One of the best pieces of kitchen advice I heard, from a busy mom / professional / foodie point of view, was last year at the culinary tent during the Tucson Festival of Books.  This monumental nugget was first thing when you get home from work, put a pot of water on to boil, the idea being that 50% of the time, by the time you get settled, change clothes, feed the dogs, etc., the water will be boiling and you will have figured out what you want to make for dinner, for which you will need the water, without having to wait.  For me, it’s more like 80 – 90% of the time!  I can almost always plan a meal based on a pot of boiling water, and more often than not, it’s a one-pot meal.

Tonight’s dinner was all comfort-food, great for a fall night… with the weather just starting to cool.  I had some brown rice already, and in my pot of boiling water, I put in some sliced winter squash, spinach, assorted greens and “bacon mushrooms” from Sonoran Mushroom Company.  (No meat involved, just a hearty variety of mushroom.)  While the vegetables were cooking, I made a quick coconut curry sauce.  The whole dish took less than 15 minutes to throw together.