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I'm a shit cook. Please tell me your easiest dinners.

97 replies

UselessFecker · 25/05/2023 19:30

I need 5 or 6 basic meals that are easy, nutritional, don't need fancy ingredients but are tasty. I want to simplify my meals....

I like bacon, chicken, veggies, potatoes, cheese, pasta.

I don't like curry or rice. Help🙏

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
LeefPeeper · 25/05/2023 21:52

CactusSantaDresser · 25/05/2023 19:57

Fry a packet of bacon (chopped into bite-sized pieces) or a pack of bacon lardons until any 'wetness' dries out and you're just left with the bacon fat. As the bacon is frying, slice a punnet of brown mushrooms and then add them to the bacon (you might need a splash of oil). Cook for 4-5 minutes. Make a well in the middle of the bacon/mushroom mix and add a whole pack of garlic & herb Boursin or Roule cheese, along with about half a cup of water. Mix everything together until the cheese is incorporated. Season with salt & pepper and serve over rice/mix through pasta/stuff into a baked potato. Super easy, quick, and delicious!

This sounds delicious

Sewaccidentprone · 25/05/2023 21:58

Dead easy option.

cut potatoes into chunks, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato (root veg) into longer chunks ie I cut my carrots in 4 lengthways, boil for 10 mins.

preheat oven, add oil to roasting tin, drain veg then stir around the roasting tin, and onion chunks, then sprinkle with smoked paprika, salt and pepper and roast at 190 for 40 mins.

can also roast other stuff at the same time ie chicken, fish etc.

Leftover roast veg can also be eaten cold like a salad or heated up in stock then blended for a dead easy soup.

coodawoodashooda · 25/05/2023 22:07

UselessFecker · 25/05/2023 20:05

This I must try😋

That does sound good!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Quitelikeit · 25/05/2023 22:26

omelettes are quick and easy

I like some of these tray bake ideas

MenoRageisReal · 25/05/2023 23:21

Marking for ideas to fill my hollow legged teen

PaigeMatthews · 25/05/2023 23:31

tray bakes are the answer. Chop stuff, throw in oven.

my favourite meal is a punnet of plum tomatoes cut in half, an onion chopped, a block of feta cheese, a pepper chopped, a couple of lemon wedges, a couple of garlic cloves chopped, olive oil, oregano, all in a baking tray. Cook. Around 15 mins. Add couscous. Boom.

Champagneforeveryone · 25/05/2023 23:39

Depending on your budget I would try one of the recipe kit boxes (we're big fans of Gousto, not so much HelloFresh)

They allow you to try lots of new recipes and have really easy recipe cards. We normally order for a couple of months, then re-use the cards we like until we get bored or they offer us money off to order again.

tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz · 25/05/2023 23:47

We had this tonight it's so easy and quick.

I didn't use gusto items as it's a card I've kept from a box we did last summer but I kind of best guess the ingredients amounts

Instead of rice I tossed ready made (chiller) gnocchi in a little oil and roast for 15 minutes then Chuck them into the mince pan and mix it together before dishing up

God it's so good Grin

www.gousto.co.uk/cookbook/pork-recipes/thai-basil-pork-with-green-beans

Lemonpepper · 25/05/2023 23:49

Slow cooker chilli:

mince, tinned chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic, chopped chillis, kidney beans, chopped onion.

Just mix together and leave it to cook for 4-5 hours and have it with nachos or tortilla wraps instead of rice. Nice with guacamole, sour cream and lime. Grated cheese on top.

Creamy salmon:

Fry salmon fillets in the frying pan. Remove the skins at this point as they just fall off easily. Remove the salmon to a plate and in the frying pan fry chopped shallots and garlic. Add 250ml of cream and some white wine. Simmer for a few minutes. Add juice of one lemon, some chopped spinach and Parmesan and put the salmon back in to finish cooking for another 5 minutes. Serve it with potatoes and green veg, however you like.

This channel is the best for simply but really delicious recipes.

https://youtube.com/@EssenRezepte

Rina66 · 25/05/2023 23:53

Spaghetti with butter and grated halloumi stirred through.

Sometimes I gently fry an onion in butter and olive oil, add a chicken stock cube and white wine, reduce that down and stir my spaghetti in to it with my grated halloumi on top

mondaytosunday · 26/05/2023 00:05

But Nigella's Express. Simple recipes, not to many ingredients with great flavour. Her chilli and curry in a hurry are favourites.
Jamie Oliver's Hit 'n Run chicken couldn't be easier - Google it, triple the spices and double the liquids. His Wild Boar Salami Rigatoni pasta bake also easy and a crowd pleaser (I use Milano salami as never found wild boar salami). Another one dish wonder.

Anoooshka · 26/05/2023 00:53

FatAgainItsLettuceTime · 25/05/2023 19:51

I buy the big packs of pork loin steaks, pork chops or chicken breast/thighs. When I get the shopping home I separate the big trays into portion sizes in ziplock bags and put flavouring on them:

  • lime and coriander
  • balsamic and sun dried tomato
  • honey, soy sauce and ginger
  • bbq sauce
  • peri peri marinade
  • pesto
  • jerk seasoning rub

Whatever you like and have to hand

Then freeze them. They start to marinade as they freeze and continue as they defrost.

Night before, take them out of the freezer and into the fridge, then they'll be ready by dinner time.

Pour onto a baking tray and into the oven gas 6 for about 30 minutes, depending on cut/thickness/bones.

Sides I do something like corn on the cob, microwave rice, put broccoli and cauliflower on a tray with garlic and olive oil and roast at the same time as the meat, chips and beans, steamed in the microwave green beans/asparagus/sugarsnap peas finished with a knob of butter, salt and pepper.

I do a similar thing, but I cube the meat and sometimes add chopped onions and peppers. Then I dump the whole thing in the Instant Pot, often adding a can of tomatoes. This method works really well with jerk marinade and Peri Peri sauce. And you can cook straight from the freezer - no defrosting required.

A rice cooker is great to have in the kitchen too. And if I'm feeling really lazy, I will use couscous instead of pasta.

UselessFecker · 26/05/2023 10:16

VelvetUndergrounds · 25/05/2023 21:06

Do you like prawns?

Yes

OP posts:
VelvetUndergrounds · 26/05/2023 10:18

This is ridiculously quick and easy - we eat it regularly. I use red pesto instead of the sun dried tomatoes - even quicker. Add Parmesan to the mix at the end if too loose:

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/spaghetti-with-prawns-and-rocket-spaghetti-con-gamberetti-e-rucola/

Jackienory · 26/05/2023 10:18

Get a copy of the Students Cook Book and follow that.

poorpaws · 26/05/2023 13:31

I haven't anything to add but just wanted to say what fabulous recipes are on here which I will be copying. Thank you everyone.

PaigeMatthews · 26/05/2023 18:42

This is my favourite lunch. I batch cook it on a Sunday and take to work every day. Im a creature of habit. Minestrone soup. But i use veg stock instead of chicken stock and half a tin of chickpeas instead of chicken. I also just snap spaghetti pasta into tiny pieces instead of penne.
https://www.mindfulchef.com/healthy-recipes/sun-dried-tomato-chicken-minestrone

https://www.mindfulchef.com/healthy-recipes/sun-dried-tomato-chicken-minestrone

PaigeMatthews · 26/05/2023 18:43

My dh makes a lovely prawn paella and im sure the taste is all in the paella taste packet.

YankeeDad · 26/05/2023 19:20

Tortilla (Spanish omelette):

Ingredients: potatoes, onions, red peppers, eggs, salt, pepper, milk (optional)

Equipment: one pot, one big frying pan with a cover, vegetable peeler, knife and chopping board for vegetables, mixing bowl, whisk or fork for mixing eggs, round serving plate if you have one (ideally bigger than the frying pan)

Peel a couple of potatoes and put them to boil in water. Check from time to time with a fork while doing other things, and drain them when they are done.

While they are boiling, cut up 1-2 onions and 1-2 red peppers into small bits, and put them into a frying pan on medium heat with a bit of vegetable oil. Keep an eye on the pan and stir as needed.

Break some eggs (I would say 2 per person) into a mixing bowl. Mix the eggs until smooth with a whisk, or just with a fork. Mix in some salt and pepper and a bit of milk if you want.

Once the peppers and onions are soft, turn down the heat. Once the potatoes are done, cut them into small cubes (about 1/2 of an inch).

When everything is cooked enough, put the potato cubes into the frying pan, mix up evenly with the peppers and onions, pour the mixed eggs over the top, and cover.

Once the eggs are cooked through, flip the tortilla onto the serving plate if you have one. Otherwise, serve directly from the frying pan.

Goes well with a salad.

Note, the order of steps listed above is optimised to allow the shortest total time from when you start to when you eat. If it stresses you out to multitask, then do all of the prep first instead, before you cook anything, and it will take longer but it will be relaxed. However, it is best to peel the potatoes last if you do it that way because otherwise they can start to turn brown on the outside.

Marmite27 · 26/05/2023 19:25

Cook and drain 300g pasta, at the same time, cook bacon and then chop it up.

Combine the pasta and chopped bacon with a can of condensed chicken soup. Fill the empty can with milk and add that.

Mix, and heat until the ‘sauce’ is heated through.

This started life as a camping recipe, but the kids love it. Optional extras are frozen peas or sweetcorn (add at the soup stage) and grated cheese - sprinkle on top or stir through before serving.

Marmite27 · 26/05/2023 19:25

Serves 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 primary kids at our house.

MsPrism · 27/05/2023 11:08

I put chicken thighs into a baking tray with baby potatoes and scatter peri peri rub powder of the the top, and roast in oven for about twenty mins until cooked. I then add cooked broccoli and cubes of halloumi, swish around in the oil and cook for a further ten mins until the halloumi is going brown. Dump into a bowl and eat. You can add mushrooms, aubergine, and any veg you like to it really, it's the halloumi that makes it for me. I get the rub from Waitrose, but am sure you can get it most places, but if I don't have it I use chorizo pieces to flavour the oil.

ODFODeary · 27/05/2023 11:24

UsethisUsername · 25/05/2023 20:56

Pressed Mediterranean Loaf (brilliant ‘no cook’ make ahead meal)

Roast a big bunch of Mediterranean veg and let it cool (The frozen stuff in a bag is fine if you can’t be bothered with fresh)

Get a large cob/round loaf of bread

Cut off a ‘lid’ from the loaf and tear out the middle of the bread so you have a bread shell (you can use the torn out bits for bread pudding, breadcrumbs etc)

paint the inside of the loaf generously with green pesto

fill up the loaf with layers of the roasted veg with Parma ham and sliced or torn mozzarella. Press the layers as you go and really fill it generously

wrap in grease proof paper (or put in a big freezer bag) and put a weight on it (some cans of beans on an oven tray work well) and leave in the fridge overnight

The next day : Warm in the oven for 30 minutes the next day if you want a gooey cheesy melt or just eat cold

this is great for a picnic too!

That sounds lush!!!!