Ok, we’ve got some great chefs, grill masters, and the such on this forum. But not every meal can be a home run, sometimes we have to keep it simple, quick, and (hopefully) one of our favorites. So what’s your go to when you need something easy to eat at home?
Mine is “Costco Taco Salad”, and only defined as Costco because that’s where I get 100% of the ingredients:
Taco meat - ground beef and taco seasoning from Costco, usually prepped 6-7lbs at a time and frozen in small batches
Rice - 90 second Costco rice cups
Tortilla chips - Kirkland tortilla chips crushed up
Shredded cheese - Costco, of course
Mix it up on a plate, dig in. Ready in 5 minutes, fills me for the day
When I really can’t seem to get off the couch to the butcher / grocery store I’ll throw leftover starch (rice or farfalle usually) in a mixing bowl with a can of tuna, the last 20% of a bag of spinach, frozen peas, and some combination of EVOO / lemon juice / garlic / capers / soy sauce / chili oil. Throw that into a pan until the spinach reduces down
Maybe a cheeky answer to say that I devote a fair amount of attention to the food that I buy, so even the ‘easy’ meals are generally high quality.
Perhaps the fastest would be store-bought hummus (which we often keep around), some sort of grain/pasta/potatoes that was cooked from a previous meal, a quick vegetable pickle, and the assorted types of kimchi we always have on hand.
Cook some pasta in one pot, cook up some mushrooms and spinach in a pan, and combine them with cottage cheese in a bowl. Then grate some cheese on top. Manga.
Sous vide chicken breast and steamed broccoli are always in the fridge from meal prepping, along with basic salad ingredients, and I’ll scramble or fry a couple of eggs in the AM or at night a few times per week.
My fairly simple meal is also my most frequent, probably at least two to three nights a week. I’ll start with a large salad of bagged lettuce, grape tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese, Ken’s balsamic vinaigrette, and a splash of croutons. When I’m about 2/3ds done with the salad, I start heating a cast iron skillet.
Once I finish my salad, I’ll pan sear a pork chop, steak, or chicken thigh that I’ve salted and refrigerated on a wire rack for 1-2 days. I most frequently cook a pork chop and I’ll turn it every 30 seconds to a minute and season it with freshly ground pepper and vadauvan, za’atar, or garlic powder when I think it just a few turns from being done. Sometimes I’ll also throw some frozen fries in the air fryer while the protein cooks, but that’s becoming less frequent as there are few brands I really like and I don’t need the carbs or calories.
I clean the skillet, wash the salad bowl, and wipe down the stovetop while letting the protein rest, so when I’m done with dinner, all I have to do is rinse the plate and flatware and throw them in the dishwasher. Since I’m typically cooking for one, I find that minimizing prep and cleanup encourages me to cook at home more frequently.
I keep meaning to try roasting vegetables in the air fryer but haven’t been sufficiently motivated to do it yet. I also need to start cooking more seafood. There is a very good local seafood market fairly close to my house, but unfortunately it is next door to a very elevated fast casual restaurant with a highly trained chef who does a fantastic job with seafood and fresh produce so I tend to eat Jack’s fish dishes instead of making my own.
Good bread that I have in the freezer, sliced and frozen
Defrost briefly in the microwave. Toast it
A little butter
Put some good cheese on it anything lying around from tj’s unexpected cheddar to some brillat savarin or epoisse or srilton
Maybe some chutney if cheddary , maybe some jam if bluey, whatever you want if creamy
