family.

Salmon with Wine, Leeks, and Garlic

As its creator Wini Moranville puts it, “With mellow leeks, garlic, and wine to infuse the fish with flavor, and the barest touch of cream to finish the sauce, this dish tastes and feels like elegant classic French fare, but it’s pleasantly light on its feet.”

This dish is incredibly simple yet satisfying with wonderfully sophisticated flavor. As the fish cooks in the sauce, it creates its own stock and the combination of wine and fresh herbs brings a beautiful, refreshing element.

This is one of those meals that you can pull together in the time it takes for the rice to cook; perfect for a weeknight or, perhaps, the weekend with a little tomato and goat cheese crostini to start and some dessert for later 😉

Simple Pot-Roasted Brisket

It can’t get much easier than this. Cover the bottom of a pan with sliced vegetables, top with a brisket, cover, place in the oven, and go get on with your life for the next six hours while you wait for it to slowly cook into a simple, yet flavorful, moist, tender roast.

One-Pot Italian Sausage and Rice in Tomato Sauce

An incredibly simple, flavorful one-pot dish of sweet and spicy Italian sausage cooked with rice, wine, and pureed tomatoes, creating its own wonderful tomato sauce.

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon with Roasted Compari Tomatoes

The acidity of balsamic vinegar pairs with the richness of salmon to create the perfect marriage. Always a lover of tomato and balsamic, I topped each piece of fish with a roasted Compari tomato and garlic.

Simple Italian “Stir Fry”

With just the right balance of sweetness and acidity, this easy meal will take you directly past your fill. Using one pan to cook the rice (unless using leftovers, which makes for an even easier meal!) and another to saute the chicken and “stir fry” the tomatoes and rice, you’re left with a quick cleanup and more time to enjoy each other’s company and, perhaps, a little bite of dessert in front of the television…

Ten-Minute Risotto and Five-Minute Cream Soup

I can think of nothing better on a cold, wintry day than a bowl of warm, comforting, creamy rice. Risotto sounds fancy and difficult, but it’s very simple and, I find, quite relaxing to cook. After sauteing onions until soft and mixing in the rice until well-coated with oil, you simply have to slowly and serenely stir the pan of grains, occasionally ladling in another veil of warm broth, until you find yourself with a pan of luscious, just-softened rice enveloped in a bath of velvety stock. And the entire thing can be achieved in under thirty minutes.

Steak in Red Wine Sauce

Red wine, Worcestershire, Dijon, garlic, steak. Need I say more? This marinade-turned-sauce couldn’t be easier to prepare and it’s so delicious, you’ll find yourself wanting to lick the plate clean. This dish is quick, easy, hearty, and yet so elegant at the same time. Make it on a weeknight with mashed potatoes or a weekend with crisp oven baked fries; you won’t regret it.

Fig and Raspberry Clafoutis

My very first clafoutis, made with figs and raspberries.

I got the recipe from my mom’s copy of The Best of Gourmet: 1988 Edition…which she just bought for a dollar, by the way…When I saw the dish had figs in it, a fruit you rarely see in recipes anymore, I just couldn’t pass! It was so incredibly easy to make too. All I had to do was slice the figs in half, arrange them in a dish with the berries, mix up some batter, and pour it in!