A Hot Meal On A November Night

The colder weather is here and that means ending the day with a hot , satisfying meal.Nothing beats a well balanced dinner after a busy school or work day. The best part , it really doesn,t  take much to  create a tasty warm dish. You can whip up something without a lot of effort.

One of the easiest and always best loved is spaghetti. It doesn't require a lot of work, just boiling your favorite pasta and serving it with either a jarred or homemade sauce. Many home chefs may turn their noses at this first. However if you've just come in from a hectic eight hour work day or a day at home where you've done nothing but clean , then jarred sauce is OK.it may not be as delicious or as healthy as a home made sauce but it'll do the trick in a pinch. You can also use that sauce you made during the summer when your garden produced bumper crops of tomatoesAnother idea is cutting up tomatoes ,blending them with oil and oregano,  and then pouring them over the pasta. The pasta's heat will semi cook them for a kind of al fresco sauce.Rice is another quick and hot dish to make and it's receptive to the addition of leftovers. Top plain white rice with leftover chili or wild rice with leftover turkey and gravy.Open up a few different cans of beans and mix in with any kind of the grain for a hearty side.

Nothing beats coming home to a hot juicy steak. One of the best  varieties are T bone and Porterhouse. These can be easily sautéed , either after being rubbed with olive oil or butter. You can add either sea salt and fresh ground pepper or jazz it up with garlic. It can even be made glam with an simple anchovy sauce/ This is Piedmontese sauce and it's a simple blend  of anchovy paste, a mix of olive oil and butter along with a garlic clove. Serve this with French or Italian  bread to sop up the sauce. Sauteed chicken breasts are also a good choice  for dinner.. You can serve it with a franchese sauce, an easy marriage of a roux ( flour and butter cooked together) with heavy cream and lemon juice added. A nice side is microwave steamed broccoli or a packaged veggies. For these saute  with herbed butter and almonds for added dash.This can be also served with rice, or if you're too tired, Rice Roni. Consider making this when you're too tired to deal with more elaborate sides. Also think a quick tomato or broccoli salad to compliment the chicken.

A hot hearty meal is the best way to end a busy day and welcome a calming night. Treat yourself and your family to something steamy yet simple. It's easy and that's what you want.