Four 4-Ingredient Entrees, Quick, Easy, Delicious & Healthful

Fabulous family-friendly recipes with 3 or 4 ingredients plus olive oil

December 21, 2010

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My favorite recipes are those which are easy, healthful, quick, delicious and that have only a few ingredients, mainly ones I am likely to have in the pantry and/or fridge. As a bonus, they tend to be kid-friendly. Here are some that my family has been enjoying for years:

Mushroom, Sausage & Peas Pasta

6 Sweet Italian sausages, cut into 1/4-inch "coins"

1 box Mushrooms

1 small to medium bag of Peas

1 box of Bowtie pasta

Cook the pasta according to directions. While the pasta is cooking, using a large skillet, brown the sweet Italian sausage coins in olive oil, then slice and add the mushrooms and saute. Lastly stir in the peas.

Once the peas are hot and the bowties drained, toss everything together in the skillet and serve with a salad and your favorite bread. (If you have room in the skillet, you can add the pasta; otherwise, I return the pasta to it's pot, which keeps it hot, and add to it with the mixture from the skillet.)

Mediterranean fish:

Fish, such as grey sole, flounder, tilapia

Tomato

Pitted olives and/or canned artichoke hearts, cut into generous bite-size pieces

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add any amount of cut-up tomato you desire and a nice handful of assorted olives and/or cut-up artichoke hearts. Then add your fish of choice. My favorite is grey sole. This thin fish usually falls apart, which I don't worry about.

I serve this delicious healthful dish with rice, salad and a green vegetable, such as steamed spinach.

Cornflake chicken:

Chicken parts (I use 4 breasts with bone and skin)

1 small can of Condensed milk

½ small box of corn flakes, more or less

salt and pepper to taste

Dunk the chicken in a large bowl containing the condensed milk and coat well. Then crush the corn flakes along with some salt and pepper in a large plastic zipper bag. Crush the corn flakes and shake to distribute the salt and pepper. Place the chicken, one or two pieces at a time into the corn flake mixture and shake to coat evenly.

After all the chicken is coated, I cook it in a skillet with olive oil, browning it at first and then turning the heat down so as not to burn the chicken. You'll need to check for doneness, depending on the thickness of the chicken (I've heard that smaller chicken breasts mean it's less likely the chicken was shot with hormones). I serve this dish with green beans and frozen corn. Yum.

Thumbits

Years ago there was a restaurant on Long Island called Rocking Wells, whose walls were covered with Norman Rockwell prints. We loved a dish they called "Thumbits."

London Broil (I use flank steak or filet mignon)

Marinade: worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar

French Bread, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic powder

Okay, forgive me for cheating a little on the number of ingredients here; if you were in a checkout line, you'd have to count this as 6 ingredients plus olive oil. But this dish is really simple to make.

I often don't bother marinating the meat, so I consider that optional. I just pour on the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar in more or less equal amounts and broil or grill the meat.

Slice the bread in half lengthwise and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic powder and put under the broiler, checking every few seconds to make sure it doesn't burn.

Slice the meat thinly and slice the garlic bread to a size that accommodates a piece of the london broil and enjoy it as an open-faced thumbit.

What are some recipes you enjoy that have only four or so ordinary ingredients? I'd love to hear from you.

Check out some of my other food related articles:

STOCK YOUR KITCHEN TO REDUCE & MAINTAIN YOUR WAISTLINE

7 BREAKFAST & BRUNCH IDEAS (& HOT CHOCOLATE) FOR A COUPLE OR A CROWD

MAKE MOIST, MOUTHWATERING TURKEY & A SIMPLE STUFFING RECIPE

FUN, EASY, HEALTHFUL ENTERTAINING . . . WHEN GUESTS ARRIVE, PREPARATION BEGINS

CREATE THIS FABULOUS FAMILY COOKBOOK & ENJOY THESE SIMPLE RECIPES

A QUICK, EASY, DELICIOUS, ONE-DISH, LOW-CAL MEAL WITH COUNTLESS VARIATIONS

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE JEWISH TO MAKE GREAT CHICKEN SOUP

EASY, ECONOMICAL, CROWD-PLEASING PASTA

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