Three Meals at Once

Sometimes it’s fun (and efficient) to cook two or three main courses at the same time. Here are three recipes that are easy to prepare simultaneously and that will advance some of your New Year’s goals for healthy eating. If you want to cut down on meat, increase vegetables in your diet and be more economical with your food budget, these recipes are for you.

Here’s how to make cabbage soup, pasta and fresh slaw at the same time.

Soup Instructions

You should have low-salt chicken stock, canned low-salt tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery and garlic in your pantry. Buy one pound of either chicken or pork Italian sausage and a fresh green cabbage.

Sauté the thinly-chopped aromatics (carrots, onions, celery, carrot) in a bit of oil over a low heat till tender. Use about two cups of onion, one cup of celery, one cup or carrots and as much garlic as you like. When everything is cooked, divide the mixture in half. One portion goes into a soup pot and the other portion goes into a saucepan.

Now, take the casings off all the sausage. Divide the meat into one-inch clumps and sauté in a frying pan till there is no pink meat anymore. Divide the cooked meat in half and put into the two pots.

Your soup pot now gets 4 cups of chicken (or vegetable) stock. Simmer for fifteen minutes. Then add 4 cups of shredded cabbage and gently simmer for fifteen more minutes. Voila! Cabbage soup, famous for warming tired, cold bodies and helping to heal colds.

This soup is flavored with delicious sausage. Add crusty bread, a big shaving of good parmesan cheese onto the soup and a green salad for a fine meal. This makes enough for four or five servings.

Pasta Instructions

We are not going to forget the second entree waiting for attention in the saucepot! The pot has cooked aromatics and cooked sausage, so now add a 28 oz. can of tomatoes and a small can of tomato paste. Break the tomatoes into small chunks with a fork or your fingers.

Add some herbs if you like, such as oregano, bay leaf or basil. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. This sauce will cover about three generous servings of pasta.

Slaw Instructions

And if you have leftover fresh cabbage, try making a quick fresh slaw. Grate the cabbage, a few carrots, perhaps a stalk of raw broccoli, then dress with olive oil and lemon juice and add a few raisins. Fresh slaw is crunchy, pretty to look at and delicious. (But please don’t tell anyone it is super nutritious! Our little secret!)

Kitchen helper tasks: Grating is fun! Teach your kitchen helpers how to stay safe when grating, and let them grate carrots and cabbage. The safety rule for grating is that the cook must stop grating when the food being grated is only one inch long. This will prevent cut knuckles and many tears.