The unseemly meddley I call dinner
That above is badly-cooked, over-oiled salmon, soggy rice-a-roni, over-cooked sparragus, plasticky broccoli and cauliflower, overboiled potatoes and yams (you can barely see them above), mung bean sprouts, taro bread, and a strange honey white gourd drink. Phew! It was definitely too much but actually not that bad (might the secret of happiness indeed be low expectations?). It was sort of the first true full meal I cooked ever. Thankfully, I’ve improved.
The next day, for instance, I decided to split the meddley into breakfast and dinner and it worked much better:
A tasty cheese/ strange shroom omelette for breakfast.
And much better cooked salmon and asparagus for dinner (sublime, actually):
So far everything I’ve cooked, despite is appearance, has been much better than the frozen food I’ve tried. It’s also cheaper and healthier than most restaurant fare. Cooking’s way too time consuming but also surprisingly rewarding — I feel pampered and oddly self-satisfied afterwards.
Any tips for this new “cook”? Favorite quick & easy & healthy meals?
4 Comments
Que bueno que estes cocinando! Asi se empieza, lo bueno es que minimo el sabor si esta aceptable.
Te mandare unas recetillas para que las pruebes, un beso!
1. Spaghetti Carbonara: cook spaghetti, but pull it out a minute early (or don’t, if you’re making some for now and some to eat on its own later). In a skillet, heat oil and add garlic, salt, a bunch of black pepper, and any vegetables you have lying around (a bit of onion, pepper, anything). Toss in a big handful of spaghetti, and when it’s warmed up crack in two eggs. Stir to spread the egg around, then tend it just well enough that nothing sticks. If the spaghetti’s already made, this takes 5 minutes, and can be done with whatever’s in your kitchen.
2. Baked potato with anything: wash a large baking potato, poke holes in it with a fork (stab it 3x top and bottom, wrap it in a paper towel, and then Nuke it for 9 minutes (4 minutes, turn, 4 minutes, check, 1-2 minutes as needed). Top with whatever you have: pesto, salsa, sour cream, spaghetti sauce, fresh vegetables, taco bell sauce packets….3. A rice cooker is the bachelor’s best friend. I wrote the proportions for a full batch of rice on the outside of the cooker—come home from work, dump in X rice and Y water, set it cooking, and by the time I’m changed, etc. the rice is ready. They’re really inexpensive, and you’ll pay for it by buying rice in bulk (no Uncle Ben’s, less eating out).
Whoa Philip, thanks a lot for your tips! The last one in particular convinced me to pony up for the rice cooker Mauro, my roommate, has been wanting to buy for some time. I still wonder, though, if instant rice (the one you just have to drop in boiling water and let cool) isn’t a better solution? Again, great tips…
chemito: Thanks for the recipes kiddo!@Philip: I believe carbonara is Italian for left overs.