Ideas for quick, delicious food
Discussion
Thought I would christen the new forum...
I love cooking but as it tends to be just for me, I have a habit of repeating myself a little too often.
Without a microwave and working reasonably late leaves me with not an awful lot of prep time.
Any ideas for some different, easy dishes?
Thanks in advance...
I love cooking but as it tends to be just for me, I have a habit of repeating myself a little too often.
Without a microwave and working reasonably late leaves me with not an awful lot of prep time.
Any ideas for some different, easy dishes?
Thanks in advance...
Bebs said:
Call for a take away.. 
/\Cracking start.
Try tortilla wraps, filling and you can put pretty much anything in them, especially good if using left overs from the night before, yummy, shepherds pis wraps with extra cheese.
A quick omelette or cowboy beans ( tin of beans butter, black pepper and chorizo ( sp ) chopped up, lovely and dead quick.
Risotto, takes about 20 minute but again one pan and dead easy.
Get a slow cooker, makle stews or chillis in them, 10minutes chopping the stuff and then you can leave it cooking all day, come home and it is done, freeze what it left over, in the morning take a portion out of the freezer warm it through in the evening.
Chop up potatoes small ( cook much quicker ) boil them and whilst they are doing that fry some bangers, mash the spuds, quickley fry of some garlic in the bangers pan with some butter and maybe finely chopped onion, bung it in the spuds and mash, lovely comfort food, one pan one pot to clean.
Quick Carbonara, fry the bacon, garlic, onion and mushrooms ( if you want ) add pot of creme fresh and grate up a small bowl of pamisan cheese, cook til cheese melts, take off the heat crack an egg and stir in don't stop it moving. Pour over pasta, tne minutes and yummy.
Edited by Tampon on Friday 3rd August 17:02
Edited by Tampon on Friday 3rd August 18:15
There is a really quick pasta dish you can do with very little prep that is really nice...
Ingredients:
Pasta (best Penne)
Cherry Tomatoes
Riccotta Cheese
Bread
Garlic
Directions:
Cook the pasta till ready
At the same time chop up the garlic and spread on some bread then stick in the toaster till brown
Chop up the cherry tomotoes in half
Then make the bread into breadcrumbs (chop or rip) and combine with the pasta, tomotoes, riccotta.. voila really quick
Ingredients:
Pasta (best Penne)
Cherry Tomatoes
Riccotta Cheese
Bread
Garlic
Directions:
Cook the pasta till ready
At the same time chop up the garlic and spread on some bread then stick in the toaster till brown
Chop up the cherry tomotoes in half
Then make the bread into breadcrumbs (chop or rip) and combine with the pasta, tomotoes, riccotta.. voila really quick
Edited by RacingPete on Friday 3rd August 16:57
i like risotto too and feel it's worth the time taken to cook it.
mostly i like it plain - just so nice on it's own, i don't want to mask the flavour of the rice with anything else.
i do, however,like j oliver's 3-cheese risotto. make it as normal, then add a wedge of parmesan, gruyere and emmental (and a good spot of butter) in at the end - bloody marvelous.
mostly i like it plain - just so nice on it's own, i don't want to mask the flavour of the rice with anything else.
i do, however,like j oliver's 3-cheese risotto. make it as normal, then add a wedge of parmesan, gruyere and emmental (and a good spot of butter) in at the end - bloody marvelous.
Edited by SpydieNut on Friday 3rd August 17:24
Plotloss said:
Bit of a student dish.
Boil some pasta
Fry up some smoked bacon, mushroom and finely chopped onion
Sling a tin of good quality chicken soup in the microwave
When everythings done, mix it all together in the pasta pan and throw it in a bowl.
Could also use pesto and some chopped toms as your sauce here too, RichBoil some pasta
Fry up some smoked bacon, mushroom and finely chopped onion
Sling a tin of good quality chicken soup in the microwave
When everythings done, mix it all together in the pasta pan and throw it in a bowl.
Couple of faves that take 10-15 mins max.
Roasted veg pasts
Slice up courgettes, peppers and red onion.
Stick in hot oven with a bit of oil and garlic until getting brown
Cook pasta twists to how you like - I prefer 'al dente'
Chuck in the pasta a couple of tablespoons of creme fraiche, heaped teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, the roasted veg and some sliced ham.
Gnocchi with bacon and mushrooms
Dry fry a couple of rashers of bacon
When cooked half some button mushrooms and cook until nearly done (minutes)
Chuck in a handful of ripped up basil leaves, a load of halved cherry tomatoes
Turn down heat and let the tomatoes soften
Start to cook gnocchi, it only takes a minute or so until it floats
Grind a load of black pepper in bacon mixture
When the tomatoes start to release the liquid mix with drained cooked gnocchi
Chop some fresh mozzarella into cubes and mix with gnocchi and bacon
Lovely
Ace-T
Roasted veg pasts
Slice up courgettes, peppers and red onion.
Stick in hot oven with a bit of oil and garlic until getting brown
Cook pasta twists to how you like - I prefer 'al dente'
Chuck in the pasta a couple of tablespoons of creme fraiche, heaped teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, the roasted veg and some sliced ham.
Gnocchi with bacon and mushrooms
Dry fry a couple of rashers of bacon
When cooked half some button mushrooms and cook until nearly done (minutes)
Chuck in a handful of ripped up basil leaves, a load of halved cherry tomatoes
Turn down heat and let the tomatoes soften
Start to cook gnocchi, it only takes a minute or so until it floats
Grind a load of black pepper in bacon mixture
When the tomatoes start to release the liquid mix with drained cooked gnocchi
Chop some fresh mozzarella into cubes and mix with gnocchi and bacon
Lovely
Ace-T
Edited by Ace-T on Friday 3rd August 22:34
Vixpy1 said:
Frik... Cooking 
Yeah, what about it takeaway boy? 
Cheers for the useful tips everyone else. I've never tried gnocchi so that's definitely on the list, ditto the chucking in some creme fraiche.
My standard meal involves onions, garlic, toms, fresh basil and whatever else is to hand (mozarella, roasted peppers, chillis etc) but it can get a little repetitive.
I did buy some polenta ages ago but it sat in my cupboard and got thrown away in the end cause I couldn't work out what to do with it. Ideas welcome.
I do risotto the way my mum used to make it probably not the correct way but it works. Saucepan, brown some mince, chuck in some sweetcorn and pees, chuck in some dried herbs and a stock cube, pour over boiling water and rice, simmer until the rice absobes the water siring occationally.
Nice with a bit of curry powder sprinkled on top
Nice with a bit of curry powder sprinkled on top
Quick and Easy Thai Chicken with Coriander and Lime
Prep time: 10 minutes.
Cook time: 15 minutes. Ish. Good for doing at the end of a long day. Simple, smells great in the cooking, and it's brilliant comfort food. I love the smell of cooking basmati rice, too.
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 bunch spring onions split down the middle and chopped
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 good handful fresh coriander, chopped
400ml coconut milk
1 dsp Thai fish sauce
1 green chilli, seeded and finely chopped
Juice of 2 limes
1 mug basmati rice
Method
Start the rice: 3 parts water to 1 part rice by volume. Put a lid on the pan. Use well-salted water. When the water is hot, but not yet boiling, get started on the stir frying. As if by magic, your rice will be ready just as your chicken is.
In a hot wok, stir fry the chicken until it's getting some colour on all sides. This will take five or so minutes, but use your judgement. Toss in the bell pepper, spring onion and green chilli. I recommend using the bigger chillis because they're not as fierce and add some nice colour.
Stir fry for about 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and half the lime juice. Save the rest.
Stir your rice.
It'll go a lovely colour now, and the smell of the coconut and lime will be entrancing.
Allow to simmer for a minute or two and potentially thicken a bit - especially if you made your coconut milk from a block of creamed coconut and overestimated the water.
If you taste now, it'll be a bit sharp but fear not.
Have a look at your rice. It should be just about cooked and looking fluffy.
Add the coriander and simmer for a minute or two. The fragrance of the coriander will balance the sharpness of the lime, whilst the coconut and chilli will achieve their own equilibrium.
Drain the rice and serve up.
Drizzle a bit of the lime juice over the rice and chicken. Don't go overboard - fresh lime juice is really, really sharp. Less is more.
Eat.
Prep time: 10 minutes.
Cook time: 15 minutes. Ish. Good for doing at the end of a long day. Simple, smells great in the cooking, and it's brilliant comfort food. I love the smell of cooking basmati rice, too.
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 bunch spring onions split down the middle and chopped
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 good handful fresh coriander, chopped
400ml coconut milk
1 dsp Thai fish sauce
1 green chilli, seeded and finely chopped
Juice of 2 limes
1 mug basmati rice
Method
Start the rice: 3 parts water to 1 part rice by volume. Put a lid on the pan. Use well-salted water. When the water is hot, but not yet boiling, get started on the stir frying. As if by magic, your rice will be ready just as your chicken is.
In a hot wok, stir fry the chicken until it's getting some colour on all sides. This will take five or so minutes, but use your judgement. Toss in the bell pepper, spring onion and green chilli. I recommend using the bigger chillis because they're not as fierce and add some nice colour.
Stir fry for about 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and half the lime juice. Save the rest.
Stir your rice.
It'll go a lovely colour now, and the smell of the coconut and lime will be entrancing.
Allow to simmer for a minute or two and potentially thicken a bit - especially if you made your coconut milk from a block of creamed coconut and overestimated the water.
If you taste now, it'll be a bit sharp but fear not.
Have a look at your rice. It should be just about cooked and looking fluffy.
Add the coriander and simmer for a minute or two. The fragrance of the coriander will balance the sharpness of the lime, whilst the coconut and chilli will achieve their own equilibrium.
Drain the rice and serve up.
Drizzle a bit of the lime juice over the rice and chicken. Don't go overboard - fresh lime juice is really, really sharp. Less is more.
Eat.
Edited by CommanderJameson on Saturday 4th August 18:53
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