The Perfect Pantry®

Cowboy turkey meatloaf recipe

Here in the hills of northern Rhode Island, we're surrounded by farms -- goat farms, herb farms, blueberry farms. We have horse farms, too, and plenty of them, but I have yet to run into any cowboys. Still, our village market sells Cowboy Ketchup, a heavenly condiment that's a little bit ketchup, a little bit mustard, and a little bit barbecue sauce. It's good enough to attract cowboys, and maybe that's the plan. You can slather some on a burger, of course. I really love to use it in this cowboy turkey meatloaf, where the sauce adds moisture to the very lean turkey, along with a little bit of the smoky flavor of barbeque. I always have a bottle or two in the pantry, so if you're reading this and you're a cowboy, come on by. I might have a meatloaf or two in the freezer.

Broccoli, mushroom, egg and cheese breakfast casserole recipe

On any given Sunday morning, you can find me standing at the butcher block counter in my kitchen, all-important first cup of coffee within easy reach, eggs and shredded cheese and odds and ends of vegetables arrayed before me. Even without coffee -- even in my sleep -- I can preheat the oven and whip up a breakfast casserole in less than ten minutes. And half an hour later, when my household wakes up, something like this broccoli, mushroom, egg and cheese casserole will be there to greet them. I'm a huge fan of protein-centered breakfasts, and I also love egg and cheese casseroles for lunch or worknight dinners. Unlike souffles, egg casseroles aren't fussy, which is good to know if you're planning to cook while not quite fully awake.

Recipe for vegan root vegetable soup

If you've been hanging around The Perfect Pantry for a while, you've heard me rail against recipes that require you to make twelve other things -- sauces, spice blends, stock -- in order to have the components for one recipe. So it wouldn't be fair to ask you to make an entire beef stew so you'll have leftover already-diced rutabaga, parsnips and carrots that won't quite fit into the stew pot, but which will fit quite nicely into your soup pot. (And it would be especially unfair if you don't eat meat!) This root vegetable soup, vegan and and gluten-free, carries its own sweetness; add some fruit and warm spices like cumin, coriander and garam masala, and whip everything together with your immersion blender. If you love cilantro, garnish individual servings with a few chopped leaves.

Recipe for turkey pesto meatball sliders

I'm glad you can't really tell from my photographs that these turkey pesto meatball sliders look a bit, well... green-ish. Yes, the meatballs are wearin' the green for St Patrick's Day, thanks to a good bit of garlicky basil pesto that perks up both the color and the flavor. I formed the meatballs with a two-inch ice cream scoop, a perfect fit for my favorite slider buns, but they'd be equally delicious in a smaller size, tossed with some pasta, garlic and olive oil. It takes just a few minutes to make your own pesto, or you can use good-quality store-bought pesto, if that's what you have in your pantry. Like all of the many turkey meatball variations I've shared here in The Perfect Pantry, these pesto meatballs freeze well, so whip up a double batch when you have time, and store the cooked, cooled meatballs in ziploc bags for easy worknight dinners or party fare.