For me it’s currently fish tacos. Tortillas, white fish, southwest seasoning, and toppings to taste. Been making them weekly for a few years now somehow without getting bored of it.
Tortellini pesto - seems like a lot of steps but it’s simple and fast, little prep time needed
- slice up some chicken and coat with lemon pepper rub
- sear it in the cast iron skillet
- boil the tortellini
- strain it, goddam, forgot to keep some pasta water again
- a couple tablespoons of olive oil in the pan,
- heat garlic and red pepper flakes to infuse the oil
- dump in a small jar of pesto and mix with infused oil, then turn off the burner
- throw in the pasta, a cut up bell pepper and the meat, and mix (effing pasta water would make this perfect)
- fold in some shaved Parmesan and fresh baby spinach leaves, and serve
Edit: this was me discovering wilted spinach is much better than slimy black overcooked spinach that I experienced most of my life, and I haven’t gotten tired of it. If I remember the pasta water, it’s nice and creamy
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fajitas
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pasta with zucchini jam sauce
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falafel sandwiches (I make all the components in big batches and eat this for days)
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pizza (using a no-cook sauce recipe)
Always loved falafels … do you have a recipe to make them? Or do you just get them ready made?
I tried making them before but all I got was disintegrated mush in my oil. :(
I have, but it’s a huge amount of work and most mixes are pretty good. If they fell apart you probably either made it too loose, or didn’t press the patties enough before frying.
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Sandwiches
My favorite lately has been bacon tomato sandwiches.
Mini pizzas. I use the naan from Costco as the base, par bake it a few minutes first, then top with jar sauce and shredded mozzarella and make everyone come and do the rest of their toppings from little bowls I’ve prepared venue going back in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Kids like mini pepperoni and pineapple bits from a can. I like pesto, spiced artichoke from a jar, Canadian bacon, and avocado and freshly chiffoned basil (after the baking). Everyone gets two pizzas customized to their liking, it tastes better than any takeout pizza, and it’s inexpensive.
Oh man, I totally forgot that I used to make naan pizza all the time. I need to get back into this
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What flavor is it?
As a kid, I used to gobble up plain white rice with nothing but salt and pepper. I still love it that way but have to regulate myself.
Not even any butter? You maniac
Money bags here with their butter … as a kid, salt and pepper was a luxury for us back then.
I remember growing up and wanting toast with butter as a snack. But we seldom had butter so we opted for plain white lard instead on the toast.
I preferred the rice with salt and pepper.
Shakshuka, bean burritos, pizza are generally my most common. All are good, just generally have to plan ahead with a few of them.
I make (vegan) bolognese, chili sin carne and similar weekly. It’s so easy to mix up with different ingredients, seasonings etc. I usually use soy-based mince since it’s the cheapest but I use other stuff like tofu, mince made from peas, mushrooms etc. pretty often too. They all give different textures and tastes so it’s an infinitely variable thing. Lately I’ve been making bolognese-ish with oat milk and mushroom slices added, makes it really nicely creamy and earthy.
My kids love chili, with or without meat. Especially if it has hominy or corn. And are crazy about “mushroom sauce” for pasta, saute a truly astonishing amount of mushrooms then pour bottled spaghetti sauce over. Like they want more mushrooms than pasta just about.
You might want to look into lentil-oat mixes for even cheaper mince substitutes. You can make it yourself and season it with no beef bouillon and it’s a high protein, high fiber, cheap and tasty option. It’s more time intensive, but it’s mostly passive cooking time.
Paprika hendl! Husband told me about it from Dracula, and that he had tried to make it with no recipe and there was none online. I found a recipe online (the author removed it now, but thank you printed paper) and I don’t think it’s like what modern paprikash is like but at love it! I don’t have sour cream currently though, so none this week.
Can you share the recipe?
Cassoulet, also osso bucco with polenta, I don’t think I’ll ever stop making those unless I stop being able to get the ingredients
Risotto. Sometimes I follow a recipe, sometimes I improvise something with whatever I have in the fridge.
Sounds super fancy but it’s quite easy.
Also Pa amb tomàquet is a must with some friends.
Mac and cheese. It’s the only dish I can eat multiple times a week.
I cook most of our meals. My kids would eat ma po tofu every day I think. Husband asks for pierogi and sausage and sauerkraut all the time. Youngest would eat homemade macaroni and cheese probably every day. Yellow rice and chicken with black beans is always well received, as are bean and cheese simple burritos.
Burritos with baked tofu, peanuts and onions, fried and hastily squished beans, brown rice and cheese. 10 mins of work for 6 servings and then I store them in the freezer and just chuck them in the microwave as needed. Great low effort food and much healthier than most other microwave snacks.
I do the same thing but different burrito filling 🙌
Rice made with with cumin, paprika and other spices. Black beans with a little kick. Melted cheese on top, then throw in some crisp lettuce, chopped tomatoes and taco sauce. Nice little rice and beans bowl for an easy meal.
Er, I feel like this is my time:
African Chicken And Jollof Rice
Asparagus And Crayfish Tail Tagliatelle
Aubergine Laksa
Baked Salmon W. Lemon Couscous
Barbecued Spatchcock Chicken With Potato Salad
Blackened Chicken And Dirty Rice
Blackened Salmon And Dirty Rice
Burgers
Butter Chicken
Cajun Chicken Thighs And Dirty Rice
Caldeirada - Portuguese Fish Stew
Carbonara
Carnitas
Chicken Adobo
Chicken And Butternut Squash Tray Bake
Chicken And Mushroom Casserole
Chicken Biryani
Chicken Caesar Salad
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Fried Rice
Chicken Kebabs And Couscous
Chicken Kyivs
Chicken Milanese
Chicken Paprikash
Chicken Ramen
Chicken Shawarma
Chicken Taquitos
Chicken Thighs - Greek Style
Chicken Tikka Kebabs
Chilli Con Carne
Doner Kebabs
Fish Pie
Fish, New Potatoes, Asparagus
Fish, New Potatoes, Samphire
Gnocchi And Green Veggies
Grilled Chicken Tacos
Jamaican Chicken Curry
Jambalaya
Kedgeree
Kofte Kebabs And Koshari Rice Mac ‘N’ Cheese
Mediteranean Chicken And Cous Cous
Oklahoma Onion Burgers
Paneer Curry Wraps
Pasta Alla Norcina (Sausage & Cream)
Penang Curry
Penne Alla Vodka
Peri Peri Chicken
Pesto Pasta
Portuguese Baked Cod
Portuguese Green Soup
Ragu Alla Bolognese Tagliatelle
Ragu Alla Genovese Tagliatelle
Red Beans And Rice
Red Salmon Pasta
Risotto – Chicken And Asparagus
Risotto – Mushroom
Roast Chicken
Salmon, Asparagus, And Crushed Potatoes
Sausage And Potato Tray Bake
Sicilian Chicken Spaghetti
Smoked Salmon, Lemon And Garlic Spaghetti
Steak/Chicken And Chips
Stir-Fried Tofu
Tandoori Chicken
Tortellini Soup With Chicken & Spinach
Tuna Pasta Bake
Tuscan Chicken, Bean, And Spinach Soup
Tuscan Pork Pasta
Veggie Chilli
White Chilli
Za’tar Salmon And Spinach RiceHow about za’tar salmon?
I have a container of za’tar but don’t really know where to use it.
I love salmon, but have found hawaiian seasoning the best when grilled. how’s this za’tar recipe go?
Za’tar Salmon And Spinach Rice
- Make a thick dressing from mix a tbsp of sumac, 2 of za’tar, and 1 of olive oil.
- Season skin on salmon fillets with a little S&P (bearing in mind za’tar also has a little salt in it) then spread the dressing over the salmon. Not too thick, you don’t want a crust, but you do want the salmon covered.
- Bake the salmon in a 180’C oven for, maybe, 10 minutes and check it for doneness. It’ll vary depending on the fillets you have.
I like to serve this with a West African spinach rice.
- Toast some cashews and set aside.
- Gently fry some onion and garlic then add some washed rice, crushed vermicelli, a little curry powder (an African blend if you can find it, or a Jamaican blend if you can’t), and continue to gently fry until the rice is starting to get a little toasty and the curry powder fragrant.
- Add twice as much chicken stock as you had rice, bring to a simmer, cover, and set it as low as it’ll go.
- After 10 minutes, most of the liquid will have been absorbed. Take the lid off the pan and quickly cover the rice with chopped spinach then recover the pan, turn off the heat and leave it for 5 minutes.
- Mix the now-wilted spinach in with the rice, fluff it up and serve with the toasted cashews on the top and a good wedge of lemon per person since both rice and salmon love a good hit of lemon juice.
Kick-ass, man! I’ve been interested in all sort of bits and pieces this pulls together.
Maybe not the spinach: I don’t like it anywhere near that cooked but “not that long” is a trivial modification
Yeah, you could easily just stir the spinach through immediately before serving the rice. I might try that next time. Like I say, always tweaking!
Do you… have a recipe book? Or do you just walk around with an alphabetical list of stuff you know how to cook in your head?
Bit of both. Generally what happens is that I come across a reference to a dish that makes me want to try it, then look up a bunch of recipes to get an understanding of how to make it, mix and match from the recipes I’ve found, then write up what I did. But I could probably buy the ingredients and cook at least half of these dishes from memory.
I also maintain a spreadsheet of what I cook every day which helps me not repeat dishes too often (e.g. I can tell you that it’s only been 21 days since I last cooked the Za’tar Salmon and Spinach Rice someone else asked about in another comment, so I’ll probably give it at least a month before I cook it again.
I also score (and get the wife and kids to score) each meal when I first cook it (to my satisfaction - sometimes it takes a couple of goes to tweak it). The ones I listed here are all ones which worked out ok and which I enjoyed. The kids inevitably score veg-based meals low but I mostly ignore them!
