Karen’s Main Dish Recipes:
Vegetarian main dishes are listed separately. This page lists beef, pork, poultry, fish and seafood recipes.
Avocado and Egg Salad Open Faced Sandwich
When I was a kid, my mom would make open faced tuna salad, tomato with a slice of American cheese broiled on an English muffin. Since I didn't like tuna salad or tomatoes, she always made me an egg salad & cheese. My adult taste buds have evolved, and I modified the...
Oven Roasted Boneless Turkey
Oven Roasted Boneless Turkey Ingredients: 1.5 lbs boneless/skinless turkey (breasts or tenderloin)1 tablespoon oil (I used corn oil)3 cloves fresh garlic, minced1/2 teaspoon sea salt1/2 teaspoon pepper1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried 1/2 teaspoon whole thyme, dried 1/2...
Creamy Butternut Pasta
Recently I posted a recipe on Recipezaar that I found in a fundraiser cookbook, Creamy Garlic Pasta. I play tag games on Recipezaar and Food, Friends & Fun Forum, in which players make each other's recipes and review them. After 2 of the game players made...
Grilled Pork Tenderloin
I found this recipe on a blog, and have made it twice now. Both times it turned out perfectly. The original recipe says you can marinate the pork for up to a day in the refrigerator, but I do it just for an hour or so. That's plenty long. If you want to...
Baked Chicken
This chicken is super easy, and can easily be cut down to 1 or 2 servings or doubled. It's great for a last minute "what should I make for dinner" night. Feel free to use chicken breasts or thighs, with or without skin and bones. Just make sure it is fully...
BBQ Hamburgers
My mom did a great job of feeding a family of 6 on a budget. BBQ'd burgers was a regular dish during grilling season. She made the ground beef go farther by making it a bit more like meatloaf, then my dad would slather on the BBQ sauce on the grill. The...
Salmon Salad
A while ago, I bought some smoked salmon, not the lox style cured fish, but a section of the fish that had been smoked as one piece. After eating some of it plain, I decided to turn the rest of it into salmon salad and it was wonderful. You need to use hot...
Just Chicken Livers
I love chicken livers, and this is a simple and easy way to make them for a main dish for dinner. Chicken livers are also inexpensive. You can pick up a carton of them in the butcher section of your grocery store. It's also an easy recipe if you are cooking for 1 or...
Easy Beef Brisket
I grew up eating brisket year round at weekly family dinners. But it was a also a staple on holiday dinner tables like Channukah and Rosh Hashanah. So when I took over the Channukah gathering for my family, I needed to come up with a brisket recipe. This recipe is...
Crawfish Balls Recipe
I discovered crawfish on a trip to New Orleans years ago, and came home wondering what I could make with it. I'm not into spicy dishes or gumbo, but thought that dishes that used crab might be able to be modified to work with crawfish. Then I I found this recipe for...
Homemade Chinese Fried Rice
I really like cooking from scratch rather than eating unhealthy processed foods or restaurant take out too often, but I also don't usually feel like making a complicated meal. Homemade Chinese Fried Rice is a great one dish meal or side dish. Usually made from...
Settlement Cookbook Salmon Loaf
When I got my first apartment, my Mom gave me her 1954 Settlement Cook Book. The book is well worn with tape holding it together. The Salmon Loaf is one of my favorite recipes from the book. When I was a kid, we would have it hot for dinner with a white sauce over the...
Salmon Burgers
Have you ever looked at 2 foods that are almost the same and been surprised by how much you like one but not the other? That's how I feel about canned salmon and tuna fish. I barely tolerate tuna fish, but love canned salmon. A few years ago I started paying attention...
Shrimp and Broccoli Stir Fry
If you are looking for a simple Chinese style dinner without a complicated recipe or a mile long list of ingredients you don't have in your pantry, my Shrimp and Broccoli Stir Fry is the answer. It's a simple recipe that comes together fast. Or, if you are an...
Easy Roasted Turkey Parts: Thanksgiving Dinner All Year Long
I love roasted turkey, and have always thought it was a shame that most of us eat it just for Thanksgiving. Earlier this year, I stumbled on a recipe using turkey parts instead of a whole bird. The turkey tasted like it was roasted all day, but without all of the...
Easy Dinner Recipe: Chicken (or Turkey) Divan
My Mom's Chicken Divan recipe was my very favorite dinner as a child. I asked for it as my birthday dinner every year. When I moved out on my own, Chicken Divan was one of the recipes I asked my Mom to type up on a recipe card for me. Over the years, I've switched to...
Crock Pot Recipe: Beer Shredded Chicken
Today I am sharing with you my new favorite way to make shredded chicken that is perfect for sandwiches, chicken salad, tacos or casseroles. While I made this recipe with skinless chicken thighs, you could easily do this with chicken breasts or leg quarters, and even...
Healthy Recipes: Stuffed Ground Beef Eggplant
I know so many people who think that the only way to eat eggplant is Eggplant Parmesan. If you are one of those people like me who does not like fried eggplant topped in tomato sauce and cheese at all, you need to check out my Stuffed Ground Beef Eggplant recipe. I...
Grilled Pork Chops with Apple Brown Sugar Sauce
I've always liked pork chops, but I remember them from my childhood as dry tough slabs of meat that my dad cooked on the grill. My first few attempts at pork chops weren't much better. Then I found this recipe. The pork chops are come out moist if you simple don't...
Crockpot Recipe: Beer Pulled Pork
I love pulled pork and was excited when I discovered this recipe on Chow.com for crockpot pulled pork. I decided to change up the recipe a bit by using beer instead of chicken stock and ditching the barbecue sauce. The end result was wonderful. I hope you like it as...