laziest meals...that look like you made an effort

[ghoulelocks]

can we pool ideas, those meals that get brownie points but are very little effort.

My contribution:

lamb casserole:
diced meat
frozen veg (tesco do nice and chunky mix)
few spices

throw in big pot, oven 90min. looks lovely, don't even get a knife dirty and takes about 2 min prep.

Salmon in tin foil with various toppings is super easy and tasty, e.g.

• cook sliced mushrooms with garlic, onions etc. and some balsamic vinegar or
• marinade in soy sauce, honey and teriyaki sauce (warm the honey up so its very liquid)

Or meatballs.

I use either lamb or beef mince (around 500g)
Mix with breadcrumbs, half a beaten egg and herbs/spices that take your fancy (e.g. cumin and coriander seeds, or chopped mint with lamb, rosemary) and season.

Then, either you can "boil" them in a pot with boiling water and some oil on the top (I was worried about it splashing, but it doesn't) or cook in the oven in tomato sauce (that is, fry onions til soft. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes. Blend) - so put the sauce in the bottom of a pyrez dish, and cook in the over for about 15 minutes. You can also be fancier and put in this like pine nuts

Stick chicken in an oven bag with some potatoes. Add very little water and spices.

.

Furball can I please have your chilli in slow cooker recipe?
Butternut squash soup always pleases. Roast squash in oven. Cook onion, garlic, chilli and ginger in pan. Add couple of potatoes and stock for 20mins. Add squash then blitz.

Or chicken, chorizo, peppers, baby potatoes, onions, chilli, tin chopped toms in slow cooker.

You lot are trying too hard.

I get those bags of frozen risotto/paella from Waitrose and pass it off as my own. A few fresh herbs chopped and thrown on the top, bag hidden in the bin, no-one is any the wiser

I have bought a frozen family-size lasagne, put it in my own pyrex oven dish, scattered extra cheese and mixed herbs on top, and cooked it and passed it off as my own. But that's cheating.

Fastest impressive 'real cooking' dish has to be linguine with prawns - pot of salted water on to boil, 2 tins of tomatoes in another pan with a splash of olive oil and a bit of garlic. When the tomatoes are hot, squish them with a spoon and let it all simmer uncovered. Meanwhile pop the dried linguine in the boiling water. When the linguine is cooked, drop the prawns (large shelled raw prawns, about 6-8 per person) in the tomato mixture and stir. Drain the linguine, stir in a splash of olive oil and a handful of chopped fresh parsley, and serve.

Lush, and takes 15 mins from start to finish. Washing-up is a total of two pans, one spoon and a strainer.

Stir fry with sweet and sour mugshots.

It has veg, meat (stir fry packet plus chopped up meat if required), noodles and flavour (mug shot). 5 minutes max and delicious and fairly healthy too.

Tart. Shove ready rolled puff pastry on a tray. Score a border and prick the middle. Cook for about 10 mins.
Meanwhile mix cream cheese (or garlic and herb cream cheese) plus thawed frozen chopped, or chopped fresh, spinach.
Shove this all over the part cooked pastry.
Tip over either raw asparagus, sliced tomatoes (blurgh) or cooked mushrooms, or chorizo for meat eaters (I do four different corners for the 4 of us!) and sprinkle with either parmesan, normal cheddar or sliced camembert or mozerella. Cook until golden and gorgeous.

Trifle - so easy if you buy the sponge and use posh Waitrose custard.

Hunter's chicken with dauphinoise potatoes, carrots and broccoli.

I served it up for my family, 15 of them, on Sunday. They were so impressed it was embarrassing.

I come from a family of erm, basic cooks. I think it must have skipped a generation with me because I can at least come up with something slightly upwards of bland.

Next week I plan to floor them all with beef and ale casserole.

Hunter's chicken with dauphinoise potatoes, carrots and broccoli.

I served it up for my family, 15 of them, on Sunday. They were so impressed it was embarrassing.

I come from a family of erm, basic cooks. I think it must have skipped a generation with me because I can at least come up with something slightly upwards of bland.

Next week I plan to floor them all with beef and ale casserole.

So good I had to say it twice

I have a signature Bean soup I like to make (with spaghetti and chilli), the hardest part is going out to buy the ingredients. Everything gets thrown in the pan but looks and tastes delicious. Also you can make a massive vat of it and freeze the rest so you're always ready to whip up a batch if there's visitors.

For a VERY lazy pudding, I buy pre-potted creme brulee. comes in a glass dish with sugar on and you just stick it in oven to caramelise. can use the dishes again (perfect size for a ball of ice cream or mini portion of fruit salad etc.

Chorizo and butterbean stew. It is the easiest (and cheapest) meal ever, but it tastes so good and is great served with a nice loaf of crusty bread. Add olive oil to pan, dice onions and, cut up a chorizo sausage and add to pan, squeeze in some garlic puree, add smoked paprika, tinned tomatoes, a tin of butterbeans, some water, cover and cook for half and hour and that's it!

Ive got loads but my show stopper from last weekend was old school jam sponge. Put some jam on base of disposable foil tray, then in separate bowl mix all in one cake batter of flour/eggs/ sugar/ baking powder/ vanilla. Throw cake mixture over jam and whack into oven. If you forget the jam then spoon it over the cake once it's baked then sprinkle dedicated coconut over. Must be accompanied by ambrosia custard which has been cleverly decanted into lovely glass serving jug.

Takes about 5 min prep. Cheap as chips.

Puddings =

mix some creme fraiche, some whipped cream if you want it, some posh lemon curd and a squeeze of lemon. Stick in pretty dishes/cups and eat with posh biscuits.

And Nigella's Barbados Cream and baked plums are lovely and mega easy. Even easier is to halve some plums, stick in an oven proof dish, put brown sugar, nutmeg and a big glug of Amaretto over them and bake. Eat with icecream, cream, custard.

Toby would that work if you used creme fraiche instead of cream? Sounds fabulous.

Argh, please people post your bloody recipes!

I would especially like please the Hunters chicken and the Signature Bean Soup.

Pretty please

this Nigella Mirin Salmon

serve with Uncle Ben's microwaveable basmati and if you're feeling really fancy steam some baby carrots corn and mange tout with slices of ginger.

Tastes impressive, easy as pie!

Baked spanish risotto. Takes a while in the oven but really quick

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/bakedspanishrisotto_70241

Lemon Chicken on Roasted veg
Chunky chop any veg ; potatoes, leeks, peppers, courgette, aubergine (whatevers in the fridge really)
Place a whole chicken, breast, thigh, whatever portions on top.
Zest a lemon, throw in some rosemary & drizzle with lots of olive oil.
180" for about 70 mins.
Only one dish. Result.

Omelette with a side of rocket salad. You can put anything you like in them, any old leftovers, so they don't get boring either...

Prawns, chilli, garlic,olive oil, coriander. Fry until prawns cooked and serve with pasta.

2 to offer:

1 - bacon and bean stew - chop bacon and onion and fry for a couple of mins in large non-stick pan (use extra oil if you want) add:
tin chopped tomatoes
tin baked beans
tin sweetcorn
tin or two other beans as desired - butter beans, kidney beans, chick peas - basically any will work!
can add chilli/chilli powder if liked, and bit of water if it's a bit thick. Really quick too - done in 20 mins, but will sit quite happily for longer if needed. Can serve alone, or with rice, cous cous or jacket potatoes. also works with pork belly cut into largish chunks, or sausages cut in half (or a mixture as you fancy!)

2 - chicken with mediterranean veg
chuck mushrooms, courgette, peppers and onion (all sliced/chopped quite large) into roasting dish, with some oil or low fat spray, chicken breasts on top with cherry tomatoes, and sliced cooking chorizo if desired - roast for about half an hour on 200oC until chicken cooked through. Also works well if you add whole baby new potatoes (or cut larger new potatoes into halves/quarters) for 10 mins first, then chuck in everything else for half an hour.
Can do a 'winter' version with carrot, celeriac, parsnip, ar any other root veg you fancy, in which case roast them for 10 mins or so before adding chicken.

both are delicious, healthy and look like they've taken far more effort - dish 2 is a good option for entertaining too!