Favorite quick meals

[guinevere29]

Slow-cooker meals are my favorite. 20 minutes or so of prep-work before I leave the house, and when I come home, the house smells like deliciousness. 

 

As I was reading this thread I was thinking I need to bring up the slow cooker! You can make almost anything in the slow cooker; it's best when you are busy in the evening but have some time to prepare food in the morning.

 

I always go looking on this website for slow cooker recipes: 365 Days of Slow Cooking  They have everything you could dream of!

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Anybody ever throw stuff in a blender and eat it? I have a Nutri Bullet. I can't really stomach fruits and vegetables. Only way I can eat them is by blending them and drinking it real fast. 

[MsDarjeeling]

Anybody ever throw stuff in a blender and eat it? I have a Nutri Bullet. I can't really stomach fruits and vegetables. Only way I can eat them is by blending them and drinking it real fast. 

 

 

I sometimes have a protein shake for breakfast or I'll swing by Jamba Juice for a smoothie, but that's it for my blended meals. 

[doingthings]

(BUMP)
 

I love to pan-fry a small slice of salted salmon fillet and then eat it with rice (pre-cooked) and a bowl of miso soup for breakfast. It's ridiculously filling and easy to cook. 

 

I'm also really big on premarinating things and throwing them into the freezer. I even freeze my rice, and muffins, and bread.... and everything. It makes it easy for me to cook and prepare. Just defrost the night before and microwave/bake/fry the next day. 

[MoJuiced]

Gnocchi (mini potato dumplings). They take all of 3 minutes to cook in boiling water.

Couscous (usually bought in sachets). Again, very quick.

Veggie Stir fry. 

 

I literally came here to post these 3 things. Well done.

[starofdawn]

Throw in fresh chicken and asparagus into a pan, top both with some olive oil&salt&pepper, put in the oven at 400F for ~ 15 minutes... it's a healthy and simple meal!

[astroyogi]

Kale, mushrooms and red onions stir-fried with red wine, salt, pepper and garlic powder (for dinner). Lunch is easy; wash some greens, and quickly mash up a tuna, chicken, or chickpea salad to put on top. Breakfast: toast. I don't pull any cooking stunts before my coffee. 

[pears]

For those who live near a Safeway, the Safeway Select brand has epic veggie potstickers. They're on the salty side, but are actually pretty nutritious if you have an otherwise low-salt diet: no cholesterol, good fiber & protein, good vitamin A & iron (some calcium & vitamin C, too). I fry mine in avocado oil, which is expensive, but is a good clean frying oil with a high smoke point, & is easier to find than ghee. Om nom nom!

[themmases]

Black bean soup: 1 can refried black beans, broth of your choice, chili powder, green Tabasco, heat through. Serves 2 dieting people or 1 hungry person. Top with dairy (I like Greek yogurt) or use up bottom of the bag tortilla chips. Sometimes I get a small amount of pre-chopped vegetables from a salad bar and make a veggie quesadilla to go with this.

 

Frozen western vegetables, chili powder, and a can of tomatoes turn your can of black beans into 2-4 servings of vegetarian chili, more or less.

 

Tomatoes and rice: chicken thighs, tomato sauce, spinach, bake at 350, shred chicken. Put on brown rice, top with yogurt.

 

White bean and tomato stew: put white beans in your leftover tomato sauce with more spinach or frozen peas, top with yogurt.

 

These corn and basil pancakes, more than once a week all summer: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/corn_basil_cakes.html Topped with salsa and, you guessed it, yogurt.

 

Also, those Imagine boxed soups with half a loaf of sourdough usually serve me and my partner. Tomato and red pepper is the best one.

 

Finally, make any stew-consistency mixture of meat and vegetables (I did chicken and tomato sauce with mushrooms and peas last week) and put it in a bowl on top of your stale bread.

[spectastic]

pizza hut is selling large pepperoni pizzas for $7 through the 19th

[gellert]

Lean Cuisine's Honestly Good line.  Yeah, I'm lazy and don't really cook that often.  But damn that pomegranate chicken is delicious.

[gellert]

Anybody ever throw stuff in a blender and eat it? I have a Nutri Bullet. I can't really stomach fruits and vegetables. Only way I can eat them is by blending them and drinking it real fast. 

 

Yep.  I don't like blended vegetables so my diet is very veggie-free, but I drink a breakfast smoothie pretty much every day.  I also don't really like yogurt or kefir on its own so I freeze that in an ice cube tray and toss it in with the fruit.  Works for me to get quick protein + fruit.

[LittleDarlings]

TUNA!!

[bakalamba]

I learned the method of one-pot cooking in graduate school and perfected it in Peace Corps (cooking over charcoal means you don't have the luxury of heating multiple things at the same time): cook rice (for extra flavor, saute in some olive oil before adding the water), and halfway through add tomato if needed, and 3/4 through add whatever you have in the fridge or cabinet (tuna, lentils, vegetables, leftover meat, even potatoes). Cook together for flavor and add seasoning (I recommend dropping by a Japanese market, if possible, and getting rice seasoning (I believe it's called Furikake). Great with hot sauce. For maximum efficiency and minimal dishwashing, eat out of the pot.

[GraceEun00]

This might be an odd question, but does using a slow cooker (especially when turned on all day) increase electric bills by a lot? As a grad student, I would like to keep costs of utilities down haha

[TomServo]

Chinese takeout.

[spectastic]

can't beat cici's. nothing beats cici's.

[overworkedta]

Slow cookers are not bad on the electric bill in my experience.  Hairdryers are probably less cost effective.  I use one to make the laziest but tastiest soup.  I put in tomoto puree, salt and pepper, beef or lamb stew meat, frozen veggies, potatoes, and garlic.  Leave it on all day on medium for like 6-7 hours or low for 8+ hours and you have the best soup ever.  Or, if you are nervous, put it on low overnight and keep it there.  If you have a big enough one, you can also roast an entire chicken.

 

And while chickens aren't "quick", they are cost effective and simple if you have a dutch oven.  You can get a cheap one for like $30.00 at Marshall's or a cooking outlet.  Put it in the oven with some garlic and olive oil, let the oil heat up, toss in your chicken, and then put the lid on.  In about 2 hours, you check the chicken with a thermometer and you have meat all week relatively unseasoned that you can pour any sauce over, mix with rice, etc.  And you can frequently find "fryers" for like $8.00 at the grocery.

[iPsych]

goat cheese, cranberry & spinach salad:

-obtain spinach, goat cheese, craisins, walnuts and, if you desire, a protein such as chicken or beef

-combine all ingredients in a bowl

-toss with balsamic

-enjoy!

 

I also really enjoy making veggie fried rice/quinoa: 

-heat sesame oil in a frying pan.  add scallions and garlic

-scramble up an egg

-add pre-cooked protein if you desire

-throw in every veggie you possess

-add pre-cooked (read: leftover) rice/quinoa

-add soy sauce/hot sauce to taste

the whole process takes about 20 minutes!

[gingin6789]

Microwaveable hot and sour soup that doesn't taste like hot and sour soup but is still tasty, and I also like the frozen mushroom ravioli meals . they're not that good compared to some of the other yummy things that folks have been posting here!

[Monochrome Spring]

Rice and beans in bulk. Cook enough for the week, and then add whichever meat and veggies were on sale for the week.

[starofdawn]

This might be an odd question, but does using a slow cooker (especially when turned on all day) increase electric bills by a lot? As a grad student, I would like to keep costs of utilities down haha

Centre for Sustainable Energy says a slow cooker uses 0.7kWh over eight hours - just slightly more than a traditional lightbulb. Ovens are "more expensive".

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Centre for Sustainable Energy says a slow cooker uses 0.7kWh over eight hours - just slightly more than a traditional lightbulb. Ovens are "more expensive".

I thought you were gonna say "cheese." 

 

By the way, who do you see them drafting? They lost a lot of receivers and tight ends, but they also need some defense. 

Edited March 13, 2014 by Gnome Chomsky

[starofdawn]

I thought you were gonna say "cheese." 

 

By the way, who do you see them drafting? They lost a lot of receivers and tight ends, but they also need some defense. 

Ha. I'm not sure who they'll draft, but I'm happy that Sam Shields is staying. If we lose Quarless, I'll be really bummed. Although Finley is a great player, his neck injury last season makes me suspicious of him playing again. I hear they're talking to Daniel Owens, don't have a strong opinion about that yet.

 

We do need help with tight-ends, I would want to see Packers bolster up defense first. Our defense was sub-par last season, and that's the most polite thing I can say about that...

 

Next Fantasy Football draft, I'm aiming for a Rodgers/Nelson pair. Those two... are incredible.

[deci:belle]

Still haven't grown tired of Ramen. I still am in love with it !

Spinach in all forms, mozzarella and Monterey jack cheese, Protien shakes, oatmeal and bagels.