For People Who Do Not Cook

Contrarian

This thread is so people who cook can pass on easy and healthy recipes to those who are new to cooking or are a bit intimidated.

This is my lentil chicken thing. It is easy, yummy and good for you.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1 small cooking onion - diced
1 red pepper - chopped
Lg can diced tomatoes - drained
1 can lentils - well rinsed and drained
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (approx)
Dried thyme, dried rosemary and black pepper, to taste (about 1/2 tbsp each)

Heat olive oil in large pan on med-high heat. I use my wok because I don't get to use it often enough, and I love my wok.
Lightly brown chicken pieces
Add onion and peppers - cook until onions are translucent, stirring frequently (constantly)
Add balsamic and continue to stir until incorporated
Add herbs
Add tomatoes and lentils and stir
Reduce heat to simmer
Add black pepper

Stir occasionally and allow to reduce to desired consistency (about 45 minutes)

Variations - Asian - Add soy sauce instead of balsamic and 5 spice and ground ginger instead of herbs - drizzle with one tsp sesame oil after all ingredients have been added
Tex-Mex - Add hot sauce instead of balsamic and cumin and small quantity of cinnamon instead of herbs. You could also add salsa
Italian - Use oregano and basil instead of thyme and rosemary - or as well as - up to you
Vegetarian - Substitute 1 can of black or red beans (rinsed and drained) for chicken and add them with the lentils
Serve with rice, pasta or rice noodles or just serve alone. It also makes a nice side dish, especially if you make the vegetarian version.

If you make it, please let me know how it turns out.

As a side dish, it makes about 10 servings.

Cals 137 Fibre 4 Fat 3 Protein 12 Sodium 298 Sugar 5

MrsCon40

That sounds positively delicious!

anewattitude

Thanks for sharing. I'm a self-claimed culinary disaster but if I try this and I manage to not screw it up I will let ya kmow!

_GlaDOS_

Yum! Thank you for the vegetarian option. :flowerforyou:

Contrarian

If anyone else has any recipes they would like to share, please do. Links to favourite recipes online? Anything to help the non-cookers.

Jorra

If you have a rice cooker, cook up some rice and mix with seasoned ground beef and veggies. I like to mix a bit of packaged chili seasoning as I pan fry the beef and steam frozen veggies with my rice cooker, but heating them up in the microwave would work just as well. Add cheese, sour cream, or hot sauce on top for extra flavor.

_GlaDOS_

This is one of my favorite recipes: http://tinyurl.com/6kmtgak

Super easy and quick!

Contrarian

Thanks Jorra and sweetzoejane! Both of those look great.

Jorra

I just thought of another one. I made this in my school cafeteria so I didn't actually have to "cook" anything, but it was good.

I made a sandwich using an English muffin, tomato slices, one slice of swiss cheese, and some pesto. Any sauce would work well, but the pesto made it freaking delicious.

Contrarian

Yum!

lor007

Cowboy Chicken

6 oz Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
1/4 C Homemade (or store bought) Salsa
1 tsp Yellow Mustard
2 tsp Brown Sugar
1/4 C Fat Free Shredded Cheese (better with real cheese if you have the cals)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir mustard and brown sugar into the salsa and pour on top of chicken breast. Cover with foil and bake for one hour. In the last 15 minutes, remove the foil and top with the shredded cheese.

Calories: 376
Carbs: 15
Fat: 6
Protein: 64
Fiber: 1
Sodium: 855



Optional Toppings/Sides (additional calories): Sour Cream, Lettuce and Tomato, Whole Wheat Tortillas, Brown Rice, Homemade Refried Beans. Also, sodium will be less if you use a low sodium salsa.



Refried Beans without the Refry (from allrecipes.com)

1 Onion, Diced
3 C Dry Pinto Beans, Rinsed
1/2 C Diced Jalapeno Pepper (Optional)
2 tbs Minced Garlic
5 tsp Salt (obviously if you are watching sodium I wouldn't use that much, if any)
1 3/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Cumin
9 C Water

1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

Per 1/2 C:
Calories: 139
Carbs: Fat: .5
Protein: 8.5
Fiber:6.2
Sodium: 785

(Note, sodium will be less if you use less salt)



Also: www.skinnytaste.com has a lot of great things that are easy to make. She includes calorie/macro numbers as well as weight watcher points. Allrecipes.com is another one I like to use.

jtsmou

1. get bread

2. put in toaster

3. select setting

4. push down the thingy

5. wait till it pups up

6. add butter

jtsmou

1. boil water

2. open ramen package

3. add to boiling water 3 mins or so

4. add seasoning packet

5. eat

jtsmou

1. get bag of microwave popcorn

2. put in microwave oven

3. select popcorn setting

4. wait

5. eat popcorn

bregalad5

I appreciate this thread! Bookmarked it for future reference

Contrarian

1. get bread

2. put in toaster

3. select setting

4. push down the thingy

5. wait till it pups up

6. add butter

How do you add the butter? I'm confused...

jtsmou

1. open can of chicken noodle soup

2. put in pan

3. add a can of water

4. heat it on the stove

5. put in bowl or mug

6. eat

jtsmou

1. pull up to drive through of closest fast food place

2. order a combo #4 (it doesn't matter what it is it is always number 4 no matter what)

3. pay person at window

4. get bag of food

5. park behind a public transit station and eat it

Contrarian

jtsmou, I know you can cook. Please stop ****ing around.

jtsmou

I know.. I suck

cmriverside

15 Bean Soup

Go to Safeway.
Buy the package of "Hambeens 15 Beans" dried beans in the dried beans section. There is a recipe on the back of the bag. I suggest looking at it before you leave the store, in case you need to buy something on the list of ingredients needed.

Go home.

Find the crockpot.

Follow the directions.

Best soup ever. With all kinds of great fiber, potassium, vitamins and stuff. Go to the database for the breakdown of nutrients.

Welcome to Autumn.