Fast and Easy Meals - Add Recipes Here!

[rocketgirl]

I saw a post from someone that said they could throw together a fresh healthy meal in 10 minutes.  Others swear that cooking a meal can be done in 30 minutes or less.

So, what are these basic, no-frills, not a heart-attack-waiting-to-happen meals?!?  Post your recipes, instructions, short-cuts here!  Please avoid the "cook all day Sunday and freeze" and throw in some real day-to-day quick stuff.  I know I'm not the only one who wants it.

[teetime]

Shrimp baked with tomatoes and feta. 

Thaw a bag of frozen shrimp (anything from med to jumbo works well; I like trader joe's).  Layer shrimp in bottom of jelly roll like pan, top with a layer of really good hearty marinara sauce (can buy this at first and graduate to making a quick sauce of your own), top with crumbled feta.  Bake until feta is all melted and starting to brown. 

With good bread to soak up the sauce and a big salad, it's pretty close to a full meal.  Or for a one dish meal cook a frozen package of spinach with your tom. sauce before topping the shrimp and your veggie is right there.

I also made a really good clam chowder this weekend and with cooking time it was still under an hour.  Enough for multiple lunches plus a dinner ... let me know if you're game and I'll get the recipe.

[rocketgirl]

Shrimp baked with tomatoes and feta. 

Thaw a bag of frozen shrimp (anything from med to jumbo works well; I like trader joe's).  Layer shrimp in bottom of jelly roll like pan, top with a layer of really good hearty marinara sauce (can buy this at first and graduate to making a quick sauce of your own), top with crumbled feta.  Bake until feta is all melted and starting to brown. 

With good bread to soak up the sauce and a big salad, it's pretty close to a full meal.  Or for a one dish meal cook a frozen package of spinach with your tom. sauce before topping the shrimp and your veggie is right there.

I also made a really good clam chowder this weekend and with cooking time it was still under an hour.  Enough for multiple lunches plus a dinner ... let me know if you're game and I'll get the recipe.

That actually sounds good, for seafood.  Neither DH nor I are big eaters of seafood, but we do occasionally eat shrimp.  No much else though.  I don't think either of us would like clam chowder.  I'm not sure I've even seen clams in the grocery store, but we're inland.

[parsarothy]

Well, what do the two of you like to eat?

[rocketgirl]

Well, what do the two of you like to eat?

Beef, pork, & chicken are in for meats.  Horse, monkey, squirrel, rabbit, and other "exotic" meats are out.  ;)We are not opposed to beef/turkey blend instead of regular ground beef/chuck.  We would tend to buy meat that doesn't require that we skin, de-bone, etc. That would be consistent with quick fix meals.  We just don't like seafood.  We like processed meats like polish sausage and hot dogs and salami, and realize that just a little bit of procuitto makes things yummy (at least in restaurants it does).

I don't care for salads, except as a side dish.  I like fruit and nuts on mine, but not meat.  DH will not eat fruit and nuts on a salad, but will eat meat.  I'm not crazy about tomatoes on a salad, but I'll eat them.  I won't eat radishes or raw onion though.  And I like spinach salad.  DH doesn't really, but he'll eat it if olives are involved.  At least neither of us are crazy about iceberg lettuce, right?

DH doesn't seem to like much in the way of green veggies, but he'll take a few bites if it winds up on his plate.  Cheese can always be dumped on stuff, right?  Frozen veggies are easy enough, but not much selection.  We both like yellow/crookneck/summer squash in season.  I like zuchini.  He doesn't but will eat it if it's mixed with the yellow squash.  I don't like brussel sprouts - even the little ones that are fresh and not so bitter.

We both like Italian-ish food.  He likes spicy stuff, and for me it depends.  I think he's mentioned not liking curry, but I like it if pineapple is involved.  I actually haven't tried it much.  He'll eat just about anything with rice, but I don't like rice. (I'll eat it though, but wouldn't want to frequently).  In fact, I'm not that crazy about potatoes either, except sweet potatoes.  (Bread is my starch).

That's so not helpful, is it?

[blackswangreen]

That's so not helpful, is it?

Sure it is.  If you like bread as your starch, there are a ton of variations on protein + salad/simple veg + crusty french bread.  This is pretty much half of my summer diet.  Rotate fish, chicken, pork, lamb through there and you've got some very, very simple & quick meals.

For easy chicken, take a boneless chicken breast sprinkled with a bit of parmesan, a few herbs, cover it with a few slices of pancetta and bash the crap out of it with a frypan (this is seriously therapeutic after work!)  You're essentially just making mock schnitzel, but it's very tasty and cooks in no time.  Similarly, steak and most chops (lamb/pork/etc) don't need a lot of prep.  Pretty much just bung on the grill or in a hot cast iron pan and eat shortly afterwards.  On the fish side, we'll often just grill a piece of salmon with some simple herbs, but most fish is simple to prepare and cooks very quickly.

[rocketgirl]

For easy chicken, take a boneless chicken breast sprinkled with a bit of parmesan, a few herbs, cover it with a few slices of pancetta and bash the crap out of it with a frypan (this is seriously therapeutic after work!) 

  This doesn't damage your kitchen counter (or your frypan)?  Pancetta is some kind of Italian meat thing, right?  What herbs?  I'm not an experienced cook, remember?

You're essentially just making mock schnitzel, but it's very tasty and cooks in no time.  Similarly, steak and most chops (lamb/pork/etc) don't need a lot of prep.  Pretty much just  bung on the grill or in a hot cast iron pan and eat shortly afterwards.  On the fish side, we'll often just grill a piece of salmon with some simple herbs, but most fish is simple to prepare and cooks very quickly.

I'm not quite getting how should be cooked? 

[BonitaApplebum]

How do you feel about buying sauces and using them to speed up prep time?

If you live near a Trader Joe's, check them out. You can buy all sorts of different sauces there, from various ethnicities. It's super fast and easy to base a meal on that. But, really, most grocery stores will have some options in this category, especially in the Asian and Latin aisles.

Another good shortcut is to buy pre-chopped frozen vegetables. Check your freezer section at the store, you can often find blends as well as individual veggies.

Fast and Easy Stir Fry Technique

- Cube some meat (chicken, pork, beef -- others might do the same with tofu or seafood)

- Cube some veggies (peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, onion, eggplant, whatever you like -- just try and get everything roughly the same size). If using frozen chopped veggies, this is already all set!

- Heat a little oil (olive, vegetable, peanut, etc.) in a wide pan over medium high heat

- Stir fry the cubed meat for a few minutes until it's close to done (time will vary depending on type of meat and size of cube, but for small pieces it should take less than five minutes (you can test a piece for doneness by cutting into it with a knife, until you get a sense of how long it takes). If it doesn't all fit in the pan, do it in batches.

- Once finished stir frying the meat, remove it all from the pan and place in a bowl, set aside.

- If your meat wasn't very lean, you might need to drain some of the grease from the pan. Alternatively, if it looks like there's not much oil left in the pan, add a little more and let it get hot. (Sorry, you have to kind of eyeball this and make decisions based on how much fat you want/don't want in the final dish.)

- Stir fry the veggies. Again, depending on the size and type of veggies, time will vary... also it depends on how well done you like your veggies. Again, if they don't all fit in the pan, do them in batches, you can put the 1st batch of cooked veggies into the bowl with meat while you do the rest.

- Return the meat (and any veggies) to the pan and pour the prepared jar of sauce over the whole thing.

- Heat through

- Serve with bread, pasta, rice, couscous, quinoa, whatever carb floats your boat.


The first time you do this it might take a little longer, but once you're comfortable with it you ought to be able to whip it out in 20 minutes or less, especially if somebody else helps you chop everything or if you buy pre-chopped veggies. [ETA - I just did a test run of this for dinner tonight, and it took me 26 minutes... but I had forgotten to defrost the chicken ahead of time, so that slowed me down a bit - as did breaking up a few sibling scuffles...]

Once you get this technique down pat (and you can do a variation on it every night for a long time without repeating anything) you can start trying to make your own sauces and/or adding your own seasonings, too. 

Let me know if any of the steps don't make sense.

[onawhim]

Do you have a grill like a george foreman type one?  That is my go to for fast meals.  Just season chicken breasts, steak or fish and put it on the grill.  It cooks super fast.  Then serve it over salad or pasta or serve with a microwaved baked potato or sweet potato and steamed veggies and you can be eating in less than 20 mins. 
There are also lots of super quick pasta recipes, this is a good one:

Pasta with Tuna, Arugula, and Hot Pepper Recipe

Ingredients

    * 1 pound dried fettuccine, spaghetti or linguine
    * 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
    * 2 large garlic cloves, or more to taste, finely minced
    * Generous pinch hot red pepper flakes
    * 2 6-ounce cans tuna packed in olive oil, drained
    * Kosher salt
    * 1/2 to 3/4 pound baby arugula (works with spinach as well)

Method

1 Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and boil until al dente.

2 While pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-low heat. Add the garlic and hot pepper flakes and cook until garlic is fragrant and sizzling. Add tuna and shred it into fine flakes with a fork. Season with salt. Keep warm over low heat.

3 Just before the pasta is ready, set aside 1 cup of boiling water. Drain pasta and return it to the warm pot set over moderate heat. Depending on the size of your pot and skillet, either add the arugula and the tuna mixture to the pasta in the pasta pot, or add the drained pasta to the skillet with the tuna mixture and add the arugula. Toss vigorously with tongs, moistening with some of the reserved pasta water. The arugula will wilt in the heat of the pasta. Divide among warm bowls and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

[rocketgirl]

Where besides a Trader Joes can you buy pre-made sauces?  They don't have Trader Joe here.  We have WalMart, Target, Publix, Kroger, and Sam's Club (although our membership expired) on my end of town, and a Fresh Market not too much farther.  We do most of our shopping at WalMart because it is only 1.5 mile from my house and I have to pass it go anywhere else.   Sometimes DH goes to Publix. 

At WalMart, I know we can get pasta sauces (red, and alfredo), regular pesto, and sun-dried tomato pesto, soy sauce, and various marinades.  There's some mix-it yourself from a powder sauces, but aside from alfredo, taco seasoning, ranch dressing/dips, and gravy, I don't know that there's much selection.  I've actually sauteed squash in Italian salad dressing before, so I guess we also have the salad dressing aisle.

We also like the garlic in a jar because it's easier than fresh, and better than powdered.

We do not have anything like a George Foreman grill, and do not have a toaster oven.  (We don't really have room either).  We do have an electric stove and oven, and a microwave.  We also have a pretty nice gas grill outside.

[sweetie darling]

Beef, pork, & chicken are in for meats.  Horse, monkey, squirrel, rabbit, and other "exotic" meats are out.  ;)We are not opposed to beef/turkey blend instead of regular ground beef/chuck.  We would tend to buy meat that doesn't require that we skin, de-bone, etc. That would be consistent with quick fix meals.  We just don't like seafood.  We like processed meats like polish sausage and hot dogs and salami, and realize that just a little bit of procuitto makes things yummy (at least in restaurants it does).

I don't care for salads, except as a side dish.  I like fruit and nuts on mine, but not meat.  DH will not eat fruit and nuts on a salad, but will eat meat.  I'm not crazy about tomatoes on a salad, but I'll eat them.  I won't eat radishes or raw onion though.  And I like spinach salad.  DH doesn't really, but he'll eat it if olives are involved.  At least neither of us are crazy about iceberg lettuce, right?

DH doesn't seem to like much in the way of green veggies, but he'll take a few bites if it winds up on his plate.  Cheese can always be dumped on stuff, right?  Frozen veggies are easy enough, but not much selection.  We both like yellow/crookneck/summer squash in season.  I like zuchini.  He doesn't but will eat it if it's mixed with the yellow squash.  I don't like brussel sprouts - even the little ones that are fresh and not so bitter.

We both like Italian-ish food.  He likes spicy stuff, and for me it depends.  I think he's mentioned not liking curry, but I like it if pineapple is involved.  I actually haven't tried it much.  He'll eat just about anything with rice, but I don't like rice. (I'll eat it though, but wouldn't want to frequently).  In fact, I'm not that crazy about potatoes either, except sweet potatoes.  (Bread is my starch).

That's so not helpful, is it?

Wait ... I've charted this out for you!

Fast and easy meal prep will be a cinch now!!   

[cgraz]

A lot of sauces that are good for stir-fry are in our marinade aisle at the regular grocery store - I look for some kind of teriyaki variation.

My go-to easy meal is usually some kind of pork or chicken in whatever marinade floats my boat that day (from a bottle, anything in the marinate aisle), with packaged rice pilaf and steamed veggies in the microwave. That could easily be done without the rice if you're not a fan, just amp up the veggies maybe with 2 different kinds, like the squash & zucchini combo.

I have looked up Cooking Light's superfast suppers in the past and used that to get good ideas.

Also, variations on burritos or quesadillas are easy and you can have non-perishable or long-lasting things on hand like salsa, a can of beans (refried, black, etc. as you like), and some tortillas and cheese. In a pinch for time I have used leftover rotisserie chicken or the cooked chicken strips you can by (Purdue, etc.) if I wanted to add chicken to that. You can make them as elaborate or simple as you like and assemble in about 5 minutes...I've used the grill, a pan, or the broiler to heat the quesadillas depending on time, etc. since all it really takes is melting the cheese, nothing fancy for cooking. If you want to take extra time, you can saute onions and peppers or grill your own chicken for them. They can be vegetarian or not, as you like.

[BonitaApplebum]

A lot of sauces that are good for stir-fry are in our marinade aisle at the regular grocery store - I look for some kind of teriyaki variation. 

Yep. Kroger and Publix should definitely have a big selection to choose from.

Lawry's is a brand with a lot of seasoning/sauce options -- check their site for suggested recipes to go with their products.

[Rejaneration]

Epcurious.com has a searchable function for quick meals (under 30 mins).

Stir fries are probably the easiest.  They don´t have to be Asian either.  Slice some steak, throw it in a frying pan with bellpeppers and onions, wrap in a flour tortilla and you are ready to go. We do a lot of that type of thing.

[caribougrrl]

Has MQ not mentioned the crockpot yet?  I'm sure she'll stop in with some tips. 

My sister, who doesn't like to cook, and her husband who likes to cook but is still developing his skills, make a lot of meals from Canadian Living magazine's recipes... here's a link to the "quick & easy" recipe section.

[rocketgirl]

I can do a pot roast in the crock pot, but am not crazy about the idea of cooking it for 10 hours - meat cooks down A LOT in 10 hours.  I used to do pot roast when I lived close to work and could start it at lunchtime, but that is an impossibility now.  However, I'm open to easy ideas that can cook that long.

[blackswangreen]

  This doesn't damage your kitchen counter (or your frypan)?  Pancetta is some kind of Italian meat thing, right?  What herbs?  I'm not an experienced cook, remember?

I'm not quite getting how should be cooked? 

We pinched this one off of a Jamie Oliver show (one of the Ministry of Food shows where he's trying to convince a whole town of reluctant cooks that cooking at home can be quick and easy).  If you click the link, it includes a video that gives you a step-by-step on how to cook this.  If you like this, other recipes from the same website might be good for you to try as well.

Anyway, here's his complete recipe (using prosciutto instead of pancetta - they're both just types of Italian ham/bacon).

Ingredients
30g Parmesan cheese
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 skinless chicken breasts, preferably free-range or organic
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon
6 slices of prosciutto
Olive oil

Method: How to make Parmesan chicken breasts with crispy posh ham
To prepare your chicken
1. Grate your Parmesan.
2. Pick the thyme leaves off the stalks.
3. Carefully score the underside of the chicken breasts in a criss-cross fashion with a small knife.
4. Season with a little pepper (you don’t need salt as the prosciutto is quite salty).
5. Lay your breasts next to each other and sprinkle over most of the thyme leaves.
6. Grate a little lemon zest over them, then sprinkle with the Parmesan.
7. Lay 3 prosciutto slices on each chicken breast, overlapping them slightly.
8. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining thyme leaves.
9. Put a square of cling film over each breast and give them a few really good bashes with the bottom of a pan until they're about 1cm thick.

To cook your chicken
1. Put a frying pan over a medium heat.
2. Remove the cling film and carefully transfer the chicken breasts, prosciutto side down, into the pan.
3. Drizzle over some olive oil.
4. Cook for 3 minutes on each side, turning halfway through, giving the ham side an extra 30 seconds to crisp up.

[Suesquatch]

Do you have a grill like a george foreman type one? 

1.

Turn it on and let it got hot.  Drop a drop of water on it and it should dance.  Put on the chicken breast/boneless pork chop/steak/whatever.  Close the lid.

Nuke a bag of veggies.

Put on plate.  Salt. Pepper.  Oil or butter.

Eat.

[martiniqueeni]

I can do a pot roast in the crock pot, but am not crazy about the idea of cooking it for 10 hours - meat cooks down A LOT in 10 hours.  I used to do pot roast when I lived close to work and could start it at lunchtime, but that is an impossibility now.  However, I'm open to easy ideas that can cook that long.

Has MQ not mentioned the crockpot yet?  I'm sure she'll stop in with some tips. 

My sister, who doesn't like to cook, and her husband who likes to cook but is still developing his skills, make a lot of meals from Canadian Living magazine's recipes... here's a link to the "quick & easy" recipe section.

 

Rocketgirl, get a timer (at the hardware store) for your slowcooker and go back to enjoying its benefits.   Or start your pot roast from frozen; it'll need the 10+ hours.   

For a stovetop quick meal, melt a little butter in a heavy skillet, toss in some pierogies and kielbasa (we like turkey kielbasa).   While those are heating through, microwave a nice side dish of veggies and set the table.   

[Sophielarue]

At least once a week, we have omelets for dinner, or scrambled eggs if I screw it up.  It  can be a very filling, warm meal.  It's fast and easy, and you make it as creative as you want.  I like mine with sauteed mushrooms and spinach, and then I throw in some avocado and cheese at the end.  I eat mine with a bit of toast, or some roasted new potatoes, and it's a meal!