I confess, the secret isn't the particular sauce but having it on hand. Some sauces are raw ingredients while others you make and save for needed moments. And this is one of the times when those of us cooking for two have a real advantage over those cooking for families because it's easy to make more than we need just for tonight. For example, my blue cheese dressing is great on a salad, but is also great stuffed in celery stalks or spread on crackers as a pre-dinner munchy with a glass of wine.


Or try it dabbed on a ribeye steak or a lamb or pork chop.

Gremolata doesn't keep, but if you have fresh lemons, parsley, and garlic on hand it can make that steak or chop a completely different experience. On the other hand, a gastrique does keep. Make more than you need, freeze it in an ice cube tray, save the cubes in a plastic bag, and transform something as simple and cheap as a cubed steak into something completely different.

And on the subject of cubed steak - or even plain hamburger - I keep a selection of steak sauces ranging from Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce to TryMe Dragon Sauce to A1 Steak sauce and many others in my pantry. On nights when effort simply isn't an option I'll grill a cube steak or ground beef patty in my cast iron pan and haul out all of my sauces. Then I'll have one bite of steak with A1 and the next with homemade BBQ sauce and the next with something else: instant diversity.

Forget about recipes and stock your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer with flexible ingredients: Spanish smoked paprika, Romesco sauce, homemade marinara sauce.

You'll have quick, easy home-cooked meals in 30 minutes whenever you want.