Fast & Easy: Watermelon Sherbet

Ok, so this actually takes a lot of time to get everything to freeze up properly.  But, hands on time, it only takes 5 minutes or so.  And no churning! So I am classifying this as both fast and easy.
I needed something to do with a quickly over-ripening watermelon -- since it is just the hubby and me at home and he won't eat watermelon (kinda weird, right?).  This stuff is creamy sweet and tastes like summer!
It is based of Martha Stewart's recent recipe for Peach Sherbet.  Using the same basic recipe, you could make any kind of sherbet you want from fleshy fruit (i.e. I'm not sure how stuff like citrus would turn out... but if you try it, let me know!).
You'll need a food processor, probably -- though you might be able to get away with a blender.

Fast & Easy: Perfect Cornbread

 I love recipes where you are done with the active part before your oven even heats up. And, as my husband says, the answer to "Would you like some cornbread?" is always "Yes!" So, here's my favorite cornbread recipe that always turns out perfectly moist on the inside and nice and crisp on the outside. And it has a great corn-y taste! Here I make muffins but I also love this as a cake (made in a skillet or in a normal cake pan) and as pancakes (though I would add a bit more milk to the batter for pancakes).

Fast/Easy: Pie or Tart Crust

I used to hate the crust. Of any crusted dessert.  But when I started making them myself, and flavoring them to my taste, I really began to appreciate them.  Really.  I could almost do without the filling. Almost.

My favorites tend to be rolled crusts for pies or crumb crusts from cheesecakes and tarts but lately I have really been hankering shortbread.  And I love this crust because it is easy (you can't really overwork this dough like you can with most rolled doughs), it is super fast, and it uses ingredients I always have on hand.  There is nothing worse than getting all prepared to bake something and then realizing you are out of graham crackers or chocolate wafers.

 Ok... there's really a whole lot in the world  that is worse than that, but it still is pretty frustrating.

This is an incredibly easy recipe that yields a buttery, tender, cookie-like crust. I love it!

Easy Recipe: Sweet Potato Crumble

This is pretty much a sweet potato casserole that isn't pretending to be a side dish.  The filling can be pureed to make it more like a pie filling, if you prefer.  You can likely omit the sugar from the filling all together and it would still be delicious (since the candied yams are... well...candied).  Butter and salt can be adjusted significantly (or perhaps even omitted entirely) depending on your preferences and health needs.  You can also omit the pecans.  Try adding 1c oats (in addition or instead of the nuts).

Note: Candied Yams are not actually yams!  They are sweet potatoes (apparently there is a difference, but it is a difference I intend to continue to ignore).  Feel free to use fresh mashed sweet potatoes, if you like (and want to control the sugar).

Easy/Fast: Mushroom Sauce for Pasta

This has a rich mushroom-y taste, even just using button mushrooms, and, more importantly, cooks up in less time than it takes to cook your pasta.

Preparation time: 5 min
Cooking time: 10 min

• 4 Tbsp butter or alternate saute oil
• 16 oz whole mushrooms - separate the stems from the tops, chop the stems, slice the tops.
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (I use the jarred stuff, so you probably should reduce this if you use fresh)
• 1 cup cream
• 1/4 c grated Parmesan or similar
• Salt & Pepper & herbs to taste

Start your pasta water boiling and prep your produce.  Melt the butter in large skillet over med-high. When it is fragrant and bubbly, add onions, garlic, and mushroom stems.  Cook until soft (4-5 min), stirring occasionally.

Easy/Fast: Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

Disclaimer: The "fast" part is in the preparation - you know, since slow cookers are, by definition, slow.

This recipe is adapted from a stew recipe in the book Slow Cooker Revolution, which, if you want to really learn how to be a slow cooker ninja, I highly recommend.  It is very hearty and freezes great.

Pro Tip about "blooming" aromatics and spices.

You should "bloom" your onion, celery, garlic, and seasonings by microwaving or sauteing with 2Tbsps of oil for about 5 min (stir halfway in the microwave) or until the onion is soft. Blooming makes a big difference to flavor because a.) Your slow cooker doesn't reach the temperatures necessary to cause the chemical reactions that make the beautiful onion-y, herb-y, and spice-y flavor complexities and b.) These flavors are soluble in oil, not water so it is useful to first extract the flavors into an oil (olive oil and butter are my favorites) and then distribute that oil (and thus the flavor) throughout the dish.With out blooming, the great flavors of your herbs and spices remain trapped and cannot reach their full potential. When I am in a hurry, as I was here, I skip the blooming before slow cooking and I always regret it.

Prep Time: Less than 10 minutes
Cook time 5-7 hours on High, 9-11 hours on Low + 30 minutes on High

Ingredients:

• Recommended: 2Tbsp of some oil 
• 1 Large onion, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced 
• Seasoning
• 2 bay leaves (I use more because mine are pretty old)
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp thyme (you can really up this you like more herb-y-ness)
• 2 tsp paprika
• Generous grinding of pepper
• 1 lb dried red kidney beans
• 14oz (or 1 package) of your preferred sausage (I use a smoked sausage, but andouille would be great), cut to your preferred size (I prefer to quarter the link then slice in 1/2 chunks so I get a piece of sausage in almost every bite)
• Liquid
• 4 c chicken stock (I actually use a sodium free bullion and water and it turns out pretty well)
• 3 c water
• 1 1/2 c rice

(After blooming) Add everything but the rice to your slow cooker and cook for 5-7 hours on High or 9-11 hours on Low.  Add your rice and cook on high for 1/2 hour.  You may wish to add more seasonings (I like hot sauce on mine).  Enjoy!

Easy/Fast: Butternut Squash and Blue Cheese Pasta

This is one of our favorite weeknight meals.  It makes a fairly large pot of food (I think we get 8 pretty generous portions out of it - this will depend on how much squash you use) and it freezes beautifully.  It takes about 30 - 45 minutes from start to finish, depending on how fast you can cut up produce (if you don't buy pre-cut) and how mushy you like the squash cooked.

It is based off a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens but I have made a few substitutions to make it less hoity-toity  (Who can find pappardelle in their typical grocery??  And why Marsala instead of whatever dry red wine you have on had?  Pine nuts?? BHG, do you know how much pine nuts cost?? This is really uncharacteristically haughty for them.) and to change the flavor profile slightly (I like marjoram more than sage but I think dill, thyme, savory, rosemary, and pretty much anything else would work great too.