A simple skillet meal of nicely seasoned shrimp and pasta with asparagus.

Skillet Shrimp and Pasta with Asparagus

Y'all already know that, being not only a gal from the Deep South, but also growing up right here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, that I love my fresh from the Gulf seafood.

I have also talked here about how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE asparagus - any way you make it. Roasted, steamed, grilled and butter-steamed, asparagus is great as a side dish or included in other dishes. This is such a simple and easy skillet meal and the combination of asparagus with fresh shrimp is frankly, just downright delicious.

A quick skillet version of red beans and rice, made with canned kidney beans, the Trinity of vegetables and cooked with instant rice.

Skillet Red Beans and Rice

It's Monday and in this part of the Deep South, red beans and rice are a traditional Monday meal, so yes, this is yet another way to consume those favorite Monday red beans!

Now, I'll be the first to say that these are not traditional. The best red beans and rice are gonna come from a soaked dried bean that is slow stewed for a couple of hours on top of the stove. Hands down, that is my preferred method, even above the shortcut red beans and the slow cooker red beans, both of which are actually delicious too. But, even working from home now, I get stretched for time too.

 

Thin cut pork chops, dredged in a well seasoned blend of onion enhanced flour and cornmeal and pan fried in a cast iron skillet. Pictured here with succotash and fresh sliced Creole tomatoes.

Pan Fried Pork Chops

I have mentioned before how much I enjoy watching my husband eat a pork chop. He will gnaw every slap inch of that chop into submission! Don't you just love when somebody chows down on your food like that? A home cooked meal is an expression of love from the person who prepared it for you, and the best compliment is when somebody expresses how much they are enjoying that meal. To me, there is no better applause.

A classic, open-faced tuna melt sandwich of tuna, celery, sweet onion and tarragon and dressed with mayonnaise, gets a spicy kick from Cajun seasoning, hot sauce and jalapeno and is served on a toasted English muffin, topped with fresh, sliced tomato and melted cheese.

Spicy Tuna Melt

Okay, so yes. It's a simple open-faced tuna melt sandwich. But a reader recently asked me for my recipe, which of course gave me a craving for one, so I made them and I'm sharing it with y'all, because that is what a blogger of food does.

Besides. It's too darned hot to cook much, or at least often, and when is the last time you had one yourself? I think it's time!

 

Start with leftover cooked chicken, or a rotisserie chicken, add a blend of mayo and barbecue sauce, bacon, onion, celery and pecan, and put it all in a wrap. Add some carrot sticks and a side of fruit and you have a wonderful hot weather meal in no time.

Barbecue Chicken Salad Wrap

This recipe appeared in my email inbox one day a few weeks ago when it was hotter than, well, you know, and sounded so good for a hot day, that I shared the link to it on the Facebook page.

The original recipe called for it to be served on just a few leaves of Bibb lettuce, but I thought it would be perfect for a wrap. Shredded lettuce on the bottom, topped with the chicken salad, a little chopped tomato and wrap and roll! Ramona, one of our Facebook readers, said she was making it with the addition of celery and pecans, and I agree - they both provide nice flavor and a little extra crunch.

A hearty casserole of ground beef, seasoned with onion and bell pepper, some beans and corn, a little mixture of chili seasonings and topped off with rustic, cornmeal dusted biscuits.

Chuckwagon Casserole

It's no secret that I love casseroles - and yes, I love them any time of the year because they generally take little prep work and then go into the oven freeing up your time to do other things. They are an easy way to get a filling and tasty meal on the table with not a lot of effort too.

I know a lot of people want to switch over to no-cook meals, main dish salads, sandwiches, and cooking outside when the summer heat kicks in, but my husband still likes a meal, no matter the season, and cooking outside is pretty rough on me with the heat. Thank goodness for the modern convenience of air conditioning is all I can say!

Chicken legs and thighs, basted with olive oil and lemon, and seasoned simply with a bit of Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper and fresh rosemary and first cooked under the broiler before a quick finishing bake in a hot oven. Pictured here with lady cream peas and buttermilk sour cream cornbread.

Broiled Lemon Herb Chicken

I can't even remember the last time that I cooked chicken under the broiler - I just never think about it. It's really a great time saver, seven minutes on one side, another seven on the other, and then a finish in the oven for about 10 minutes at 450 degrees F for these thighs, and dinner is on the table in no time.

Dianne's Italian Sausage and Peppers - Featured Reader

Dianne's Italian Sausage and Peppers

I am humbled every day by the membership over on our Facebook page. They are a great group of people, willing to help another reader at the drop of a hat, when someone is in search of a recipe that I don't have up at the site. There are some incredibly talented cooks over there too, many of whom are more than willing to share their tried and true, favorite, and sometimes heritage, family recipes. There are a lot of great recipes that show up exclusively on the Facebook page, some even award-winners, so if you haven't joined us over there yet, you should!

While Deep South Dish has been centered primarily around sharing my own southern recipes, I also want to honor our members and bring some of their recipes outside of the pages of Facebook and email. I decided to start a feature honoring you and your recipes, because bottom line, this site and it's sister Facebook page, are really all about you and us sharing recipes with each other, so that they continue to live on.  If you're a reader here or a Facebook fan and would be interested in being a featured reader here on Deep South Dish, please email me for the details. Really all it requires, is your recipe, a couple of pictures and a bit about you and how the recipe came to be a favorite. That's it!  Dianne Ledet has offered to join us here as our first reader feature. Enjoy!

Precooked chicken that you've saved and frozen, plus a few cans of cream of chicken soup with fresh herbs and veggies, make for a tasty, quick and easy shortcut chicken stew loaded with veggies.

Easy Chicken Stew

Next time you prepare a roasted chicken, might as well roast two of them for some planned leftovers. Having those little freezer bags of already cooked chicken, makes for speedy weeknight meals like this speedy chicken stew, that I have enjoyed for years, an adaptation of a long ago recipe from an old Campbell's cookbook. I think you will love it too.

A diner classic and a long-held family favorite, Salisbury steaks made from ground beef and a few seasonings, takes a shortcut with mushroom soup for gravy.

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Salisbury steak is another one of those classic, old fashioned, dishes that we Southerners love and is comfort food at it's best. This recipe is one that has been around my kitchen for a very long time.

Yes, y'all. It utilizes our good old southern béchamel {that's Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup for those of y'all with a more sophisticated palate}, but of course, if you like, simply substitute a gravy mix, onion soup mix, or make up your own homemade version of cream soup or gravy - with or without the mushrooms - just please quit yakking about it to those of us who are endeared to our cream soups, alright?

Layers of mozzarella and provolone cheese, pepperoni, and a bit of marinara sauce and fresh basil are tucked into an artisan bread and grilled. Shown here with my fresh homemade tomato soup for a classic supper.

Pepperoni Pizza Grilled Cheese

Now, I'm the first to admit I love a good grilled cheese, made on white bread slathered with butter, sandwiched around plain ole American cheese and browned in a skillet. Serve it with a bowl of good ole Campbell's tomato soup {and I like to drop a slice of American cheese into that soup as it's warming} and you got yourself a mighty fine meal there. 

But every once in awhile I like a nice change too.

Bowtie pasta and peas with bacon, a southernized version of the Italian dish Butterflies and Peas or Farfalle con Piselli.

Bowtie Pasta and Peas with Bacon

This bowtie pasta and peas with bacon dish is a totally un-authentic and highly Southernized version of Butterflies (Bowtie Pasta) and Peas, known as Farfalle con Piselli, a classic Italian pasta dish.

It's a super easy and fast but tasty skillet pasta dish I think you'll really enjoy, well if you enjoy peas like me that is!

An American goulash, made with ground beef, Italian sausage and andouille, tomato, garlic and pasta, and seasoned with the Trinity and a bit of Cajun seasoning.

Southern Beef and Sausage Goulash

Don't you just love goulash? Now, of course, I'm talking about what we Americans refer to as goulash here, and not anything remotely resembling an authentic Hungarian goulash. Pasta, ground beef, Italian sausage, tomato, a bit of garlic, and in this case, The Trinity, a bit of Cajun seasoning, and some mild andouille sausage to southernize it just a tad, making it even better. Total comfort food, and ... it's all stovetop! So it's a quick & easy meal that is delicious. If you're looking for a very basic American goulash I've got that too! Click that link and we'll carry you right there!

Pan seared chicken breast in a buttery cream sauce tossed in fettuccine noodles with Parmesan cheese and toasted pecans.

Chicken Pecan Fettuccine

During the Christmas holidays last year, a popular food blogger posted a cranberry sauce recipe that very often, at least down south, has pecans in it, though this midwestern blogger could not understand why anybody would want to do that! Why everybody down south knows why... it's because pecans are good of course! And generally speaking, plentiful around here, though it seems less so these days.

Ground chicken, dressed up with a mirepoix of veggies and served in a light sauce on pasta.

Chicken Bolognese with Linguine

As soon as I saw this recipe in the February issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, I knew it would be perfect for those chicken tenders in my freezer.

But, since the seasonings in the original recipe consisted basically of salt and pepper, I also knew that I needed to bump them up! I mean this is skinless chicken breast people - not the most flavorful part of the bird, ya know?

Oh, and before I get preached to about the recipe, no... this is not a traditional bolognese sauce. I beg forgiveness of Bologna, Italy, but hey, I didn't name it either!

Basic Ground Beef American Goulash - a quick and easy ground beef, macaroni and tomato skillet meal. Stir in 1/2 cup of cubed Velveeta for a cheesy version.

Basic Ground Beef American Goulash

This recipe is a basic American goulash - one of those easy to throw together, I'm in a hurry and need to feed my family quick skillet meals, sort of akin to a simple homemade Hamburger Helper meal, really.

Not to be confused, as it so often is, with its kissing cousin, Hungarian Goulash (gulyás), a hearty, saucy and thick dish that falls somewhere between a soup and a stew of beef, potatoes and onion, much like our beef stew, except that it's usually fairly heavy on paprika.

Lightly caramelized onions are sauteed with Italian sausage, a little chicken broth, tomatoes, cream and seasonings and tossed with rigatoni pasta for a quick skillet meal.

Italian Sausage Rigatoni with Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce

This is another one of those quick pantry meals because it uses ingredients I almost always just have on hand. The sauce is a great accent to the Italian sausage and truly nothing could be easier. I used rigatoni, which works perfect with the sausage and cream sauce, but the recipe works well with many other pasta shapes as well. Try it with bow ties or rotini - here's how to make it!

A cafeteria lunchroom favorite, this soup from days long gone by and my all time favorite, made with a tomato and beef broth base, ground beef, a mixture of veggies and seasonings, and flavor boosters - all pantry staples. Make a double batch because this freezes nicely.

My Favorite Hamburger Soup

I love all kinds of soups, but this soup, made with ground beef, has been in my recipe box for years and is hands down my most favorite soup.

If you are anywhere near my age, you probably remember something similar to this from school days of years past, when meals were homemade from scratch and we kids actually looked forward to what was for lunch that day, from the first aroma of it wafting through the school hallways.

Beans and Weenies (Beans and Franks)

Beans and weenies, made from hot dogs, pork and beans, onion, and a tomato and ketchup based, brown sugar mustard sauce.

Beans and Weenies

The Cajun and I had the munchies tonight (and I wonder why I don't lose weight) sooooo I remembered that when I cleaned out the fridge of the bits and pieces of leftovers earlier today I'd run across some hot dogs I'd forgotten about.

So, beans and franks or beanie weenie as we call it, sounded like a plan. Really I just wanted to put it here so I'd remember what I did, but in case anybody's wandering by, measurements are basically guesstimates. Just taste it and see if you like it. Oh, and grab a yummy yeast dinner roll to sop up the juice for sure. I had a few in the freezer that I meant to serve with dinner, but forgot. Worked out now didn't it?

A quick stroganoff using cube steaks, sirloin or tenderloin, cream soup, sour cream and mushrooms. Serve over hot cooked egg noodles.

Beef Stroganoff

I decided to make some quick beef stroganoff for dinner tonight, and I truly can't believe The Cajun ate both mushrooms and sour cream without saying anything and exclaimed, "this is delicious!" Hehehehe... I just love when I can sneak in food he wouldn't otherwise touch with a 10 foot pole. Hey, don't judge me.