While I like take-out as much as the next person, take-out can a toll on my budget and waistline after one meal too many. I got into cooking/baking in middle school when I had a friend who baked a lot and I was beginning to discover different cuisines. Normally for dinner, I quickly saute some veggies (usually kale with another veggie or tofu) and eat it with a mix of white rice and quinoa (toast the quinoa before cooking because it’ll taste so much better) but when I’m feeling fancier than normal I go to one of the following meals.
Some of the meals aren’t under 15 minutes but they’re low effort, which allows for multi-tasking so I’ve included them.
15-minute Coconut Curry Noodle Soup
It’s simple enough that I’ll make it fresh. Coconut milk/cream doesn’’t refrigerate well for an extended period of time, which is another reason why I prefer to make this meal fresh. I buy chicken meat in bulk so I just take some pre-portioned frozen chicken from the freezer and put it in the fridge to defrost the morning of.
Three-Cup Chicken
It’s not really a “quick” meal as much as it’s a low effort meal. It also refrigerates well, which is why I like to make a large portion and save for later meals. I use skinless and boneless chicken thighs for this instead of their suggested drumettes so there’s less hands-on eating.
Chicken Noodle Soup from Rotisserie Chicken
I really like Costco’s rotisserie chicken but I obviously can’t eat it all in one sitting so this is a really easy way to repurpose the leftovers. Another way of using leftover rotisserie chicken is to add it into fried rice.
Japanese Chicken Curry
It’s not as quick as I’d like (ie. 15 minutes) but it’s another low effort meal. I use the Golden Curry roux when I make Japanese curry. I was introduced to this when I was over a Japanese friend’s house in middle school and I’ve been a fan ever since. Personally, I don’t add an apple or a hard-boiled egg to my curry. This also refridgerates well.
Seafood Pancake (Haemuljeon)
It’s basically a savory pancake, which is super easy to make. I tend to eat these at the end of the week and it’s basically anything goes in terms of ingredients. I sometimes make a veggie version to clear out whatever’s left in my fridge.
Mostly Veggie Pasta with Sausage
In college, when my friends would lose me in the dining hall, they knew that I would probably be in the pasta line more often than not. What can I say? I like my pasta and my veggies. I don’t actually follow this recipe (I just substitute jarred pasta sauce for the sauce part) but it’s basically what I eat. I tend to make this with zucchini and broccoli (basically whatever leftover veggies are in my fridge). I make an additional 2-3 servings when I make it so I have some for lunch/dinner later but I don’t like making more than that since I find reheated pasta dishes to be texturally weird.
