Hearty dinners are rich, tasty and filling. Whether you want a meat dish, vegetable dish or both for dinner, there are many ways to cook a hearty meal with your favorite ingredients and flavors included. Dinners cooked in a crock pot, baked in the oven or slow cooked over a low heat tend to be the heartiest types of meals.
Chili Con Carne
Chili con carne is a tasty, hearty meal that can be made in a crock pot or slow cooked in a pan. Use a cut of beef that is appropriate for slow cooking, such as chuck steak or any cut labeled as good for stews or pot roasts. Chop the meat into small, bite-sized pieces, trimming away any excess fat. Using chunky pieces of beef rather than ground beef makes a tastier chili, and it is less expensive, too. If you are making the chili in a pan, brown the pieces of meat in a little oil on all sides first, then remove them and fry some chopped onions until they are translucent. Put the meat back in the pan and add chopped garlic, one or two cans of tomatoes, chili powder (the amount depends on the brand and your tastes), salt, pepper, herbs and spices. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook it for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. If you are using a crock pot you can simply add all those ingredients at once and set it to 8 hours on low or 3 hours on high. When the meat is tender, add some drained red kidney beans and sliced mushrooms if you like them. Chili aficionados may debate over the "correct" usage of beans and other ingredients, but you should just make the chili according to your own preferences. If the chili is not as thick as you would like, just simmer it without a lid until it thickens. When the mushrooms are cooked the chili should be done. It can be served alone, or for a very hearty meal serve it over a large baked potato or potato wedges and top with cheese.
Minestrone Soup
Minestrone is one of the heartiest soups you can make, and the basic recipe can easily be adjusted according to your tastes and the ingredients you have at hand. The soup has Italian peasant origins, reflected in its Italian ingredients like pasta and tomatoes, its filling and satisfying taste and its thick texture. The basic recipe starts with frying chopped onions, bacon and garlic in a little butter or oil. Once these ingredients begin to cook, add chopped celery, carrots and tomatoes (fresh or canned), cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add a few pints of broth (any kind) and some fresh basil leaves. Simmer for another 20 minutes, then add small pasta shapes like macaroni or shells and some chopped cabbage. After another 20 minutes of simmering, add 2 to 3 tbsp. thick tomato paste and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. The soup is traditionally served with grated Parmesan cheese on top. Although most of the ingredients are vegetables, the pasta and tomato paste make the soup thick and filling, and it makes a hearty dinner alone or served with crusty bread. You can adapt the recipe to include any vegetables that you like, but bear in mind the relative cooking times--firm vegetables should be added near the beginning and soft or frozen vegetables toward the end.
Hearty Mac & Cheese
A good, homemade macaroni and cheese is worlds away from the instant packaged version. Using butter and real cheese and baking the dish with a crust of breadcrumbs and extra cheese on top makes it filling and very comforting. The addition of bacon, chicken or any other cooked meat to the mac and cheese makes it a meal in itself; otherwise it is a great side dish. Par-boil the macaroni (halve the cooking time recommended on the packaging), drain it and rinse with cold water to halt the cooking process. Meanwhile, make a thick cheese sauce. First melt about 1/4 of a stick of butter (2 tbsp.) in a saucepan over a low heat. Add plain flour 1 tbsp. at a time and stir it into the butter with a wooden spoon. Stop adding flour when the butter and flour form a soft ball, and cook this "roux" by stirring and mixing it continually over a low heat for 5 to 10 minutes until it has darkened a little. Add 2 to 3 cups of milk a little at a time, stirring constantly to prevent lumps and mixing the milk with the butter and flour. The sauce will be runnier than you want the finished cheese sauce to be, but turn up the heat to medium and continue stirring as the sauce comes to a boil. Stir the sauce as it simmers until it is thick, then add as much of your favorite kind of grated cheese as you want. When the cheese has melted into the sauce, mix the macaroni into the sauce and transfer it to an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle bread crumbs and more grated cheese on top of it, and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes. The dish should come out bubbling with a golden brown crust on top.
A Quick & Easy Hearty Meal
Most hearty meals are cooked slowly for a relatively long time, but there are some quick and easy alternatives. A big baked potato or sweet potato is simple to make and very satisfying. If you don't want to wait an hour for a potato to bake in the oven, wash the potato and poke it with a fork a few times. Microwave it on high for 5 minutes, turn it over and microwave for another 5 minutes, then it will only need about 20 minutes in the oven for the skin to crisp up. A baked potato can be topped with other foods to turn it into a complete meal rather than a side. A can of baked beans takes just a few minutes to warm up and makes a great topping for a baked potato, especially with grated cheese on top. Some other good toppings are leftover chicken salad or a scoop of cream cheese.
Tags: another minutes, baked potato, grated cheese, over heat, about minutes
