One Pot Meals... Intro to Basic Oven Roasts

Another popular One Pot meal preparation is the oven roast meal. It’s simple, delicious, and almost effortless. A few classic examples of these would be the ever famous, Prime Rib, Oven Roasted Turkey, & Glazed Ham just to mention a few. But in all fairness, no one has time to cook meals this large every day, let alone eat such a big meal.

So, for this application we want to introduce you to the understanding of using the meal types as a starting point, to scale down and create a meal based on similar ingredients. These meals can be prepped ahead of time and stored for later, so that all that's left to do is the cooking processes, saving lots of time, with a little effort.

The process of it all can be as simple as loading up the pan with your ingredients, seasoning everything up with a few spices, and cooking everything in the oven, IN THE SAME PAN.

 Still not convinced? Okay try this...

Grab your Pyrex or oven pan.

Toss in 4 cups of Rice

Season the Rice with your Choice of Spice

Toss in a Bay Leaf or two, a few Chopped Carrots and some Celery

If you like Mushrooms, you can toss in a few of those as well

Take 4 Pieces of fish (For this meal we'll say... use Salmon)

Season the Salmon pieces and place the oven top of the rice

Drizzle everything with a little Italian Dressing or some Olive Oil, wrap the pan with foil and put it into the fridge for tomorrow.

So how much time do you think that will take you, about 20 minutes?? Wait til you see the next step...

The next Step...

So now tomorrow is here and all you have to do is remove the wrap and add about 4.5 cups or water or you could add veggie or bone broth for more flavor. top the salmon with a few slices of citrus (lemon, lime, or oranges) And now, rewrap the pan with the foil and put it into the oven for 20-30 minutes at about 375/F and wait to eat... (Pro Tip... leave one of the corners of the foil wrap open so that some of the steam can escape and not dry the salmon.)

Just before serving... Take your dish out of the oven... Check the rice for doneness, taste it, re-season, if necessary, brown it if desired (just to add color/texture) and serve it. You could also compliment your dish with a fresh salad, or sweet berries to compliment both the rice and the Salmon.

This concept could be repeated with nearly endless combinations. For example, you could replace the rice with quartered red potatoes and toss in a few bell peppers. Instead of Salmon you could use Chicken (breast, thighs, legs, etc.) You could also take the drippings/juices from the pan, thicken it, adjust the seasonings, and use it as a sauce/gravy of sorts. Top you dish with sliced or shredded cheese, and give it a few minutes in the oven, just to brown it a little and serve it up, good and hot!

There you have it!

            Quick, Easy, Versatile, Delicious!