Quick and not from a box
 

There have been a couple of posts mentioning that they manage to make quick meals from scratch. By way of encouraging others to share, I present a meal that my family likes and I can put together in ~ 20 minutes.

Stir Fry

Start a batch of Really Good Rice (see below). Cut up some chicken, beef or pork into bite sized pieces. Heat a wok to medium. Add a tablespoon or so of oil (I like peanut oil but suite yourself). Add the meat and stir. When the meat has browned add a half bag (or so) of frozen oriental vegetables. Sprinkle on a generous amount of Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce. Continue stirring until the vegetables are heated but still crisp. Serve over the good rice along with soy sauce or more teriyaki if desired.

Really Good Rice

Start with a good quality long-grain rice. If you bought it from your local grocery store, it's probably not very good. I really like Jasmine rice, but Basmati is well thought of, too. Try your local Asian or Indian grocery.

Use a large pot. Add ~ 1.5 cups of water. (You'll have to experiment - fresher rice needs less water - but start with 1.5 cups) Rinse 1 cup of rice. I use a big honkin strainer and swish it around under the tap for bit.

Let the excess water drip off then dump the rice in the pot. Stir the rice to evenly distribute it in the pot. Cover and turn the heat to simmer. In 12-15 minutes you'll have some really good rice. It's done when all the water is absorbed.

Do not stir the rice after covering. Little pockets will form in the rice where the water boils up. You want that to happen and you ruin it if you stir things up. Just leave it alone until it's done.

Once you've done this a couple of times, it takes only 16 or 17 minutes to make good rice.

Since I've been on my own, I've mostly gone to dead simple meals. My current favourite meal is about 6 ounces of white albacore tuna, some white cheddar and a handful of almonds. If I'm actually gonna cook, one of my favourite meals is to marinate chicken breasts in olive oil and Tabasco chipotle sauce, saute and serve over rice. Stir-fry works really well for me, and the local Whole Foods market has a very nice selection of sausages which grill up nicely. They have a thai peanut chicken sausage which is absolutely fantastic.

As far as perfecting rice goes, the dedicated rice cooker is the way to go. They sell them at Target for about $30. We use ours all the time, and it always makes perfect rice, never burns the bottom. Comes with a built-in shutoff timer and appropriate measuring cups.

Add a pat of butter, or some turmeric, or some salsa, or anything at all to the pot before it starts and you've instantly improved your rice quality.

Dar, another variation you should really try is substituting Oyster Sauce for the Teriyaki sauce. You can get it at any Asian market, if your grocery store doesn't carry it. (And don't worry, it's called Oyster Sauce because it traditionally goes on oysters; it's not made of them.) It's a little sweeter than Teriyaki sauce and goes especially well with beef.

I've heard a lot of people speak well of the rice cookers. I've done all right with a regular pot, though, and could never bring myself to spend the money.

Clod, what a great idea about the oyster sauce. I will have to try that soon. I'm familiar with it because it's a central ingredient to another regional favorite of mine Springfield Cashew Chicken where the chicken is battered and fried.

just had a great dinner...sauteed eggplant, mushrooms with canned tomatoes, tomatoe sauce, and a dash of wine and sour cream added at the last minute. Served over pasta with Mizithra cheese on top. yum!!

I have been living on instant noodles for about a week.....is that bad?

jinx makes some wild ass chicken salads. You use a rotissere chicken form the grocery store, and she puts lots of different and unexpected things in there,(like grapes and walnuts and dill and cucumber and goatcheese and dried cherries and fruitbats and sloths and Orangutans.....breakfast ceweaaaaal..... ) but it's always good....and fast. served over a bed of chopped romaine hearts, it's the meal and the salad!

I'm best friends with the employees of Wendys

Red beans and rice with leftover ham added tonight. yummy.

What timing! I'm over at a friends house now encouraging him to share his meals and his beer.

All this talk about cheap and quick meals is good and all, but I think I'll be using this approach for a while.

How far into Ohio did you say you are, Dar??

Chicagoland. Better learn to cook instead. :D

Come on down slang, I'll make ya some wild ass chicken salad.

Note: this is not a threat.

What is a salad? I've seen the word before but it's meaning is unknown.


Thanks for the offer Jinx. What kinda chips and beer goes with chicken salad??

That's what food eats.

This is quick and comfort food. I love a cheezy noodle. Carbs? I got yer carbs right here..

Boil some rigitoni- big tubes with ridges to hold sauce, penne would work too. reserve a cup or so of the pasta water.
Meanwhile, in a big pan or pot, brown a couple links of italian sausage, peel off the skin and crumble it up, or any type of sausage with a bit of spice, in a little olive oil. add some red pepper flakes if you want it spicier. Take off the heat and stir in a pint of fresh riccotta. Then dump in the warm pasta. Loosen it to make a sauce with some of the pasta water. salt, pepper and parmesean if you wanna. And you should probably have a little green salad on the side...