Here’s something I came up with for those days when I can’t be bothered to cook:
Boil a sweet potato to desired softness, skin and all.
Cut in half lengthwise.
Salt to taste.
Add layer of cottage cheese.
Add generous teaspoon (or more) of capers, widely distributed over mound of cottage cheese.
Enjoy!
For me, cottage cheese is a savory dish, not sweet. The capers add a delicious salty burst as you eat. Much like caviar, but not expensive, and no fishy aftertaste.
Y’know, caviar would probably taste good on this in place of capers if you are so inclined.
I also tried leftover canned peas with a lemon juice kick, but capers are better. I needed to use up the peas though, and I used them straight out of the fridge with no reheating.
Something my wife and I invented when we wanted a fairly quick, easy meal is something we call “soup on rice”, which is exactly what it sounds like. Make some rice in a rice cooker, heat up a can of soup, pour the soup on the rice.
Add 1/2 can of water to a can of soup (Progresso or Chunky work really well). Heat to boiling. Add a 4 serving envelope of instant mashed potato flakes. Stir and eat.
It’s called “sludge,” it comes in endless varieties, it’s easy to make, cheap, filling, and it tastes really good.
While toasting a pita (whole), make a quick plain 3 egg omelette, smear some mayo on the hot pita, throw on a few slices of ham, some arugula or greens, cover with hot omelette, sliced tomatoes on top, salt/pepper. Shove in maw and have plenty of napkins on hand because it’s going to get ugly.
Put some Chilorio (Amazon.com) and refried beans in a pyrex bowl and microwave for a minute or two. Throw it on the tortilla of your choice and top with the ingredients of your choice.
Get an instant pot (or a crock pot, for that matter). Set it up the day before and leave it in the fridge. When you get home from work (or, before you leave if it’s a crock pot), turn it on and you’ll be eating soon after.
My ‘don’t want to cook’ go to lately has been pasta with meat sauce, in the instant pot. You do have to brown the meat first, but beyond that, everything goes in at once, including the raw noodles.
Also, some quick broccoli and noodles. I’ll do the broccoli in the instant pot because it’s so easy. After it’s done, I mix it together, pour on some olive oil, garlic salt and red pepper flakes.
Sure, they’re both a bit more work than a pizza, but they’re both good and make good leftovers for a few days.
Under the grill, start toasting 2 or 3 thick slices of bread. While they are doing, chop up an onion, add a little olive oil and stir, stick on a microwaveable plate and microwave until soft (stirring a couple of times). Add to the onions: tomato puree, capers if you have them, chopped olives if you have them (etc - you get the idea). Mix.
When the toast is done on both sides, spread the mix out on the toast, add anchovy paste, cover with slices of cheese and stick back under the grill. When the cheese is melted, you’re done.
Trep Jr does a version which omits the anchovy paste - but then, he has a lot to learn.
Note: you can do this with a pop-up toaster and a microwave. You have to prep the toast slowly in small bursts in order to dry the bread out as well as toast it - this is because you melt the cheese in the microwave, and you need very dry toast for that, otherwise everything will turn to mush.
I suppose mine would be the poor man’s version of that. Make some toast, just like you normally do. Put some pizza sauce and cheese on it. Put it under the broiler for a few minutes and it’s done.
Rice dinner: in rice cooker, cook rice together with a few cups of kimchee and water. When done, stir in a few cans of rinsed canned black beans. Add whatever sauce is handy: Indian simmer sauce or Asian sauce such as Pad Thai sauce or teriyaki sauce or whatever you have around. Voila.
All y’all have a funny idea of no fuss and exhausted. Some of these sound like they take about 40 minutes, and multiple steps (boil, toast, slice, melt, etc.). Just saying’.
I agree, Icarus. The Soup on Rice sounds more like it, and I am going to have to try the mashed potato flakes in soup. But if I’m beat, I’m not cooking pasta.