Weeknight Kitchen

Sally relates to beans like no one else I know. I am convinced her last wish will be for a bowl of beans. She's somehow even trained her kids to crave them. She claims, "This recipe is my midweek savior, the kids scarf it directly from the pan."

This is absolutely one of my fallback dishes for entertaining families when I don't know how finicky the kids' palates are. My kids usually eat the grown-up version but occasionally one of them has a relapse of sorts and declares the sauce (which he loved the week prior) to be unfit for human consumption. Suddenly the simplified version of chicken breasts and rice or potatoes with no sauce is all he will touch. This is exactly the kind of flexible option that doesn't make the cook (aka you) nuts and vaguely irritated since you will make one dish, just one, that allows the blander eaters to enjoy the meal without rendering the adults bored out of their skulls.

A common sight in Mexico, chorizo sausage infuses potatoes with its salty, spicy flavor for a hearty taco filler.

Don't have a clue what to fix for dinner tonight? This dish is always a great solution to that problem. The tomatoes and parsley are the only fresh ingredients you need; everything else is probably in your fridge or pantry. For a splurge, use Spanish tuna in olive oil; for a bargain, try Genova brand, also in olive oil but half the price.

Make this hash for a weekend brunch or as an easy weeknight supper. I like to serve it with a tossed green salad or a steamed vegetable and a crusty loaf of bread. Pass Tabasco or other hot sauce at the table; the vinegary, smoky flavor of hot sauce complements the rutabagas, bacon, and chiles. Poach eggs to place on top of this hearty hash. The runny soft-cooked eggs are a perfect accompaniment.

Ingredients

Whenever I want a simple, tasty breakfast, weekend dinner, or late night supper, I pull out some tomatada, a classic Portuguese tomato sauce I always have on hand. This is a riff on a traditional recipe, but instead of firing up the oven for just an egg or two, as the original requires, I make it on the stove. Less than 15 minutes later, I'm sitting down to eat.

This thick Greek garlic sauce makes a marvelous dip to be served with vegetables as an accompaniment to fish or chicken. Avoid using a food processor or an electric mixer, which can make potatoes gluey.

Leftover parsley and walnut pesto is great with spaghetti.

The salsa can be prepared up to 12 hours ahead of time, covered and refrigerated. And it can be eaten with anything you want to try it with!