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.

If you hate browning meat/chicken for casseroles as much as I do shove it in a hot oven with a drizzle of oil while you get the veg ready.

Loving this thread! Made the easy jam sponge cake yesterday, delicious and took all of 5 minutes to make.

Here's another one - not, might impress depending on your clientele e.g. v pop with teenagers! Very tasty anyway, from this blog: writelikenooneswatching

Grease muffin tin with butter
Line each hole with double piece of good deli ham
Crack an egg in each hole
Season, and cover each one with lots of grated cheddar
Bake 200 degrees for approx 20 mins
Serve with chips/salad/on toast.

A delicious cheat's version of tarragon chicken: chop up chicken breasts and fry in butter with a spot of oil to stop it burning. When sticky and golden, add a dollop of tarragon mustard, and once you've stirred that in, a good glug of double cream. Utterly delicious. If you like mushrooms you can fry them before the chicken until they've let out all their water, then remove them from the pan while you do the chicken, and add them back in with the mustard and cream.

Fantastic thread, I have c&p'd loads.

Mine:
Cauli & broccoli cheese, low carb style:
Put a shallow dish in the oven and preheat to 200 ish.
Hack cauli and broccoli into large florets and steam for about 5 mins (or til al dente).
In another pan, melt together some cream cheese, a good slosh of cream and generous amount of grated cheddar, tsp of wholegrain mustard and grinding of pepper.
Tip cauli & broccoli into oven dish and pour over the creamy sauce. Top with a little more grated cheese.
Oven for about 10 mins, then flick to grill to get it crispy on top.
Lovely with sausages or rare steak.
It tastes so very indulgent.

Crispy chilli beef better than from the Chinese takeaway and really quick if served with boiled rice, www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2852672/crispy-chilli-beef

Sausage with red wine and caramelised onion gravy (add mash and veg)

Grill sausages, meanwhile cook sliced onion with 2 teaspoons of brown sugar for 12 mins low hob. add 1tb flour stir in, slowly add 100ml red wine and 300ml beef stock and 1tb worcestershire sauce, simmer, add more seasoning if wished. Make mash, put on plate, put sausages on plate, pour over gravy and add any veg.

That beef looks lovely sharond101, think I'll make that Monday night?

creamy pesto chicken:

lightly fry chicken chunks, cover in pesto (from a jar), take off heat and stir in lumps of Philly. yum. I normally serve with penne and slices of warm ciabatta.

anotge creamy chicken dish:
boneless chicken thighs
mushrooms
onion (i use frozen)
garlic (frozen again)
cooked spaghetti
basil
cream
lots of grated hard Italian cheese

all in a roasting tin, bung in oven until bubbling merrily. add more cheese and basil leaves and serve. yummy. and very moreish.

'Chinese' chicken.

Couple of chicken pieces - bone in
Jar of Hoi Sin
Small carton (one of those they sell with sarnies for quick lunchers) orange juice

Bung everything in roasting tray, medium oven for 3/4 hr or so depending on size of chicken pieces.

Yum.

Quick fennel and tomato soup:

Fry chopped garlic, onion or both in olive oil in a deep saucepan.
Add warm water, can of tinned toms, veg stock cube or two, chopped fennel. Simmer until soft.
Whizz with hand blender.
Top with ground fennel seed and serve.

I make a big pot of soup to mature along the way. By the third day it's divine, even if I do say so myself.

I love lentils - red lentils especially - but all lentils (all pulses) I find delicious. They are so easy and quick to cook that I consider them a fast food!

Here's a favourite standby of mine, which takes about 30 minutes to prepare:

nobreadisanisland.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/lentils-and-rice-with-mushrooms-and.html

Great with a chunk of homemade bread!

(I was going to say, "Cheap as chips" - but when I remembered what I paid for a medium bag of chips the other day, £1.70, this dish is a lot cheaper! )

Is that your blog Breadandwine? Dp loves making bread too and I make it a lot.

Juniper it is my blog, yes.

I teach breadmaking and it just seems to make sense to blog my recipes. It saves me printing out paper copies, since most of my students are on line.

Dp loves making bread too and I make it a lot. Great stuff!

So you both know the secret - just how easy breadmaking is! I spend my life telling people that making bread is an easy, everyday activity. No-one believes you until they actually make it themselves!

Just thought - I should post my 'No-knead, overnight bread' recipe on this thread. Only takes about 10 minutes in the evening and the same the next morning.

I'll be back!

Red pepper and chorizo soup
Roughly chop 4-6 red peppers (depending on size) and stick in a pan with a splash of olive oil. Add 2 tins tomatoes and chicken stock from a cube - at this point I also add a tin of red kidney beans and sometimes carrot (great for hiding veg from veg hating DH/DC) cook until softened, then whizz with stick blender. Add 2tsp paprika, 1tsp cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and dried chilli flakes to taste. Stick lid back on pan, roughly chop chorizo into small chunks, fry til crispy and add to soup. Freezes really well and delicious.

Nigella's Spanish chicken with chorizo and potatoes really easy.

If DC like pancakes, make up pancake mix and put into mini muffin tins with choc chip, blueberries etc, bake at 175 for 10 minutes, saves having to fry individual ones ( I use silicon mini muffin trays from £1 shop)

If DC like pancakes Eeek! How could I forget pancakes!

You only need 2 ingredients - self-raising flour and water - and you can make lovely pancakes costing about 1p per pancake (as against about 10p using traditional ingredients!).

nobreadisanisland.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/pancakes-using-just-flour-and-water.html

Oh thank you breadandwine it'd be great if you could link to that bread with no kneading. BTW have you found vegan wine? Or is that just a name and you don't really drink it?

If you lived nearer you could be our new BFF as we're both rather passionate about bread. We hand make it, dp is always at it . I used to have a breadmaker but it gathered dust and I gave it away. I find making it by hand very meditative tbh. DSS have both made it too. DS2 is very skinny with slim hands and looks so cute doing it but he makes nice bread. DS1 loves making his own pizza dough and garlic bread.

Friends love it when we take bread (and wine) over. We try out different ones too and like to experiment.

Split a chicken breast with a sharp knife to make a pocket. Stuff with philadelphia cheese, ham and a little pesto. Wrap in foil and bake in oven at 200 electric for around 30 minutes. Don't worry when testing if chicken is cooked and you see pink meat - first time I did it I forgot it had ham inside! Can also add cherry tomatoes, mushrooms etc. Can serve with rice, potatoes, salad.

I've made my own bread without a breadmaker and I found it very heavy. The rolls I made weren't a great success either.

Guess I just don't have the knack.

Have you tried a bread mix VT? You can get them for 59p in Aldi so if it doesn't work out then you haven't wasted much. Very easy to use. We use them sometimes especially for dcs or if in a hurry.

I made this the other day as a starter but you could make it for an easy yet impressive supper or lunch if you just make one big one. They were so good someone asked me where I bought them (this is unprecedented!)

Quick tartlets.

Cut circles out of ready made puff pastry. Put chopped red onion in the middle with a tiny drizzle of good olive oil. You can add sliced sundried tomatoes or peppers out of a jar but you must leave at least a centimetre round the edge without anything on it.

Put in oven on a greased and lined baking tray for about 10 mins to allow the pastry to puff up.

While pastry's cooking put egg yolks and soft cheese (goats if you wish) in a bowl and beat together. You will need half as many yolks as little tarts plus one. ie for 6 tarts 4 yolks, 4 tarts 3 yolks. Use about 200g of soft cheese. I like Waitrose's French one in the hexagonal pot. I use the whole pot. For a big tart use 3 egg yolks and two whole eggs. It won't be as rich and creamy but it won't collapse when you get it out the oven. Season and add spice like cayenne pepper or paprika if you wish.

Take tarts out of oven and pour in egg and cheese mixture. You can also add a slice of goats cheese with rind on top or a sprig of thyme or rosemary depending on the flavours used.

Return to oven for another 10 minutes or until tarts are cooked but not too brown.

You can make these the night before and refrigerate before gently warming in the oven before serving. Serve with onion marmalade and rocket dressed with oil and balsamic vinegar.

Can you people that are trying things post pictures using the option just above the add post box please? I'd love to see your creations.

I promise to upload anything I make :)

MrsR (p1) I remember making moules mariniere in a YH in Devon, having picked the mussels from rocks on the beach. The only other ingredients were a bottle of wine to cook them in (and drink !) possibly some herbs (no cream), and some nice bread.
Was awesome !

I tried, Katie, but I think my pics are too big - all I got was a question mark.

There are pics on my blog, though.

Juniper here's the no-knead bread recipe:

nobreadisanisland.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/no-knead-overnight-bread.html

About the wine, all the wine I drink at home is vegan, since I make it myself. When I'm out, it's very difficult, so I tend to go with the flow!

If you lived nearer you could be our new BFF as we're both rather passionate about bread. We hand make it, dp is always at it . I used to have a breadmaker but it gathered dust and I gave it away. I find making it by hand very meditative tbh. DSS have both made it too. DS2 is very skinny with slim hands and looks so cute doing it but he makes nice bread. DS1 loves making his own pizza dough and garlic bread.

That's fantastic! How old are they? I have a post on my blog about making bread with kids, but it's maybe a little young for them.

One of the nicest things I got from a parent on one of my courses was a letter, thanking me for "giving her son a skill for life at the age of 8!"

Thanks for the link Breadandwine.

My dss are teens. That's so lovely about your letter. And so true

My easy but posh recipe is...

• Cook some Orichette pasta or similar small fairly rough textured pasta (you really taste the pasta in this one so important to get something nice)
• meanwhile fry off some good quality bacon (i use three rashers per person). I use smoked back bacon but it's up to you. Leave the fat on if there is a rind until it's cooked, then cut off the rind if you prefer. Chop the bacon into little pieces (I use scissors not a knife)
• add diced avocado to the pan (I use one per person)
• carefully pour in a generous glug of port per person and cook for a minute or so to deglaze the pan (picking up all the bacon juices) and tone down the alcoholic content of the port

Add the bacon avocado and port mix to the pasta and serve to your delighted other half! Expensive but delicious.