I saw this meme the other day on Insta and it really hit me…”Who knew that the hardest part of being an adult is figuring out what to cook for dinner every…single…night for the rest of your life until you die?” I feel that so hard!!! You’d think that being surrounded by food every day all day I would always have a plan, but nope, more often than not I’m leaving work with no clue of what to make let alone any food item sounding good.
Don’t get me wrong, I love food, it’s what I do, but at the end of the day, just like you I am tired, food that makes my family happy does not excite me, and I want something super yummy, I can get on the table and cleaned up so I can crawl into bed with a book and have some much needed me time. All of that poses a real challenge, and I feel like this quest for quick and easy, under 30-minute, sheet pan meals are catfishing us into thinking “Easy-Peasy”. Granted I do enjoy scrolling through my feed and watching clips like last night's Instagram Live where the host gathered all ingredients and equipment before starting time and was out of breath and almost frantic the whole time. That is not my idea of getting dinner on the table quick and easy.
Hear me out…most of the meals I see in that realm have not just a few issues. Here’s why I can’t jump on this bandwagon:
Most of us do not have a kitchen prep team getting all of our ingredients together, boiling water, and setting out pans, and equipment.
We also do not have a dedicated dishwashing crew to take care of the mess we create while we are preparing said 30-minute feast!
I don’t want to sweat and run while I am preparing dinner at home, that’s my work life! Some dishes should just be left for when you have time to do it right.
I don’t want to use prepared ingredients to get dinner on the table faster.
A lot of the recipes I see require some level of knife and known cooking knowledge to pull it off in that time frame.
The way the dish is being cooked leaves true tastiness out of it.
Following a recipe always takes longer.
I could go on with my long laundry list of why this trend makes me cringe. And, sometimes we REALLY do need to get dinner super fast, so let’s talk about some of my strategies for getting dinner on the table easier, more enjoyable, and definitely more delicious.
Here are my hard and fast rules…just kidding…rules are meant to be broken! Let’s call them loose guidelines, modify as it suits you.
No more than 2 pans.
Minimal chopping and prep.
Craveable
Bonus for pantry-only ingredients
Set it and forget it
No recipe required
First off, lots of meals are inherently quick just by the nature of the ingredients. Let’s take our old friend pasta, It takes about 10-12 minutes for water to come to a boil, and 10-12 minutes for my pasta to cook. In that time I can have an easy sauce prepped and ready to receive the hot noodles and some pasta cooking water. Violà, dinner is ready about 30 minutes from start to finish. I always include gathering ingredients and equipment, add an extra 5-10 minutes for clean-up and you should be under 45 minutes.
What pasta dishes you ask? Here are some easy but delicious ones for any day of the week!
Anchovy Spaghetti with garlicky bread crumbs (recipe below), Bonus Pantry Staples
Carbonara
Cacio e Pepe, Bonus Pantry Staples
Fresh Cherry Tomato Bucatini, No Recipe Required
Italian Sausage and Broccoli Raab Orecchette
Olio e Aglio, Bonus Pantry Staples
Creamy Braised Bacon and Peas Farfalle
So you don’t want pasta every night, I get it, me either! I’m not a one-trick pony.
How about some set-it-and-forget-it dinners? I don’t really do slow cooker meals, mostly because I usually do not have my shit together in the morning to get that situation happening. I also don’t really love the end product. Now, if you do, get yourself a few dishes that you know how to make off the top of your head and go for it!
What I mean by set it and forget it is things that may take a bit of time to cook but can quickly be thrown in the oven or on the stovetop and walk away to get all of those other endless tasks completed while dinner is cooking away.
Perfectly Roasted Chicken with Root Veggies, No Recipe Required
Roasted Sausage and Grapes
One Pot Salmon Rice
Bits and Bobs (this is a no-cook situation, all of the cheeses, crackers, veggies, dips, and pickled things you might have lying around to nibble on as you do your evening tasks), No Recipe Required
Sushi Bowls
Pork (or Chicken) Cutlet Salad (make a batch of dressing or vinaigrette at the beginning of the week, and toss with greens all week long)
Shrimp Scampi with Crusty Bread and a Green Salad
Stay tuned for Ep. 2 of Dinner Knocking, but until then here is my Anchovy Pasta Recipe…
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