What's an easy diet that requires little cooking?

pegastarlight

I used to cook a lot in a crockpot or make multiple portions of meals at a time. Getting a solid rice cooker with steaming basket is great, too.

A standard ramen-noodle-cheap meal I'd make with a rice cooker is 2 cups (uncooked) rice, bag of frozen broccoli and a package of extra firm tofu. Add the rice with whatever spices you like, a bit of oil if desired, and water in the rice cooker. Drain the tofu and cut it into cubes (I often even just cut it with a bread knife in the package it came in to save on dishes) and add it with thawed out broccoli in the steaming basket. Sprinkle the steaming basket contents with crushed red pepper flakes and then cook. You can serve with soy sauce for flavor. It makes four servings and is a lot more nutritious than your typical college-cheap meal, and everything doesn't need to be attended while it cooks.

47Jacqueline

You're kidding, right?

cbnorris

tuna salad (I use 2 cans and 1 avocado instead of mayo)
omelets - if you don't know how to cook you can put all the ingredients in a zip-lock back and the put in boiling water - or similar egg dishes, eggs are easy, you can always bake them instead of getting out a pan too
i agree with the rotisserie chicken thing as well - especially if it's just you - a chicken can go a long way and they are fairly inexpensive at most grocery stores - make a salad with it, a quesadilla, chicken salad, eat with veggies etc
I love the morning star spicy black bean burgers (and I'm not a vegetarian) 110 calories a piece and they are microwavable
lots of decent canned soup options, but some are high in sodium
also I love shrimp - boil it, sautee it - it's quick and easy

michelle7673

I don't know how much room etc you have but a decent rice cooker is a great investment. I tend to fall back on Chipotle-type bowls made of broiled chicken breast and brown rice. It's not hard to keep shredded lowfat cheese, salsa, whatever else you like in a fridge so you always have an assembly line. And you can vary what you put on it almost infinitely without a lot of time or expense. Buying a big batch of chicken breast (or even thighs) once a week and broiling it for the fridge is a lot cheaper than rotisserie chicken and then it's all pretty well cooked.

Donutello

I went to sleep and woke up to real suggestions :') thanks guys

Werk2Eat

Hands down the best diet that requires the least amount of cooking is The warrior diet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrior_diet and Sous vide cooking where you vacuum seal small portion meals and cook them and chill and freeze them to be reheated via sous vide at a later date/time.

rosebarnalice

In college, I was the bean queen. Still am!

They're ridiculously cheap, filling and healthy; easy to make (especially if you soak them overnight and then throw them in a crock pot); keep well in the fridge or freezer; and so ubiquitous to so many different cuisines that they can go from italian to mexican to indian with a change of just a few spices in the cupboard.

Spicy black chili beans are probably my favorite followed by simple white bean soup.

Traveler120

kshama2001 wrote: »

vegangela_ wrote: »

Raw vegan, no cooking required whatsoever.

When he says "little cooking," he's not just referring to heat but to prep time. Vegan is the most prep-intensive WOE I know.

Why? This is news to me. What's so special about vegan food? I'm not vegan but I changed to a plant-based diet. Before, I cooked oatmeal with milk, now I add almond milk. For salads, I use the same ingredients as before except instead of adding chicken, I now add black beans. Prepping/sauteing spinach, cooking rice, potatoes etc takes the same time it did before. Vegan/plant-based eating isn't some mysterious other worldly WOE. It's simply eating plants only. That's all it is.

ncfitbit

bwogilvie wrote: »

For more ideas, take a look at Mark Bittman's list of 101 simple meals that can be prepared in 10 minutes or less.

Love it! Wish I'd seen this article at the beginning of summer!

ericGold15

kshama2001 wrote: »

vegangela_ wrote: »

Raw vegan, no cooking required whatsoever.

When he says "little cooking," he's not just referring to heat but to prep time. Vegan is the most prep-intensive WOE I know.

I don't know what WOE is, but my version of Vegan is not a time drain at all. I'll guess about 5- 10 minutes a meal net. It does however require a bit of planning.