Is it important to know how to cook?

In My Humble Opinion
61

I also hate cooking and have little in the way of cooking skills, but have managed to expand my very limited repertoire by making more creative use of my rice cooker.

I’ve had a rice cooker for years but used it only for rice. If I wanted to get really crazy, rice with bouillon cubes and garlic. But it’s possible to use a rice cooker to cook a whole meal, and it works out to be pretty cheap and with very little labor. I’ve heard of people cooking quite elaborate things in a rice cooker, but the things I cook are very easy.

Here’s one recipe where the hardest part is just opening the cans.

LAMIA’S LAZY BEANS AND RICE

*1 cup rice
*1 can of your favorite beans (I like black beans)
*1 can diced tomatoes (I like to get the kind with green chilies)

Put everything in the rice cooker.

If you include all the liquid from the cans this should be enough water to cook the rice, but check the level in the rice cooker bowl and add some more water if it seems low. It’s better to have a little too much water than too little, although you don’t want to go way over. If you want to drain the beans/veggies (which cuts down on the sodium a bit) then put in the usual amount of water for cooking a cup of rice.

Put the lid on the rice cooker and press “cook”.

In about 30 minutes it’ll be done, and you’ll have enough for 3-4 meals…and nothing to wash but the rice cooker bowl! I find it’s best to go ahead and divide this up into three portions as soon as it’s done, putting two in the fridge in Tupperware bowls and eating the third myself right away. You can enjoy this meal as-is or microwave a tortilla and make a burrito out of it. Add some shredded cheese if you like.

Sometimes I hold back the can of diced tomatoes and chilies and mix them in with the rice and beans after that’s all cooked. It’s spicier that way and IMHO looks a little prettier, but it’s not a big difference either way.

62

This. I hate cooking for myself. Hate it. I will spend three days eating nothing but granola bars and yogurt in order to avoid doing even the most basic cooking if I’m the only one eating. But I’ll happily cook for my boyfriend or friends or family, anything thing from basic ten-minute stirfry to Christmas dinner for twelve, and love it, and even enjoy doing the dishes afterwards. There’s something incredibly satisfying about feeding the people I love, especially when they show appreciation, verbal or otherwise (and the boyfriend is ridiculously easy to impress, because he’s totally incapable of cooking for himself or others), that it makes up for my apathy towards the act of cooking.

The thing about freezer-food and microwave dinners and so on, NinjaChick, is that they tend to be high in sodium (as a preservative), which can cause blood pressure and cardiac issues later on in life, so it’s probably a good idea to ease off them as a diet staple. Unless you’ve already thought of that and adjusted your intake accordingly, in which case I’ll shut up now. :slight_smile:

63

One word for chicken: marinade. I’m having yoghurt chicken tonight. Just put some chopped up chicken in a marinade of yoghurt, salt, pepper and cumin* for half an hour or more, then shake off excess marinade and fry/stew until done. Great with salads, or couscous, or rice, or fried potatoes.

  • optional: mint, cardamom.

Also: in my experience, it’s easier to get tasty chicken if you use pieces with bones and skin and fry for a minute or two then stew them on low heat. Fried chicken breast is very tasty when done right, but it takes some experience and a watchful eye to prevent it from getting dry (it’s much faster, though).