50.5 dinners, part 3!

21. Sausage-white beans-hearty greens
Classic. Fry your sausage, stir in your chard or your kale, put the lid on, maybe add a splash of liquid, stir in your can of beans. Heat through. Serve tossed with spaghetti, on top of polenta, on top of corn bread, on it's own, as a soup...

22. Waffle-iron grilled cheese
Sandwich bread + grated cheese + waffle iron. Add some mustard or pesto for the grown-ups.

23. Big, hearty salad. Let the kids starve
Sometimes we just want to eat what we want to eat.

24. Grilled steak and a table full of crudite
Cook the steak outside (I like flank steak, marinated in soy for however long you happen to have). Chop the veggies inside. Done.

25. Grilled pesto chicken breasts
Keep these in the freezer: Pulse oil, basil, garlic, and salt in the food processor. Toss it in a freezer bag with some chicken breasts. Thaw and grill. (Tips: pound or butterfly the chicken breasts so they're even. Spread them out in the bag before you put it in the freezer, so they're easier to separate.)

26. French toast
Yep. Breakfast for dinner again, kids.

27. Butterflied chicken
Take a whole chicken, cut out the backbone. Whack it until it lies flat. Grill or roast at high heat. Way faster than a regular whole chicken.

28. Pasta with potatoes and green stuff
Chopped potatoes go in cold water, boil for 5-10 minutes, add pasta, boil some more until done. Throw in green stuff (spinach, arugula, frozen peas) right at the end. Drain, toss with parmesan.

29. Pasta with fresh tomatoes
Cook pasta. Chop tomatoes. Mix. Get fancy with basil, nice olive oil, fresh mozzarella, whatever.

30. Sausage and tomato risotto
A little more complicated. If you know how to make a risotto, do that, but replace the broth with crushed canned tomatoes in their juice, thinned with water or broth.