Author: Emily Gautreaux

One Dish Dinner Recipes

Even the most decorated chef can be discouraged after a decadent meal by the sheer mass of dirty dishes to be washed following the final bite. That’s why the following list of one dish dinners, as presented by Martha Stewart, is perfect for those wanting to minimize their kitchen mess and maximize their palette’s enjoyment.

Roasted Salmon, Red Cabbage, and New Potatoes-One dish dinner

Be the hero of your household with this healthy, hearty, and heralded recipe. The cabbage and potatoes go into the oven first in this sheet-pan supper. A meaty salmon fillet flavored with mustard, horseradish, and lemon zest is then roasted atop the vegetables.

Butternut Squash Baked Risotto

This one dish dinner vegetarian meal is a rich, satisfying supper that gives you the creaminess of risotto without the hovering. Butternut squash and kale cook along with short-grain Arborio rice, making this risotto extra hearty and sweet. After sautéing for a few minutes on the stove, this dish goes into the oven—unlike most risottos, there’s no need to stand and stir!

Three-Cheese Skillet Lasagna

A simple garlicky tomato sauce and 3 Italian cheeses make this super-quick version of lasagna especially delicious and an easy one dish dinner. Canned plum tomatoes and fresh garlic make an easy, flavorful marinara sauce. Baking the lasagna in the same skillet used to simmer the tomato sauce makes this pasta dish extra quick to whip up.

Pressure-Cooker Chile Verde

As the days and nights turn cooler, dial up the heat with our easy pressure-cooker one dish dinner, chile verde. Simply sauté an onion and brown a pork shoulder, then stoke the stew with green chiles and store-bought salsa. Invite some friends over, and you’re ready to party. No pressure cooker? No problem—here’s a one-pot version for the stovetop, too.

One-Pot Seafood Orzo Risotto

Easy and delicious as well as a real stunner, this winner dinner comes together in less than an hour. It’s a paella-like pasta dish that cooks on the stovetop, then your choice of seafood is added and the dish goes under the broiler until it’s cooked through. The secret to the perfectly cooked seafood in this paella-like pasta dish?

Korean Beef Chuck Roast

Savory and utterly delectable, this one dish dinner will have you praised in the kitchen and dinner table. Season the beef with salt and pepper the evening before and refrigerate covered for the best flavor throughout this Korean Beef Chuck Roast. You can also shred the slow-cooked meat to make delicious Korean Beef Tacos.

Broiled Spicy Peanut Chicken

Just because a recipe is simple, doesn’t make it any less appetizing or memorable. Delicious one dish dinner surprise: Boneless chicken thighs and broccolini, both coated in a chili-spiked peanut sauce, emerge caramelized after broiling for just 10 minutes.

Chow Mein

This Chinese-American restaurant staple pairs crispy fried noodles with chicken and vegetables stir-fried in a thick brown sauce. This family-friendly one dish dinner couldn’t be easier to make.

One-Pan Pasta

Cheesy, rich, and flavorful, this tasty one dish pasta dinner couldn’t be easier to make—all of your ingredients cook in one large-sided skillet.

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Louisiana Museums Worth a Visit

It’s accepted and widely understood that Louisiana is best-known for music and food, but the state’s roster of attractions shine well outside the walls of its notorious restaurants and music lounges as the best museums in Louisiana are, in a multitude of ways, some of the most appreciated and unique collections of art, history, and culture across the globe. As collected in an article by Timeout, here are a half-dozen fascinating museum opportunities within striking distance of the Great Southern Boot.

Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu

Carnival Celebrations of Mardi Gras are found all across the Gulf Coast, not just in New Orleans. This museum, located in Southwest Louisiana’s Lake Charles, shares the history of the entire celebrated holiday. With rooms packed with memorabilia, from floats to throws and feather-covered costumes, there’s a ton to see, and much of it is hands-on. It’s a fun way to gain a deeper understanding of Mardi Gras, especially if your visit sadly doesn’t coincide with seeing an actual parade.

New Orleans Pharmacy Museum

With all the gifts New Orleans has given to the world, cocktails and modern pharmacies are atop the list, and their intertwined histories are explored in this New Orleans-based Louisiana museum. The first licensed pharmacist in the United States was Louis J. Dufilho, Jr., whose pharmacy was located in this French Quarter shop, now packed with exhibits focusing on the history of pharmaceuticals (and, yes, cocktails).

Marlene Yu Museum

Leave it to the daughter of famed New York-based, Taiwan-born abstract expressionist painter Marlene Yu to spearhead a project that converted Shreveport’s old YMCA into the proper space to display her mother’s world-renowned, 33-feet-long paintings. Along with Yu’s extraordinary nature-inspired work, the Louisiana museum displays the work of other contemporary artists, from both the burgeoning regional scene and around the world, as well as dance and live performance art.

Louisiana’s Old State Capitol

This 165-year old statehouse has been re-fashioned into a museum detailing the often sordid history of the Louisiana Political system. The castle-like exterior of the museum is a draw unto itself, with its stunning architectural details, including a cast-iron spiral staircase and a breathtaking stained-glass rotunda. Alongside its permanent state history exhibits, it also features rotating exhibitions focusing on Louisiana art and photography.

Tabasco Factory and Jungle Gardens

See where our cuisine gets its kick with this Avery-Island-based former visitor center and enjoy a top-tier food and history experience at this Louisiana museum. The small museum is packed with artifacts and interactive exhibits detailing the history of the salt dome upon which the McIlhenny family built their Tabasco fortune, from prehistory to the present day.

Abita Mystery House

This Louisiana museum Located in Abita Springs, this bizarre roadside attraction is more outsider art hoard and folk collection emporium than a proper museum, but finding things to gawk at on the overstuffed shelves and walls is where the fun is at. Folk art, crypto-taxidermy, thousands of bottle caps, hand-built moving dioramas, vintage arcade games are only few of the many objects found here.

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Tulane Donation Drive Raises Over $1 Million in 24 hours

For the past three years, Tulane University has hosted an annual “Giving Day,” but this year’s event was certainly for the record books as fundraising records were broken by nearly 45% when thousands of donors came together to celebrate the historic university. As detailed fully in a press release from the university, the 24-hour “Give Green: A Day for the Audacious” was an event held on June 25, after having been postponed twice by the university out of respect for the challenges faced by members of its community.

This year, over $1.1 million was raised from a collection of more than 2,700 gifts, according to the preliminary numbers. In the recent history of Tulane university, the “Giving Day” event stands as a celebratory watermark for the school, but with such a challenging year as 2020, many perceived the event as an outstanding achievement and a powerful vote of confidence in the Tulant institution at large.

“Given the uncertainty of the past few months and the multiple postponements of Give Green, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the astounding generosity of our Tulane community. I know that Tulanians everywhere have dealt with extraordinary challenges this year — so to see them come together in support of the university was even more powerful than in the past,” said Jenny Nathan Simoneaux, executive director of Annual and Leadership Giving at Tulane.

Contributions for this year’s “Give Green” event were from all reaches of the country and world as the gifts came from all 50 states and from 12 countries during this remarkable 24-hour event. Donor momentum was kept high during the day thanks to over two dozen challenges and matching gifts that further boosted the impact of generosity to schools, units, and initiatives all across the university.

On Give Green Day, the grand prize, The Carol Lavin Bernick Big Green Grand Prize, lightly takes advantage of the “winning nature” of Tulanians near and far, fostering friendly rivalries between schools and participants by offering bonus funds for the highest number of gifts donated. Tulane Athletics, Newcomb Institute and the School of Professional Advancement each won an extra $5,000 because they received the highest number of gifts in their respective categories. Tulane Law School, the School of Liberal Arts and the Center for Public Service won $2,000 each. The A. B. Freeman School of Business, the School of Science and Engineering, and the Tulane University Marching Band also received a bonus $1,000.

Alumni with reunions in 2020 (those whose graduation years end in 0 or 5) were also offered a special challenge — the largest one this year — with an anonymous reunion celebrant matching up to $50,000. Overall, those classes more than tripled that challenge — bringing in $234,317 toward their class totals.

The event was a resounding success across various social media platforms throughout the day as Tulanians shared their excitement about the university with friends, family and colleagues.

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Tasty and Tested Homemade Pizza Recipes

Heralded as an eternal crowd-pleaser for a reason, it’s not often that pizza disappoints, and this recipe library by Bon Appetit gives you over a dozen delicious reasons to preheat your oven. These homemade pizza recipes are sure to elevate your next at home pizza night in no time.

Caramelized Zucchini Flatbread

Tired of summer squash, try this delicious homemade pizza solution. The secret to a flatbread with a super-crunchy crust? Pre-roasting all of the veggies. This step concentrates their flavor, and also helps to cook out some of their moisture, which would otherwise soak into the crust. When shaping the dough, don’t be afraid to stretch it as thinly as possible—if the dough is springing back on you, just be patient and let it rest for a few minutes.

Buffalo Chicken Homemade Pizza

Combine two favorite foods in one inspiring package. A few tips: Letting the cast-iron pan preheat in a blazing hot oven will help ensure a crispy bottom crust, just be careful getting it in and out of the oven. You can use rotisserie chicken or your own leftovers. But what really makes this recipe stand out is the blue cheese dressing, which is mild enough to convert the blue cheese adverse.

Sheet-Pan Homemade Pizza with Brussels Sprouts and Salami

There is no higher calling of the humble Brussels sprout than this sheet-pan pizza. Pre-roast them until they’re well caramelized before assembling the pizza, which means all you have to do is make sure that the bottom crust is good and brown before sticking the whole thing under the broiler to get the cheese bubbling. The final result is a cheesy, crispy, can’t-stop-eating balance of flavor and texture.

“HEALTHYISH” Salad Pizza

Swap the red sauce for crisp lettuce tossed in a bracing dressing—and be amazed. Let the dough sit out for 20-30 minutes, which will make it easier to handle and stretch. It is highly recommend to make a double batch of pickled onions to layer in sandwiches, salads, and tacos that need a pick-me-up.

Cast-Iron Pizza with Fennel and Sausage

Pizza dough is usually sold as a 1-lb. ball. You only need 12 oz. for this cast-iron pizza recipe; tear off 4 oz. for making garlic knots. We used a 10″ pan, so if yours is bigger, use a bit more dough. Cooking sausage in the pan before adding the dough infuses the crust with porky flavor.

“Making Perfect” Homemade Pizza

With the amount of love, time, and research that went into making what constitutes the “perfect” pizza, you’ll definitely want to share. You’ll only use one 200 g ball of dough and about 3 Tbsp. pizza sauce to make one pie, so you’ll have lots left over—with the best-ever excuse to invite people over for a pizza party, but you can also freeze the dough for up to two weeks to keep it on hand for whenever you need it.

Fried Egg Flatbreads with Nduja and Mustard Greens

Nduja is a spreadable, spicy pork salami that grounds all of the other ingredients, but you’ll get heat from the mustard greens, as well. Give them a taste before you decide how much to put on.

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Natural Wonders of Louisiana

Branching out of the typical boundaries of famous Louisiana cities is a great way to familiarize yourself with the oft-forgotten, yet unforgettable aspects and natural wonders of Louisiana- thanks to a helpful article from Treehugger.

While our state is rightly famous for its culture, music, and cuisine, most commonly intersecting and resulting in New Orleans and Mardi Gras holding the number 1 spot on quintessential Louisiana locations lists, you’d be doing a great disservice to yourself by not exploring beyond the city limits.

Atchafalaya River Basin

Squeezed roughly between Baton Rouge and Lafayette is the country’s largest wetland and swamp, comprising a whopping 260,000 acres of cypress-tupelo swamps, bayous, marshland and open water. To experience this remarkable,  sweeping wetland ecosystem of south-central Louisiana,  visit the Atchafalaya Wildlife Refuge by traversing the second-longest bridge in the country — the 18.2-mile-long Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.

Cypress Island Preserve

This picturesque preserve is known for its thriving rookery as it protects 9,500 acres of cypress-tupelo swamp and bottomland hardwood forest just outside the city of Lafayette. It’s not uncommon to encounter a variety of wading birds, including blue herons, roseate spoonbills, cormorants and a variety of egret species while hiking the preserve’s levee and boardwalk trails. Although the preserve is open year-round, plan to visit the rookery between March and June, which is the peak gathering season for these magnificent avians.

Pass-a-Loutre

Set off for adventure with this 66,000-acre wetland that is located just outside of New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish, as it is only accessible by 10-mile boat ride. Pass-a-Loutre is an exceptionally scenic place for all kinds of activities, including both freshwater and saltwater fishing, crabbing, camping and even house-boating. Besides its scenic marshlands, man made canals, natural bayous and channels.

Kisatchie National Forest

Despite being Louisiana’s only national forrest, Kisatchie packs a punch amidst the state’s vast stretches of swampland. Originally designated by President Herbert Hoover in 1930, this beautiful 604,000-acre stretch of woodlands is filled with a combination of longleaf pines and bottomland hardwoods. The forest is home for many animals, the rarest of which include the Louisiana black bear, the red-cockaded woodpecker and the Louisiana pine snake; additionally, the area offers a variety of recreational activities, which include camping, horseback riding, boating, fishing, mountain biking, swimming and more.

Breton Wildlife Refuge

Breton Island is one of the oldest wildlife refuges in the country , having been established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. Roosevelt was prompted to take this action after learning of the ongoing destruction of the island’s birds, nests and eggs. More than 100 years later, the island has transformed into a thriving, low-impact bird watching and fishing destination.

Ouachita River

Originating in Arkansas and running 605 miles south into Louisiana, this is the 25th longest river in the country, which is named for the indigenous Ouachita tribe. While it’s mostly utilized for commercial purposes today, certain parts of the river are popular hunting and fishing areas.

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Nicholls Releases Literary Journal Chênière

Nicholls recently announced it was proud to release its 4th installment of its Annual Issue of Literary Journal Chênière.  Chênière began as an idea in the summer of 2014, with Nicholls Language and Literature faculty Scott Banville wanting an online journal in the Humanities at the university. Shana Walton became the first faculty advisor of the journal thereafter. Afterwards, Professors Patrick Perkins and Michael Martin took over as faculty advisors for the journal. Creative Writing student Anna Babin served as the journal’s first student editor.  The journal is based out of Nicholls State University, located in the Bayou Region of Thibodaux, Louisiana.

The name is derived from a local, coastal environmental feature. The journal is in its third issue and continues to evolve. The goal of Chênière is to become the top undergraduate Humanities journal in the Gulf Coast Region.  Literary journals give students and faculty alike the opportunity to get their work published on a smaller scale while also providing experience and exposure of the writing, editing, selection, publishing and printing process to students in the field.

The name Chênière was a conscious title chosen for several reasons:  not only for its local connections but also for the way it works as a metaphor for knowledge. Like Chênières, knowledge is temporary, built up over time in a gradual way, provides firm ground for putting down roots, for settling down and creating more knowledge and culture and then is either slowly replaced by a new Chênière via the process of silt and erosion or suddenly through a hurricane-like event.

In its fourth installment, Chênière is produced by three partnering departments: the Department of English, the Department of Modern Languages, and the Department of Cultural Studies.  Students explored various topics including William Faulkner and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  As a side note, the Department of English, Modern Languages, & Cultural Studies’ online degree was once again listed in Best Online Bachelor’s Degrees in English Programs, ranking in the top 25 nationally.  Part of that ranking was due to the phenomenal Literary Journal offering and its fourth installment proves to be no exception to its history of excellence.

Faculty advisor Dr. Michael Martin, assistant professor of English stated, “This issue is the culmination of a year of hard work, from procuring submissions to moving through the editing process.  The five articles are some of the highest quality essays yet published in Chênière.”

The issue features five articles from multiple fields of study, including art history, film and early American literary studies. Student authors are: Tabitha Mire (BA ‘19) from Lockport; Krista Butts, teaching certification graduate student from Houma; Caitlin Jones, a senior English major from Raceland; Lillian LeCompte, a junior English major from Houma; and Hannah Reynolds, a senior English major from Troy, North Carolina.

Faculty editors from the Department of English, Modern Languages, and Cultural Studies are Dr. Banville, Dr. Alex Fabrizio, Dr. Abigail Scherer and Dr. Victoria Scholz. To submit an essay, contact nsuchenieresubmit@gmail.com.

You can view the issue here: https://www.nicholls.edu/cheniere/articles/volume-4/.

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