137 recipes to choose from, and you may wonder how it was possible to pick my favorite 10. Honestly, it wasn’t really that hard! Automatically, anything containing peppers or tofu should be relegated to the bottom of the pile, but you may be surprised at which recipes stood out among the rest. The results of the Pioneer Woman Dinnertime project are in. I have tried. I have tested. And boy, have I eaten some spectacular food!
The following deliciousness is in no particular order, because whenever I think about any one of these, my mouth starts watering and I want to make it again. I feel the need to point out that NONE of these selections is a dessert. Believe me, I gave equal opportunity for each chapter to have a winning entry, and even though dessert is practically my favorite meal, none of the sweets could dislodge these yummy dinners.
1. Santa Fe Scramble:
HOW did this make the list?? This Breakfast for Dinner meal features none other than the dreaded pepper. As usual I minimized their role, but the green chiles, avocados and sweet corn kernels mixed with scrambled eggs was a winner all around at our dinner table. Both my kids and I had seconds and polished off the entire pan. For people who like spicy, I’m sure this would be great with hot sauce, but the flavors in this dish stand alone pretty well. Came together in a matter of minutes too!
2. Pasta with Vodka Sauce: You had me at vodka, Ree… No really, you did! Something about putting that ingredient into the tomato sauce added so much complexity to the flavor, it made vodka sauce my new favorite pasta topping. Move over Bolognese, there’s a new sauce in town! Honorable mention does have to go to the other recipe featured in this picture, “The Bread”. It’s just French bread with an absolute ton of butter and garlic, but really, what more do you need with a big bowl of campanelle pasta in a boozy sauce?
3. Orange Chicken: Winner, winner, chicken dinner! It’s not just a saying. Quite a few chicken meals made my Top 10, but this one was the most complicated. That’s not to say “difficult”, but there were a ton of ingredients in this dish, and my kitchen was a mess. Nevertheless, I’d always wanted to know how to recreate one of my favorite Chinese take-out dishes, and now I can! The chicken was crispy, sweet, and juicy, and it was absolutely worth the hour’s worth of dishes I had to do afterwards. P.S. Sesame chicken is exactly the same thing as this… with seeds sprinkled on it.
4. Risotto: So I took some liberties here; Ree’s recipe didn’t call for shrimp, but frankly no dish is diminished by adding seafood! Except maybe sundaes. In fact I can’t remember if her version even included mushrooms, but her basic recipe could be used to build any flavor combination you like. My kids and I had to tag-team stirring continuously so no one’s arm fell off, but despite what a pain in the butt it is to make homemade risotto, I can’t tell you how worth it the effort is. It’s filling, tasty comfort food at its finest. Especially with the shrimp!
5. Pumpkin Wonton Ravioli: This one was a sleeper hit; I thought it sounded weird. I’d never had pumpkin in anything savory before, just pies. Using wonton wrappers as “pasta” was a new one too. But this… this is a keeper! Very labor intensive, as the filling, sealing and cooking process has to move pretty quickly so nothing dries out, and the end result can cool off fast too. The kids and I set up an assembly line to move it along and we had to eat in shifts, but for a once in a while treat, the taste can’t be beat! (I really didn’t rhyme that on purpose…)
6. Zuppa Toscana: Let’s call it what it is, shall we? I don’t think Olive Garden is going to sue me. I can say hands down that Ree’s version of this soup leaves OG’s in the dust. Ok, maybe NOW they’ll sue me! For reals though, I made this recipe in her typical “feed an army” quantity, and it didn’t last the week. Italian sausage. Kale. Potatoes. A humble soup that is one of the most amazing flavor explosions I’ve ever eaten. I’ve made other versions of this classic, and while they were all right, this one is by far the best!
7. Chicken Pot Pie: An oldie but a goodie, and again a recipe I’ve made many times from different sources. There is a top crust for this (which I swapped for puff pastry) but it’s hard to get a good photo when there’s a lid on it! I love comfort food, partly why I’m a fan of Ree’s cooking to begin with, and this pie delivers. It’s full of veggies, lots of chicken, and her sauce is thick and creamy when it cooks up. You could also make this in individual aluminum pans and freeze leftovers. Assuming there are any. Odds are good this meal will disappear quickly!
8. Coconut Curry Shrimp: I almost burned my lips off trying to sample the shrimp and sauce right out of the pan. The scent was totally intoxicating! Curry is one of those divisive flavors, people love it or hate it, and I LOVE it. It wasn’t spicy at all, but it had all the Thai flavors (curry, lime, coconut) that made the rice and shrimp a family favorite. The best part is the whole thing came together in the time it took to cook the rice. I’m a fan of the rice cooker, which left me free to make the protein concurrently. Trust me, you’ll want to do the same and get it on your plate ASAP!
9. Red Pepper Pasta: Say what?? Something with the word “pepper” right in the title made it to the Top 10?! Well yes, yes it did, if only because it made me into the biggest believer of miracles ever. I loved it. My kids ate it. We all had seconds. And then they stole the leftovers before I came home the next day. I don’t know what alchemy was employed to turn our least favorite vegetable into the main component of a pasta sauce and make us LOVE it, but it happened. I’m actually afraid to make it again because I don’t know if lightning can strike twice. But it did once, and that is a wonder.
10: Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce: This is it. The best of the bunch. I’ve made this at least three times, including for New Year’s Eve dinner. The mashed potatoes I served it over were no slouch either. I’ve made it with different mustards each time, and the flavor is amazing no matter how I alter it. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s cheap. I really can’t say enough about how great this tastes! I probably should have thrown a vegetable on the plate in an attempt to make it a more balanced meal, but frankly this was plenty of yum on its own. Let’s not complicate things that don’t need it!
Thanks for the memories Ree, it was great cooking with you this year!
Have Book, Will Cook 