My go-to dinner when I’m trying to be healthy and not too hungry is poached eggs on a salad with a vinegary dressing.
To make the perfect seven minute egg:
Start a deep frying full of water to boil
crack however number of eggs you want into separate cups
when the water boils, add a big pinch of salt and a shot of vinegar
TURN OFF THE WATER (if you’re on an electric stove move the pan to a cooled burner)
add the eggs
cover and let sit for seven minutes
-----make salad----
remove eggs with slotted spoon and add to your salad.
Or, try K-rab salad on salad. Buy some of the fake crab (hence “K-Rab”), chop it up, add chopped veggies (like celery, onion, or carrot), spices (go easy: onion powder, parsley, salt and pepper) and mayo. Fold and add to your salad.
Lastly, there’s nothing wrong with a burger, if you have healthy sides. A 4 or 5oz burger with salad (or slaw or nuked frozen veggies) and tater-tots ain’t bad for you, so long as it’s not your everyday meal.
Almost forgot my absolutely fake, but still delicious Jambalaya.
Get a package of Jambalaya mix (I actually like Zatarans), Pre-cooked Keilbasa, green (or red) pepper, onion, some frozen mixed veggies, (fresh if you’ve got the time), Chili-powder, and a can of LOW-SODIUM chicken broth. (If you use the regular stuff, dinner will be a very acceptable salt-lick for wandering deer.)
Optional: some whiskey (like Jack Daniels).
Nuke half of the frozen veggies to thaw them.
Pre-slice everything else. (Sausage into “wheels”, onion diced, pepper chopped.)
Saute the onions
When they’re translucent, add the kielbasa and peppers
When the kielbasa starts to take some color, add chili-powder to taste. If you’re using it, add a splash or two of Jack Daniels. (This ain’t drunk, but it won’t be “dry” either.)
When the JD has mostly boiled off, add the thawed veggies.
Add the rice mix and follow the directions, substituting the chicken broth for an equal amount of water.
Not really Jambalaya, but anyone north of the Mason-Dixon line probably won’t know the difference.
I’m definitely going to try your version of it…I like any and all kinds of sausage! It seems like the kind of recipe you can play around with different ways.
Just as a point of clarification: “Easy” isn’t what’s most important to me right now. Right now, what’s important is “staying the hell out of my kitchen” as much as possible.
This isn’t to mean that I don’t appreciate every recipe and book suggestion, because I do!
Ummm… that was supposed to be a deep (as in tall) frying pan… (or skillet). So that there’s room for the egg to be completely submerged. :smack:
Otherwise, in case you’ve never heard of a seven-minute egg, it means a poached egg with fully set whites and a lava-like yolk. It’s actually one of those things that the name says it all and don’t mess with the timing. (Just make sure the pan’s off the heat source.)
Also, because my typing skilz seem to suck pretty hard today: My go-to dinner when I’m trying to be healthy andI’m* not too hungry is poached eggs on a salad with a vinegary dressing.*
A fun, almost no prep, dinner is a bread and cheese dinner. Get yourself a baguette, a couple of nice cheeses, a dry sausage, fruit like an apple, pear or grapes, and a bottle of wine.
Your time in the kitchen is limited to opening and plating the various foods, which you can do while starting in on the wine.
I’ll second the Crock Pot (recipes to follow, momentarily), and add: in the plastic-wrap section of your supermarket, you can find Slow Cooker liners. Basically, they’re heat-proof bags you put in your slow cooker (Crock Pot is a brand name) before you add the ingredients. This means less kitchen time for clean-up, too!
Pork Loin Roast with Apple Gravy
3lb pork loin roast
salt and pepper
dried Italian seasoning blend
2C chicken stock (I like the kind that comes in a box better than the kind that comes in a can)
2C apple cider
2 firm, tart apples, sliced
1Tbsp corn starch dissolved in apple cider (not until you’re ready to serve, though)
Rub pork loin with salt and pepper and dried herbs
Lay in bottom of Crock Pot (er, that would be 'lay the pork loin in bottom. . .)
Pour stock and apple cider over them
Cook on low for 6-8 hours
Slice apples and add them, turn the Crock up to high
Cook for 1 hour on high
Remove pork loin and apples to serving plate
Mix corn starch with apple cider and stir in remaining liquid to thicken the gravy
Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken
4 or 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2C soy sauce
1/2C sugar
1 clove fine minced garlic (or garlic from a jar)
3/4tsp ground ginger
1 and 1/2TBSP red wine vinegar
2TBSP olive oil
Combine all sauce ingredients
Salt and pepper chicken thighs (easy on the salt; there’s plenty in the sauce)
Put chicken thighs in Crock, pour sauce over them
Cook on low for at least six hours
Serve over quick-cooking rice (I use brown)
Crock Pots are just about guaranteed to reduce your time in the kitchen!
I’m making beef stew in mine for tonight!
In keeping with the OP, this is about the least complex stovetop meal you can make:
Kielbasa or Polish or other sausage, cut up
Potato, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces
Onion, chopped
oil
salt & pepper
Heat a bit of oil in a heavy pan. Add the potatoes and brown, then add the sausage and brown well. Add the onion and finish cooking until the potatoes are tender. Season. I’ve also made this with hamburger.
We call this one “chili,” although it isn’t authentic at all.
Preheat oven to about 325.
Brown 1 lb of ground beef & as much chopped onion as you like.
Meanwhile, drain in a colander:
2 cans of kidney, pinto or other beans you like
1 can of niblets corn
1 small can of mushrooms if you like mushrooms
Drain off fat from the cooked beef, and mix everything together in an ovenproof bowl or casserole. Pour in a can of tomato sauce.
Add to taste garlic powder, chili powder (I use a tablespoon or two), cayenne pepper, black pepper. Add chipotle if you like chipotle. Throw in a bay leaf or two if you have any.
Not exactly on the healthy side, but I make Meatball Subs when I’m in a hurry or don’t feel like making a time-consuming dinner. You could substitute turkey meatballs and whole-wheat rolls to make it healthier.
Bonus points to crockpot recipes, I’m thinking, 'cos you don’t even need to put the crock pot in the kitchen - it could plug in to a bedroom outlet or just about anywhere, really, as long as you had a headproof barrier under it so it didn’t set fire to the carpet.
I wish I’d thought of crockpot cooking during the heatwave that had me confined to the computer room. The floor in here is tiled, the air conditioning is good, and I could have easily taken care of dinner from the only cool room in the house!
Heh. I’ve done something similar to this. Our house does not have central air conditioning, and while Maryland isn’t as hot as, say, South Carolina, we do have our heat and humidity!
Anyway, we have a big window air conditioner that cools the living room/dining room, but not big enough to cool the kitchen, too. So the kitchen door stays closed in the summer, and the kitchen stays hot.
Not uncommon, in the summer, for me to take just the Crock itself into the kitchen in the early morning (while it’s still relatively cool), assemble all the ingredients in it, then set it on the server (in the dining room) and plug it in there.
If we use disposable plates (no dishwasher here, I’m afraid), even less kitchen time! Win!
I just remembered one of my favorite quick dishes. I call it Mock Carbonara, as it doesn’t really resemble the real thing, and if you eat it often enough, people will mock you.
Pasta (macaroni, spaghetti, whatever)
Bacon
Onion, bell pepper (both optional), minced
Butter
Grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper
Put the pasta on to cook. Meanwhile, brown up some bacon. Remove and crumble/cut up. If the veggies are desired, saute until tender in a bit of the bacon fat. Drain the pasta and dump in a bowl. Add a glob of butter and mix until the pasta is coated. Add the bacon and grated cheese (and veggies, if you must), and seasoning and mix thoroughly. Sit your fat ass down in fron of the TV and eat the whole bowl with a large spoon.
It seems like the kind of recipe you can play around with different ways.