Casual Conversation

People shit on frozen burger patties, but on a lazy day I can take 4 out of the freezer and in less than ten minutes I've got a couple double cheeseburgers. I cook them directly from frozen, no defrost, 4 minutes on one side, then flip em and add cheese, cover, and in 3 more minutes they're done. While they're cooking, I rehydrate some dehydrated onions (like they do at McDonald's), and get some pickles on the buns. Add some ketchup and Bob's your uncle.

It's not gourmet, and it's not the healthiest thing you can eat, but it tastes good and fills the belly. Works great for me on Mondays when I'm recovering from working 12 hour shifts Friday-Sunday.

Quicker than you think: fried rice. Excellent leftovers user.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic_bread

Rip a hole, about golf ball size, out of a slice of bread. On a medium heat pan with oil or butter, place the bread and crack an egg into the hole. When the bottom of the egg is solid, flip the thing and cook it until you think it's done. (Add more oil after flipping if the pan is dry.)

Welsh Rarebit

Adding things to other things. Don't just eat ramen noodles, add some peanut butter, frozen spinach, minced ginger, lemon juice and rice vinegar.

Dice up some garlic, mix it with lemon juice, mayo, mustard, salt and pepper. We can debate if it's actually aioli or not, but it's fucking delicious and you can put it on a lot of stuff.

I mean, leaving aside for a moment that it might be one of the most popular recipes on the planet, I do feel like Dal isn't appreciated enough. 😅

Just get some split lentils, e.g. red lentils, put them in a pot of water and then cook for like 20+ minutes. Add some salt. Can eat with bread.

Obviously, this can be pimped with all kinds of veggies and spices, but even in its basic form, it's creamy and has a surprisingly rich taste.

Genuinely just like. Wilted spinach is an incredible side dish. Cooked down with a splash of olive oil and some (fresh or otherwise) herbs and garlic until its nicely wilted but still has some bite and structure to it. Absolute winner. And bonus points that a whole bag of spinach cooks down into like nothing so you get a lot of spinach into you with not too much meal space taken up

Peanut butter toast with Sriracha

Pickles! Easy, delicious, and versatile. Today I whipped up a batch of pickled red onions and marinated (a.k.a. pickled) mushrooms. We like the sweet sour onions on tacos, avocado toast, as toppings for stews, etc. The mushrooms are mostly for snacking, but also good in pasta.

Pickled red onions: in a pot dissolve 2tbsp salt and 1/3c sugar in 2c white vinegar and 2c water. Let cool. Thin slice two red onions (i use a mandolin), and pack them in jars with a clove of garlic and some peppercorns. Fill with the brine, stick it in the fridge overnight, and viola!

Marinated mushrooms: boil whole cleaned white mushrooms in 3:1 vinegar and water for 5 minutes. Drain them and squeeze them out a bit. Toss them with 1tsp salt, 1tsp oregano, 1tbsp minced garlic, 1/2tsp red pepper flakes, and extra virgin olive oil. Stick them in the fridge overnight and they're ready for snacking!

Steak bites. Cut up steak into bite-size pieces, then cook in the air fryer at 400 for 8-10 minutes, shaking a few times. Easier than steak and still delicious.

good pasta with a fresh quick tomato sauce

https://youtu.be/Jb5MzTBVnl8

I do this but dont press the seeds out, eh

And I like to make it with oregano from my garden

I hate to just share a link to a video, but my favorite recipe isn't available in text form anywhere. The gnocchi pasta can be made in 12 minutes it's cheap, and it's so delicious.

All 3 of these recipes are good though. Give them a look: https://youtu.be/aVAN4_pWCwY

Onion in the oven for like 20mins

How quick?

Homemade mashed potatoes with skin on.

4-5 large russet potatoes. Wash, remove any bad spots, cut into 1.5 cm/1” chunks. Don’t worry about how pretty this is.

Put in pot, cover with water, add a spoonful of salt.

Cook until tender. 20-30 mins. Walk away and do/cook something else.

Drain.

I use a hand potato masher, but an electric hand mixer will work too.

Adjust adding butter and sour cream to the size of the potatoes, they can be quite large where I am. This recipe makes enough for four people plus leftovers. The result should be creamy and soft but able to hold shape.

Add 1-2 sticks (1/2-1 cup, 100-200g of unsalted butter) depending how much you like buttery potatoes. Less if you used fewer/smaller potatoes.

Let it soften and melt a bit and just mash it in.

Add 1 cup (~200g or .25L ) of sour cream. Less if you used smaller/fewer potatoes.

Mash in. Salt to taste. Mash in. Don’t over-mix or mash, just try to get most of the lumps out.

Done. Enjoy. About 10 minutes of actual work, tops. The rest is just waiting for it to cook.