I think the recipe for "Spanish Rice" came out much later than the Depression, but it was a favorite of mine growing up: Saute till brown, a lb. of hamburger, cook a cup of rice which will swell to two cups, toss it all together with a large can (28 oz. of tomatoes) Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and bake for about an hour at 350 degrees. --So easy! I know you'll be tempted to add more "stuff" to it, and I've tried myself. It is much better with just these three or four ingredients! One ingredient that does work is, believe it or not, pineapple, if you're looking to mix it up a bit.
Another easy recipe involves cooking a pack of wide egg noodles, draining them and then frying them until crisp on the bottom. Just add a can of tomatoes. OMG, this was a favorite. Deceptively simple for what it tastes like. I crave this all the time, but I am trying to keep simple carbs out of my diet.
Carbonara is another amazing dish. Like above, you stir in a few eggs to drained hot pasta (Mom used spaghetti). Saute onion, bacon and add a little white wine. Toss it about along with the egg into the pasta and add in parm cheese--1/2 cup or so--I don't remember how much, maybe 3/4 cup. I'm not a huge bacon fan and this doesn't take much...you can use a pound, but 1/2 that works.
Parsley Potatoes is another where the sum is greater than the parts: Chopped parsley, boiled potatoes cut in bite-sized pieces, salt and butter. Of course, there is a fair amount of butter and salt! I use almost an equivalent amount of parsley to the amount of potatoes (before it's pulled from bigger stems and chopped roughly.)
I grow basil like a regular vegetable and harvest leaves regularly through the season and make batches of pesto that I toss in the freezer in cup amounts to use throughout the winter. I don't add cheese and I use walnuts. I found that I really like it almost better when mixed in with rice than pasta, although I think any hardy grain would be good. I find it mixes better if I toss it in as the rice is cooking rather than after. I also will toss in a jar of tomatoes, measuring out the liquid as part of the needed rice water.
I also love Connie's zucchini "crab" cakes: a recipe that I found on Allrecipes. (
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13938/connies-zucchini-crab-cakes/) No crab is used, but it does use Old Bay seasoning. If you grow your own zucchini and are looking for ways to use it, I highly recommend this recipe. Because salt will leach out water from the zucchini, don't salt until the patties are frying. Also, you don't need so much oil or flour to coat the patties.
Well, that's just off the top of my head...I will add more if I think of any. All of these are real winners! Enjoy.
