24. Pork Loin

One of the easiest possible dishes is a pork loin. Season by rubbing some salt, pepper, and other spices on it, stick it in the appropriate pan in a 350 oven for 30 minutes, and serve with an appropriate sauce, like the blueberry limoncello gastrique. You shouldn't even need a knife to cut it: if it is not overcooked, it will be extremely tender. It should have the slightest pink tinge to it, no more.

20. Cod with coriander, cumin, and cayenne; quinoa

This alliterative recipe is simply a cod filet, rubbed with a spice mix of coriander, cumin, and cayenne, and gently sautéed. Finish with some lemon.

19. Molasses sriracha BBQ Sauce

No picture for this: I made a sauce of molasses, sriracha, and vinegar, and used it for a cheap cut of ribs that I cooked in my slow cooker all day. It had a dash of soy sauce and Worcestershire and some cumin (could have used more of that). Then I added some salsa to lessen the intensity of some of the flavors. A little tomato sauce would have done the trick just as well.

The idea is that the sweetness would come from molasses, the acid from the vinegar, and the spice and garlic from the hot sauce.

12. Salmon with lime and paprika

Rub some paprika (with salt and pepper and maybe a tiny bit of cumin) on some salmon filets. Take a lemon or lime and squeeze some of the juice onto the top. Cut round slices of said fruit and lay over filets. Bake them until they are done.

I made this and it melted in my mouth. [pictured here before cooking]

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A good dinner should have three balancing parts. The salmon here goes with the tomato asparagus feta salad and the curried carrots and potatoes.

2. Dark beer beer can chicken with paprika cumin gravy

I roasted a 5 lb. whole chicken using the "beer can" method." You stick a half full (of beer) beer can in the cavity of the chicken. I rubbed it first with a spice mixture of paprika, cayenne, cumin, and sea salt, making sure I rubbed of the spice misture under the skin too. The beer was dark and the drippings were abundant, so I made a gravy out of them by adding some skim milk and flour and thickening. The chicken took about an hour and 15 minutes to cook. We ate some spinach cooked with a tiny bit of canola oil, garlic, and a dash of soy to finish, and some roasted veggies: poblano peppers, onions, and red potatoes. Leftovers are abundant today.

1. "San Francisco Joe" with chipotle

I made San Francisco Joe, which is basically a skillet casserole of onions, garlic, ground beef, egg, and spinach (that's the order you add them to the pan). I used Italian sausage instead of ground beef, as my mom showed me over Christmas break, and added half a bell pepper, and one chipotle pepper chopped very fine. Parmesan cheese is the topper. Cook vegetables until soft, add sausage or ground beef to brown, add chipotles, one egg per person, and enjoy. Top with Parmesan. (Quantities depend on how much food you want1)