Simple, Healthy, Satisfying Dishes

And prepare ie chop, all your ingredients beforehand. Takes all the panic out of following a recipe and cooking.

I've a slightly cheating version of fritatta/tortilla which doesn't require flipping it over.

For 2 people, you'd need :

2-3 salad potatoes (depending on their size), sliced.
1 bell pepper, sliced or diced
1/2 onion, sliced
4 eggs
Salt and Pepper
100g grated cheese

Boil the sliced potatoes until they're soft. Drain and set aside.
In a frying pan, fry the pepper and onion on medium heat, until both are soft and slightly browned.
Add the boiled potatoes, and spread the mixture out a bit to cover the bottom of the pan.
Crack the eggs into a small bowl, scramble them and season with a little salt and pepper (err on the side of caution, you can always add a bit more later)
Pour over the mixture in the pan. Keep the pan on medium heat until you can see the egg setting.
Sprinkle with cheese and place the pan under the grill until the egg has fully set and the cheese is melted and bubbly

It's lovely with some hot sauce over it. and leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days and can easily be microwaved.
You can throw in more veg (fried courgettes, mushrooms, aubergines, fennel, or a handful of frozen peas or sweetcorn) as you like.

My version of an omelette which does not require much skill. For one person, two eggs beaten with a fork. Heat some butter or oil in a small pan. Gently fry some onion and red pepper cut into small pieces. Have some pieces of ham and cheese ready.

Add the eggs to the pan, and stir in the onion and red pepper. Sprinkle on some ground pepper if you like pepper. There is enough salt in the ham and cheese. Lay the pieces of ham and cheese on the eggs. At this stage the omelette will have cooked enough underneath. Instead of trying to fold it, put the pan under the grill for a few minutes until the omelette is nicely browned on top. I eat it with bread, tomatoes and coleslaw.

The pan need not be oven/grill proof, since it is only used under the grill for a few minutes. This is the proper recipe for something similar.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cheeseomelette_80621

Omelettes are great. I also like these stir fry packs you can buy in any supermarket. Into the frying pan and mix in a sauce and extras and you're done!

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

And prepare ie chop, all your ingredients beforehand. Takes all the panic out of following a recipe and cooking.

This is probably one of the best bits of advice you'll get if you want to start to get better/enjoy cooking.

"Mise en place" is the (French) term commonly used for it, to put everything in place. I think a lot more people would enjoy cooking if they did it. Allow a bit of extra time to do so, most can be done well in advance if needed. Takes the stress out of it and avoids rushed mistakes.

As Gloom says, it's involves preparing everything in advance. Chopping, measuring etc etc as opposed to just having the ingredients to hand.

Shenshen wrote: »

I've a slightly cheating version of fritatta/tortilla which doesn't require flipping it over.

For 2 people, you'd need :

2-3 salad potatoes (depending on their size), sliced.
1 bell pepper, sliced or diced
1/2 onion, sliced
4 eggs
Salt and Pepper
100g grated cheese

Boil the sliced potatoes until they're soft. Drain and set aside.
In a frying pan, fry the pepper and onion on medium heat, until both are soft and slightly browned.
Add the boiled potatoes, and spread the mixture out a bit to cover the bottom of the pan.
Crack the eggs into a small bowl, scramble them and season with a little salt and pepper (err on the side of caution, you can always add a bit more later)
Pour over the mixture in the pan. Keep the pan on medium heat until you can see the egg setting.
Sprinkle with cheese and place the pan under the grill until the egg has fully set and the cheese is melted and bubbly

It's lovely with some hot sauce over it. and leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days and can easily be microwaved.
You can throw in more veg (fried courgettes, mushrooms, aubergines, fennel, or a handful of frozen peas or sweetcorn) as you like.

Something along these lines is a regular in our house but it's more of a warm salad. (Or a fry in disguise as my daughter calls it)

For 1 person, you'd need :

6 salad potatoes (depending on their size, and your liking for spuds), quartered.
2-3 pieces of black pudding quartered.
1 thumb size pieces of chorizo, cut into similar sizes to the black pudding.
2-3 cherry tomatoes quartered
1 spring onions chopped
Squeeze of lemon.
Some good extra virgin olive oil.

1 or 2 eggs.

Boil the sliced potatoes until they're soft. If added to boiling water and cut in advance, 10-15 mins should get them soft. Drain and set aside in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and some extra virgin olive oil to them, a couple of teaspoons. You don't want it wet, but the spuds will absorb the oil. (Can be done well in advance, or start boiling approx 15 mins before next stage).

In a frying pan, fry the black pudding and chorizo for a 4-5 mins on medium heat.
Add the black pudding and chorizo to the bowl of boiled potatoes, make sure to add the juices.
Add the tomatoes, spring onion and a squeeze of lemon to the bowl and mix around.

Fry your eggs (same pan will do) and as they're frying plate out your warm salad. Place eggs on top of salad , ,because you're a chef now when they're done. Runny eggs make the salad even nicer.

I find you don't need much more seasoning other than salt and pepper on your eggs.

You can experiment with other ingredients as you build up confidence. I can't remember the last time we had eggs on top tbh but it's probably the handiest. A nice piece of pan fried hake or chicken can be substituted in for them over time. Most veg lying around can also work with the salad. Some asparagus chopped and fried with the chorizo for example.
It's safe enough in the sense that you can play around with ingredients and quantities and for minimal cooking/skill you can turn out a nice plate of food.

Check out Bia Maith.ie. Irish chef, simple recipes with easy to find ingredients. Nice guy too.

Loveinapril wrote: »

Deja Boo wrote: »

I don't know how to cook meats, so that has proven impossible. /quote]

Tesco, Aldi and Lidl all do a version of a chicken in a bag that you roast in the bag, so no basting or cleaning up. The instructions are clear (temperature/ gas mark) and amount of time. The bag keeps the chicken really moist. You can eat a bit with potatoes and veg, shred it for wraps and sambos and when I use the very last bit, I tend to chop it up really small and make a veggie egg fried rice with it.

For the rice-
Boil the rice, strain and let it cool completely. I run it under the tap and leave it in a strainer while I get everything else ready. Fry peppers, add some frozen peas, sweetcorn and spring onion (and whatever else you fancy) in a big pan, move that to one side of the pan and put a whisked egg on the empty side of the pan. Let it cook until the underneath is set up but the top is still raw, then put the rice into the pan and mix it all together for a couple if minutes until the egg is cooked into the mixture. I add the chicken at the very end.

And if you use a little stir fry oil from Tesco for frying , it tastes just like Chinese egg fried rice!

Fakediamond wrote: »

Ingredients:

Stewing beef
Carrots
Onions
Potatoes
Bouquet garni
Bay leaves
Knorr beef stock pot
Can of Guinness stout
Water

Method:

Chop onions and carrots, place all ingredients in crockpot, add water, simmer on low heat for 2 hours.
Add potatoes to the pot 30 minutes before serving because they take less time to cook. Add a little more water during cooking if drying out.

Delicious cold weather food, can be reheated next day for another yummy dinner.

Do enough and you can have dinners for a week from the freezer! Today seems like a good day to make it!

I recently had to up my vegetable intake.
I go for the packs of frozen mixed vegetables.

First I was doing ordinary mixed vegetables, rosted with some mozzerella slices melted on the top. (Sliced Mozzerella is on sale in Dunnes now. I find it easier to manage week by week than the other preperations of Mozzeralla)

Another, for the more finley chopped stir fry vegetables, is buy a bottle of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Just pour them on to your hearts content after giving the vegetables a cook.

The stir fry vegetables would be fine in your crok-pot.

Something I made today:

Chop few onions, soften on frying pan while browning diced stewing lamb.

Throw into slow-cooker, add two tins of chopped tomatoes, two diced carrots, a diced pepper, a smidge of honey, shake in some ral-el-hanout, cumin, coriander, chili powder, ground almonds, stir it up, pop on the lid and go about your day.

Amazingly tasty lamb "tagine" for dinner this evening. Yum.

Might sound like lots of ingredients but it's just a few spice jars, every time I make it its a bit different because I never remember what to throw in, but always tastes lovely!

Graces7 wrote: »

I think it was the occasion and having been in transit so long that made it extra welcome... YOU know!

A bit like when you're really hungry, and make yourself a lovely sandwich that really hits the spot, you've enjoyed it so much you decide you'll make another the same, which you do... But because you're not as hungry now, it tastes a bit disappointing

Hunger really is the best sauce!

The Mighty Quinn wrote: »

Something I made today:

Chop few onions, soften on frying pan while browning diced stewing lamb.

Throw into slow-cooker, add two tins of chopped tomatoes, two diced carrots, a diced pepper, a smidge of honey, shake in some ral-el-hanout, cumin, coriander, chili powder, ground almonds, stir it up, pop on the lid and go about your day.

Amazingly tasty lamb "tagine" for dinner this evening. Yum.

Might sound like lots of ingredients but it's just a few spice jars, every time I make it its a bit different because I never remember what to throw in, but always tastes lovely!

Some preserved lemon slices or wedges in that would have you in Morocco.