1 lb hamburger, 1 can beans, 1 can diced tomatoes, chili powder. Fry meat, add remainder (do not drain liquid in cans), simmer. Chopped onions, bell pepper, celery optional in any combination.

how weird...I was just thinking about posting a similar question. The main issue is what to eat on nights where you're getting home late and need something FAST but want to avoid takeout, eating out, or junk food.

One of my favorites is tostadas. coat a chicken breast in Mexican spice blend (or not, doesn't matter) and sear it in a skillet until cooked. Shred with forks. Meanwhile, toast some corn tortillas in the oven until crisp. sprinkle shredded chicken and some grated cheddar on top. Broil until the cheese melts, then serve. The reason this counts as healthy is that you serve it with a LOT of side veggies - diced onion, diced pepper, jalepenos, shredded lettuce dressed with fresh lime juice, shredded carrots, black olives from a can, grape tomatoes cut in half, fresh salsa. Yummy and really quick. For variety, instead of chicken, you can mash up some black beans with chipotle pepper and spread that on the tortillas as the protein element.

Stir-fry is really fast.

Pasta with chunks of sauteed chicken, broccoli raab, garlic and lemon is always good (with crushed red pepper).

and check out Cooking Light's Superfast column - all healthy meals that take under 20 minutes to make. There are tons of great ideas there.

Also, many dishes abstract to starch, meat, veggies, sauce. Potatoes, rice, noodles. Beef, chicken, pork, shrimp. Onions, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli. Tomato sauce, cream sauce with or without cheese, soy, teriyaki, peanut. Just mix and match.

i'm sharing mine: new york peppers and onions:
here

This is so easy a kid can start it.

Smother boneless chicken breasts with a jar of Paul Newman's Sockarooni pasta sauce. (If you do this in an envelope of foil it makes for easy cleanup.)Cook in a 375 oven for about 35 minutes. Serve with whatever you like. We like it over egg noodles with steamed broccoli on the side.

It's flexible too. Sockarooni is spicy tomato sauce. But there's another brand that's alfredo-ish. We aren't that into dairy but sometimes I'll make it that way to take to a shut-in.

I also make omelets every so often. It's fun for everyone to pick their own fillings: Turkey bacon, scallions, veggies, salsa.

I make soup every weekend and then we have a dinner of soup and sandwiches or salad one night. It's always better the second night. I used to have enough to pack for lunch too, but now my son is a teenager and those days are a memory!

Hummus...two cans of garbanzo beans, one to two lemons to taste, garlic cloves sauteed in olive oil to taste, fresh basil if you like it...blend in blender or food processor until smooth. Serve with bread or pita chips. Good protein, and good if you want an appetizer for dinner or a light meal.

We post some of our favourites on our food blog, Recipe Repository

Tuna mixed with a bit of olive oil, onions of some kind and capers. Lemon juice if you have any.

Baked potatoes with any number of stuff piled on top. A potato takes longer than 30 minutes to bake, but if you want to nuke it for a bit first, you can cut that down. Alternately, bake a bunch at a time, scoop out the insides and mix with low-fat cottage cheese (for protein), green onions, salt and pepper. Stuff the contents back into the potatoes, freeze and reheat.

For freezing, I like doing crockpot dishes. Indian is particularly good. I've found, however, that Aloo Gobi doesn't freeze so well. Rice takes 20 min.

Salads are quick, too. Use Ardiril's pick-and-choose approach and have a bag of salad, a bunch of dressings you like, and different stuff you can put on it. Chicken breast seared, tuna, salmon, hard boiled egg, cheese, veggies of all sorts, beans, nuts, fruit, olives, etc.

French dip sandwiches rock. Baguette, cold cut roast beef, swiss or provolone cheese, and then dip in beef bouillon. I get the Campbells kind you're supposed to dilute, rather than beef broth. Salad as a side.

Eggs are super fast, and great with lots of veggies.

For the totally cooking impaired: the hummus uses the juice of the lemons, not the fruit.

Today's soup:
Can of Campbells' Mushroom soup
Can of milk (whole is tastier, 2% or 1% is healthier)
1/2-2/3 lb of cut up shrooms
1/2-2/3 lb of broccoli crowns
1/4 lb fresh whole green beans
half dozen or so garlic cloves chopped up
6 spring onions chopped up
tsp of corriander, tsp of paprika, tsp of parsley, tsp of cilantro, couple of bay leaves, a shake or two of tobasco type sauce, tsp of salt, tsp of pepper, tbsp of olive oil (or butter if diet allows)

Put it in a pot and let it simmer low for 40 minutes to an hour until it thickens up.

Add ins could be rice, sausage, bacon, meat chunks, onion, other veggies, etc.

Easy, healthy; and good for a few days.

I made this tonight and it was awesome.

Marinated/spice-rubbed chicken goes into a big pan with some butter/oil/whatever fat in it. Possibly add in some chili/hot sauce...I like Tapatio. With skin on, no/less fat added. Brown chicken, set aside on a plate.

Add chopped shallots, onion, and a few cloves of garlic and sauté for a bit, then add a splash of soy sauce and fresh grated ginger. Cover and let simmer for a few minutes.

Add 2 cups low-sodium chicken/vegetable stock, a cup or so of rice, and the chicken back atop everything else. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, until the rice is done, like 15-20 minutes.

Delish and adaptable!

one pound cooked drained hamburger
one can cream-a-mushroom soup
a bit of milk or water
cooked noodles (I like the bow tie or swirly ones) add broccoli and mushrooms if you are feeling really adventurous

mix. easy beef stroken-off

I portion and freeze this since it makes too much for one.

oh and make use of your crock pot. some beef, tomatoes and potatoes and onions or a turkey breast on low for 8 hours is awesome and easy

throw a pile of chicken breasts into the crock pot. A can or two of cream of mushroom soup (depending on how big a pile of chicken you started with.) Shake in some "liquid smoke" and whatever other seasonings strike your fancy. Set on low and cook all stinking day.

Serve with biscuits or rice, with a simple salad or veggie on the side.

This is my go-to dish not only for when I'm out of groceries or can't decide what to eat, but also for when we are having meat-eaters over who claim they don't like vegetarian food.

It's great served with corn bread and a side salad if you are serving it to people, also good with sour cream if that floats your boat (I never have sour cream though or want to splurge on the extra calories).

Seasoning amounts are definitely off the top of my head - I've made this for so long I just eye ball them. You'll want to adjust it for how much you like spicy food too. Sometimes I add spinach into the veggies at the end for a change. I've also tossed other veggies in when I've been in the mood.

Mexican lasagne:

Ingredients:

Flour tortillas (a good number, not sure how many)
Olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped up
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
4 carrots, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn (or some frozen corn, either way)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 T cumin
1 T chili powder
1 t cayenne pepper
Dash white pepper
Cheddar cheese to top each layer, grated or shredded
Optional: Chop some canned jalapenos if you like the heat

In a skillet or saute pan, cook onions until soft in olive oil. Add minced garlic, saute for 30 seconds or so.

Add carrots, black beans, corn, tomatoes, jalapenos (if having).

Add seasonings: cumin, cayenne pepper, white pepper, chili.

Lower heat and simmer for about 20-25 minutes. If you skip this step, it never comes out as good.

Assemble lasagne in a 9 X 13 pan, sprayed with cooking oil or Pam, whatever floats yer boat. Start with tortillas, tear them to fit the shape of the pan to form one layer of "noodles", followed by the vegetables, followed by shredded or grated Cheddar cheese, followed by more tortillas. Repeat to hearts content or you run out of room.

On top, put a final layer of tortillas over the veggies, then a layer of cheese, and cut up some tortillas in strips. The strips will get crunchy, mmmmm.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Easy chicken trick: bake a bunch of breasts (boneless or not, whichever you prefer) and freeze them in individual servings. You can bake them plain or in any marinade of your concoction. Salad dressings make great marinades. Thaw and use. We usually just chunk it up and add it to a green salad.

Having the chicken cooked ahead of time saves ..er.. time.

1lb pasta
1lb kielbassa, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 24oz-can stewed tomatoes, drained and sliced
8oz monterey jack cheese, shredded

Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente, drain and set aside. Fry the kielbasa, add in the veggies, cook until onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes, cook until warmed through. Add in the pasta and the cheese, stir to combine until the cheese is all melty.

≡ Click to see image ≡

Oh, I forgot this one...put lentils, water, and a bay leaf on to boil. Add one sliced up kielbasa, a small can of tomato paste, some onion (either sauteed or just chopped up is fine) and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer this for awhile.

It's goooood.

Fast tasty soup!

2 heads Broccoli or 1 head Cauliflower.
Chop up and toss in pot.
A dash of salt and a bit of pepper.
Just barely cover with water and bring to boil.
Boil 5 mins.
Scoop Broccoli or Cauliflower into food processor and add cooking water to the half way point of the solid stuff.
Zoom until blended.
Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Put a slice of Goat cheese in bowl and pour your soup over.
Serve with Olive oil brushed and toasted bread.

One of my favourite holy-crap-too-tired-to-cook-but-gotta-eat recipes does involve having sweet chili sauce on hand, but oh, is it worth it. You can put it together when you walk through the door after work, grab a quick shower, put the rice on, get dressed, make veg, and eat.

Turn oven on to 350F. Put 1 pkg chicken thighs/breasts/legs/assortment of the above in a baking dish. Pour 1/2 to 1 bottle (the ones I buy come in I think 750ml size) sweet chili sauce over chicken. Throw in oven for about 30-45 mins, depending on size of chicken pieces. Serve over rice or noodles, with quick veg of choice on the side. The end.

By 'get dressed' I mean 'put on comfy jammies.' I have on occasion skipped this step for the sake of simplicity and eaten said dinner in my bathrobe on the couch.

I've mentioned this before, and it comes from a ask metafilter thread posted by ambrosia voyeur, I think, but oven roasted cauliflower is so good. And so easy. Just cut a head of cauliflower into thin slices and arrange on the bottom of a large shallow baking pan (or maybe the bottom of a roaster), season with salt & pepper, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and bake on a fairly high heat until it starts getting really dark brown on top (may be a bit longer than 30 minutes, I don't remember - but it's so simple it hardly matters). Or you can tart it up a bit more.

This is a wonderful sub for something like mashed potatoes. Healthy, easy and delish. and I used to loathe cauliflower; this is nothing like the boiled yucky stuff

"arrange on the bottom of a large shallow baking pan (or maybe the bottom of a roaster), season with salt & pepper, drizzle with olive oil, and lemon juice and bake on a fairly high heat until it starts getting really dark brown on top "

Try to find some veg that, that doesn't work for.

Very true. yo, briami!!! But most other vegetables I enjoy cooked or uncooked in all sorts of ways, but I really used to hate cauliflower, so it sort of shocked me when I tried this. Also, I like it because if you feel like you want rice/potato/pasta with whatever else you're eating, but would rather pass on those calories or carbs or whatever, this does a great job of filling in that gap.

And if you are using fall or winter root crops then a dash of Cumin might help. Also, if you are like me, a blast of hot sauce over your veg may help too. Oh, and rice vinegar can sub for the lemon juice.

Mmmm, I just did the oven-roasting with romanesco (not my photo) last night. I added lemon zest, too. So so so yummy.

Plus, it looked like we were eating aliens, so that was cool.

oh! I think my nearby greengrocer has romanesco I didn't know what it was called. I might get some today. Cook just like the cauliflower?

Cheat's Chowder

two pots of cold water on the stove, just enough to cover ingredients. In one roughly chopped potatoes and a bit of salt (2 large jackets or fours medium sized) and a high heat.
In the other, chop whatever BONELESS fish fillet you have straight from the freezer into 1/2 inch pieces (I have pollock, salmon, and sometimes monkfish, I also throw frozen prawns into this ) into the cold water and high heat till it starts to boil, then throw in a fish stock cube or two, a dash of Oyster sauce, some tabasco, lemon juice and whatever herbs you like. lower to a simmer.
Test the potatoes. If cooked put the whole of Pot 1 into pot 2. (we like it when both potatoes and fish have disintegrated basically) Add some corn from a tin. If not thick enough, add Smash or some other potato ey thing, salt and pepper to taste.

sorry, that takes me 20-30 mins total. Fiddliest bit is peeling the spuds which is why I use 2 large jackets and just chop them quickly into bits. Most boneless fillets I use are quiet thin so chopping them into small bits straight into cold water ensures they defrost in time.

Feeds 2 as a main and 4 as a starter with some crusty roll or garlic bread.

My fast dinners tend to revolve around couscous or quinoa or a cheese platter with fruit. But I love this black bean espresso chili, which freezes really well and scales up and down easily, and is quick enough to cook up at night after work.

Yes, cook the romanesco like the cauliflower. It's a similar taste, but a bit nuttier.

OMG I just made Sil's Mexican lasagna for dinner, as we had all the ingredients in, and it was awesome! Tasty and nutritious and filling and spicy and lovely for winter. I used leftover wholemeal tortillas and they went a little crispy. OMNOMNOMNOM.

:) Glad you liked it - it's something I almost always have ingredients on hand for and it's not much work at all. Most of the time spent is going away and letting it cook a bit.

Not technically good for you, emergency pizza. Similar to Miko's tostadas, but bigger.

My cheapie easy healthy dish is frozen broccoli florets, frozen potato squares (usually called hashbrowns), and cheese. Bake the veggies at 300 for about 15 minutes with butter, then add the cheese for another 10 minutes.

Make the potatoes and broccoli about the same proportions, and the sharper the cheese, the better.

For more flavor you can use frozen potatoes obrien or add some stir fry veggies.

Dammit, just remembered. The flour tortilla can be used with any base, any cheese and any toppings. The other day I had leftover spare ribs on a brown mustard base with sharp cheddar. Cooking time was 10 minutes.

Now I have all kinds of love for my convection oven. I do most of my cooking/warming there. I can set a whole 8 inch cast iron pan in there with a hamburger patty or any kind of meat and just let it cook. I can make hot ham and cheese sammiches, heat up a plate of beans and melt some cheese on it, and make breakfast for everyone: toast on top, canadian bacon in the middle, bagels on the bottom, warm up some scrambled eggs.