Easy dinners for a non cook to get started wirh

[Anonymous]

My husband has always been in charge of cooking in our house and is very good at it—and a perfectionist. Everything from scratch, no short cuts. Perhaps as a result, he is starting, 20 years in, to feel overburdened by the arrangement and we agreed I would be in charge of dinner one night a week, though I noted that I do not aspire to live up to his no short cuts standards and will not. So, this week I made an easy soup with frozen Trader Joe’s dumplings that everyone liked. Yay! But now I need another idea! What are your best suggestions for someone who really is starting at a basic level? (I don’t even scramble eggs well as yet.) note that we do not have an instapot or crockpot because as noted my husband is a cooking snob. Best suggestions? (I am cooking for the two of us and two young teens.)

[Anonymous]

Ground beef (or bison), browned, add salt, dump in some Rao's spaghetti sauce (this is a bit controversial on DCUM but I'm a fan because it's really, really easy), and serve with pasta.

I think that a few basic principles are helpful when you're getting into cooking:

1) The quality of ingredients matters a great deal, especially when dealing with fish and produce. I am no longer into cooking but I'm very glad I learned how to identify good quality food.

2) Salt at each step (I like kosher salt)

3) Taste at each step.

4) More fat = more flavor

5) Salad dressing can just be an acid + an oil (lemon juice and olive oil is my favorite)


So even with that simple meat sauce with pasta "recipe" I shared, it will taste best if you get good ground beef and taste it before adding the pasta sauce, and I love adding butter and salt to the noodles before I serve them (we serve the pasta sauce separately...I won't get into it, it's a whole thing).

Often what makes a meal exciting for everybody is just abundance. Like a sandwich with a slab of cheddar and turkey is sad, but with some interesting fresh bread, great deli meats, really good pickles, whatever, you can take a banal food and make it great.

[Anonymous]

Can your DH start taking a few shortcuts - instead of making fresh pasta, buy the box. If he insists on making his own marinara, have him double the recipe and freeze for later.

Why can't you have a crockpot? You'd have endless meal options.

[Anonymous]

I mean, I could buy a crockpot, but let’s start with ideas for things I could make without purchasing new miniappliances?

[Anonymous]

If you're capable of browning beef you can do tacos.

[Anonymous]

Pasta with store bought pasta sauce rather than made from scratch sauce?

[Anonymous]

Baked salmon, and can include side of baked carrots or baked potatoes or baked asparagus. Can bake simultaneously.

[Anonymous]

Meat sauce with pasta is pretty easy - start the water boiling and brown the meat at the same time. Once the meat isn’t raw turn the heat down as low as it can go. Once the water boils pour in the pasta and time it boiling for however long the package says. At the same time pour the sauce into the meat. When the pasta is ready, so is the meat sauce.

Baked chicken with new potatoes and steamed green beans or asparagus. My mom taught me, after I served cod, white rice and cauliflower that everything shouldn’t be the same color.

[Anonymous]

We all like salmon. I buy the frozen fillets from Costco. Thaw, marinate in pesto then bake in toaster oven for approx 15 mins. Serve with rice ( we use uncle Bens 90 sec rice) and whatever veg you like. We tend to do corn and or broccoli.
I don’t enjoy cooking either btw. If it takes more than 20/25 mins I’m not making it.

[Anonymous]

My go to easy meals...salmon with a veggie and rice or a baked sweet potato, some sort of turkey meatball over rice, pasta or cauliflower rice and nyt chicken shawarma. All easy weeknight meals that require minimal cooking skills and are always a hit.

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-spicy-glazed-salmon

https://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/baked-turkey-meatballs-7-ways-freezer-friendly/

https://www.recipezazz.com/recipe/oven-roasted-chicken-shawarma-nytimes-25412

If I'm feeling really unmotivated, breakfast for dinner or taco bowls.

[Anonymous]

This is a hit here:

chop up a bunch of vegetables, pretty much any kind

spread them all over a sheet pan, add a piece of salmon, drizzle with a lot of Italian dressing

Stick under the broiler, stir occaisionally.

While it's broiling cook some orzo.

flake salmon with fork, dump in some crumbled feta, stir everything together

[Anonymous]

I’m a huge fan of penzys spice mixes. Really reduces any possible errors

A couple super easy ideas:
Tacos (brown meat and add spice mix, serve with heated taco shells, shredded cheese, salsa etc)

Salmon, Penney’s sunny paris, salt, a thin layer of mayo, bake 20 mins

chicken soup (buy broth, boil and add onion, carrot, celery, salt, pepper, chicken and noodles or tortellini)

Pesto anything (get the store bought refrigerated pesto)

Costco prepared meals - rotisserie chicken, croissants or rolls and chicken salad, chicken pot pie, etx

[Anonymous]

Make bacon, use for BLTs or chopped salads with rotisserie chicken or deli meat, blue cheese, tomato and made-ahead hard boiled eggs, bottled honey mustard salad dressing.

Sheet pan dinners are easy.

Tik Tok feta tomato sauce for pasta

Italian deli subs toasted in the oven

Navy bean soup with Canadian bacon

[Anonymous]

This is great. I confess that salmon is not my favorite favorite—but it seems maybe I should try to get over that given the ease of prep! Anyhow, keep it coming!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is great. I confess that salmon is not my favorite favorite—but it seems maybe I should try to get over that given the ease of prep! Anyhow, keep it coming!

Tilapia? Shrimp? Seafood is easy.