For me it’s currently fish tacos. Tortillas, white fish, southwest seasoning, and toppings to taste. Been making them weekly for a few years now somehow without getting bored of it.
Burgers and fries
I make my own burgers … buy about 2kg of lean ground beef when it’s on sale … mix them by hand with salt, spice, Worcester sauce … measure out about 2oz to 3oz portions, press them in a burger press that is a bit large … it makes a really thin burger patty. I like the thin patty because it only takes about five to seven minutes to cook. If I feel like having more, I just cook more patties.
I only cook a few at a time, then freeze the rest. Always nice to have a ready made supply of homemade patties.
I also cut my own fries, cover them in a bit of oil, then air fry them. Toss them with a bit of salt at the end.
I used to work as a fast food cook at our family’s own burger joint when I was a teen. Homemade burgers and fries just seem like second nature to me at this point.
Burritos with baked tofu, peanuts and onions, fried and hastily squished beans, brown rice and cheese. 10 mins of work for 6 servings and then I store them in the freezer and just chuck them in the microwave as needed. Great low effort food and much healthier than most other microwave snacks.
I do the same thing but different burrito filling 🙌
I cook dinner virtually every night, but probably my (and my family’s) favorite is Lemon Chicken Picatta.
I cut chicken breasts into pieces about nugget sized, then season w/ salt & pepper. Toss them in flour to coat, then pan-fry them in vegetable oil. Basically, home-made chicken nuggets (my wife says they’re very similar to Chik-Fil-A nuggets).
When the chicken is done, I use the same pan, which now has a bunch of fond from the meat. Sautee some minced garlic, then add a bunch of chicken broth and thinly sliced lemons. Sautee that for a bit while scraping everything off the bottom of the pan. Add lemon juice and capers. Cook a bit longer. Take off the heat and add butter and parsley. Then pour the sauce over the chicken.
I usually serve it over pearl couscous with a side of air-fried broccoli.
For mother’s day, I cooked a piece of fish in some of the sauce. I don’t particularly like fish, but my wife said it was delicious.
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You had a kid when you were 64 years old?
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For her sake, I certainly hope your wife is significantly younger.
You hope his wife is significantly younger than 15?
Younger than 63.
Shakshuka, bean burritos, pizza are generally my most common. All are good, just generally have to plan ahead with a few of them.
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fajitas
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pasta with zucchini jam sauce
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falafel sandwiches (I make all the components in big batches and eat this for days)
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pizza (using a no-cook sauce recipe)
Always loved falafels … do you have a recipe to make them? Or do you just get them ready made?
I tried making them before but all I got was disintegrated mush in my oil. :(
I have, but it’s a huge amount of work and most mixes are pretty good. If they fell apart you probably either made it too loose, or didn’t press the patties enough before frying.
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What flavor is it?
As a kid, I used to gobble up plain white rice with nothing but salt and pepper. I still love it that way but have to regulate myself.
Not even any butter? You maniac
Money bags here with their butter … as a kid, salt and pepper was a luxury for us back then.
I remember growing up and wanting toast with butter as a snack. But we seldom had butter so we opted for plain white lard instead on the toast.
I preferred the rice with salt and pepper.
Household spaghetti recipe.
So happy that the spaghetti that was made for me I now get to make for my kid.
Nice.
I also inherited a family spaghetti and meat sauce recipe.
In total it has 5 ingredients and that includes water and salt. I love it.(The other 3 are the noodles, meat, and canned tomato sauce)
Mini pizzas. I use the naan from Costco as the base, par bake it a few minutes first, then top with jar sauce and shredded mozzarella and make everyone come and do the rest of their toppings from little bowls I’ve prepared before going back in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Kids like mini pepperoni and pineapple bits from a can. I like pesto, spiced artichoke from a jar, Canadian bacon, and avocado and freshly chiffoned basil (after the baking). Everyone gets two pizzas customized to their liking, it tastes better than any takeout pizza, and it’s inexpensive.
Oh man, I totally forgot that I used to make naan pizza all the time. I need to get back into this
Hashbrowns and eggs with bacon. Cook some thinly sliced bacon, almost like bacon bits, and in the grease cook Hashbrowns. Then, once they’re both cooked, crack a few eggs over everything and cook that. Serve with seasoning salt.
It sounds super obvious, but i never thought to cook hasbrowns in the bacon grease… Mostly because I’m fully converted to making bacon in the oven these days.
Definitely going to give this a whirl next time we’re doing breakfast.
For me the difference is the griddle top, covering my whole stove. Usually I’ll cook bacon in the oven, but if I’m getting that beast out, I’m cooking everything together. I love the space and freedom it gives, love to do the short order cook thing.
I keep threatening my kids that I’ll learn to throw knives around like a hibachi chef and make onion volcanoes for their amusement
I also take the oven approach to bacon, but I save the grease in a jar and use it for frying eggs and potatoes later.
To build on the original comment, my common breakfast option is also potatoes, eggs and bacon but I usually throw them in a tortilla with cheese and salsa. Perhaps more often I make the same thing, but with peppers and onions instead of bacon. In my mind it’s a little healthier, but admittedly not much.
Lately, I’ve really got into making sheet-pan dinners. Baked (and marinated) chicken breast surrounded by halved baby potatoes, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower with a little feta cheese sprinkled on after it comes out of the oven. Hearty and delicious! :)
Douse it in herbs and lemon, fantastic dish.
I eat toast with cream cheese and a poached egg almost every morning and there’s some synergy between the unctuous yolk, the sour cheese, and my hot sauce that is just about mana from heaven.
You could make it Turkish and add a dollop of yogurt.
Chana masala! It’s so tasty and relatively easy to make.
Always love Indian food but always afraid to make it.
What’s your recipe?
I prefer to make it in my Instant Pot so I use this recipe: https://thegirlonbloor.com/chana-masala-instant-pot-and-stovetop/#wprm-recipe-container-26783
Dw, there’s also instructions to cook it on a stove stop. :>
Ah you’re kidding me …… I’ve been on a journey of food discovery and for whatever reason learning to make something with lentils or chickpeas has been stuck in my head. This looks great! (Specifically anything Indian! I was there a couple years ago and tried so many different meals that I loved and need to learn)
And after trying way too many different cooking tools, the one I refused was the instapot
Oh wow … an instant pot recipe! … I was really hoping there was an option for this. I should have known but didn’t know where to start.
Will definitely be trying this. Thanks!
Np, enjoy!
Er, I feel like this is my time:
African Chicken And Jollof Rice
Asparagus And Crayfish Tail Tagliatelle
Aubergine Laksa
Baked Salmon W. Lemon Couscous
Barbecued Spatchcock Chicken With Potato Salad
Blackened Chicken And Dirty Rice
Blackened Salmon And Dirty Rice
Burgers
Butter Chicken
Cajun Chicken Thighs And Dirty Rice
Caldeirada - Portuguese Fish Stew
Carbonara
Carnitas
Chicken Adobo
Chicken And Butternut Squash Tray Bake
Chicken And Mushroom Casserole
Chicken Biryani
Chicken Caesar Salad
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Fried Rice
Chicken Kebabs And Couscous
Chicken Kyivs
Chicken Milanese
Chicken Paprikash
Chicken Ramen
Chicken Shawarma
Chicken Taquitos
Chicken Thighs - Greek Style
Chicken Tikka Kebabs
Chilli Con Carne
Doner Kebabs
Fish Pie
Fish, New Potatoes, Asparagus
Fish, New Potatoes, Samphire
Gnocchi And Green Veggies
Grilled Chicken Tacos
Jamaican Chicken Curry
Jambalaya
Kedgeree
Kofte Kebabs And Koshari Rice
Mac ‘N’ Cheese
Mediteranean Chicken And Cous Cous
Oklahoma Onion Burgers
Paneer Curry Wraps
Pasta Alla Norcina (Sausage & Cream)
Penang Curry
Penne Alla Vodka
Peri Peri Chicken
Pesto Pasta
Portuguese Baked Cod
Portuguese Green Soup
Ragu Alla Bolognese Tagliatelle
Ragu Alla Genovese Tagliatelle
Red Beans And Rice
Red Salmon Pasta
Risotto – Chicken And Asparagus
Risotto – Mushroom
Roast Chicken
Salmon, Asparagus, And Crushed Potatoes
Sausage And Potato Tray Bake
Sicilian Chicken Spaghetti
Smoked Salmon, Lemon And Garlic Spaghetti
Steak/Chicken And Chips
Stir-Fried Tofu
Tandoori Chicken
Tortellini Soup With Chicken & Spinach
Tuna Pasta Bake
Tuscan Chicken, Bean, And Spinach Soup
Tuscan Pork Pasta
Veggie Chilli
White Chilli
Za’tar Salmon And Spinach RiceEdit to add: I can dig up my recipe for any of these if anyone is interested.
Do you… have a recipe book? Or do you just walk around with an alphabetical list of stuff you know how to cook in your head?
Bit of both. Generally what happens is that I come across a reference to a dish that makes me want to try it, then look up a bunch of recipes to get an understanding of how to make it, mix and match from the recipes I’ve found, then write up what I did. But I could probably buy the ingredients and cook at least half of these dishes from memory.
I also maintain a spreadsheet of what I cook every day which helps me not repeat dishes too often (e.g. I can tell you that it’s only been 21 days since I last cooked the Za’tar Salmon and Spinach Rice someone else asked about in another comment, so I’ll probably give it at least a month before I cook it again.
I also score (and get the wife and kids to score) each meal when I first cook it (to my satisfaction - sometimes it takes a couple of goes to tweak it). The ones I listed here are all ones which worked out ok and which I enjoyed. The kids inevitably score veg-based meals low but I mostly ignore them!
But if you are looping through all of these, there is not much repetition, right?
How about za’tar salmon?
I have a container of za’tar but don’t really know where to use it.
I love salmon, but have found hawaiian seasoning the best when grilled. how’s this za’tar recipe go?
Za’tar Salmon And Spinach Rice
- Make a thick dressing from mix a tbsp of sumac, 2 of za’tar, and 1 of olive oil.
- Season skin on salmon fillets with a little S&P (bearing in mind za’tar also has a little salt in it) then spread the dressing over the salmon. Not too thick, you don’t want a crust, but you do want the salmon covered.
- Bake the salmon in a 180’C oven for, maybe, 10 minutes and check it for doneness. It’ll vary depending on the fillets you have.
I like to serve this with a West African spinach rice.
- Toast some cashews and set aside.
- Gently fry some onion and garlic then add some washed rice, crushed vermicelli, a little curry powder (an African blend if you can find it, or a Jamaican blend if you can’t), and continue to gently fry until the rice is starting to get a little toasty and the curry powder fragrant.
- Add twice as much chicken stock as you had rice, bring to a simmer, cover, and set it as low as it’ll go.
- After 10 minutes, most of the liquid will have been absorbed. Take the lid off the pan and quickly cover the rice with chopped spinach then recover the pan, turn off the heat and leave it for 5 minutes.
- Mix the now-wilted spinach in with the rice, fluff it up and serve with the toasted cashews on the top and a good wedge of lemon per person since both rice and salmon love a good hit of lemon juice.
Kick-ass, man! I’ve been interested in all sort of bits and pieces this pulls together.
Maybe not the spinach: I don’t like it anywhere near that cooked but “not that long” is a trivial modification
Yeah, you could easily just stir the spinach through immediately before serving the rice. I might try that next time. Like I say, always tweaking!
I do a pasta meal like this. I turn off the heat and throw pasta and cheese in, like 30-60 seconds of mixing is sufficient to melt the cheese and wilt the spinach the way I like it.
— actually that discovery made me like cooked spinach for the first time in my life!
tyvm!
I make (vegan) bolognese, chili sin carne and similar weekly. It’s so easy to mix up with different ingredients, seasonings etc. I usually use soy-based mince since it’s the cheapest but I use other stuff like tofu, mince made from peas, mushrooms etc. pretty often too. They all give different textures and tastes so it’s an infinitely variable thing. Lately I’ve been making bolognese-ish with oat milk and mushroom slices added, makes it really nicely creamy and earthy.
You might want to look into lentil-oat mixes for even cheaper mince substitutes. You can make it yourself and season it with no beef bouillon and it’s a high protein, high fiber, cheap and tasty option. It’s more time intensive, but it’s mostly passive cooking time.
My kids love chili, with or without meat. Especially if it has hominy or corn. And are crazy about “mushroom sauce” for pasta, saute a truly astonishing amount of mushrooms then pour bottled spaghetti sauce over. Like they want more mushrooms than pasta just about.
Oh, all of that sounds really nice!
