Quick Recipe Ideas!

[zero7starz]

Life happens =/ My bf and I have had our employers change some things around and we both ended up being on the late shift more days than not. Means we don't get off work till 9-10pm every night. Pretty late, even for us. In hopes of trying to make this a little easier on ourselves without totally sacrificing healthier eating habits, I am in search of recipe ideas that don't take much time to make.

Quick to make recipe ideas!

Prep + Cook time = No more than 45 minuets!

Prefer chicken to beef, pork, fish. Wait... No fish lol.

Light on the crunchy veggies. Crunchy just freaks me out lol.

If you've got any great ideas, post them up!

 

[antequinox]

So easy, quick, and tasty

Chicken, Lemon, and Dill with Orzo:

Ingredients:
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 lb. chicken tenderloins cut into 1-inch pieces
1 lb. orzo
2 cups crumbled feta (4 ounces)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saucepan, bring broth, 3/4 cup water, butter, salt, and pepper to a boil.
In a 3-quart baking dish, combine chicken, orzo, feta, dill, lemon zest and juice. Pour broth mixture over orzo and stir to incorporate.
Bake until orzo is tender and cooking liquid is creamy, 40 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

 

[zero7starz]

So easy, quick, and tasty

Chicken, Lemon, and Dill with Orzo:

Ingredients:
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 lb. chicken tenderloins cut into 1-inch pieces
1 lb. orzo
2 cups crumbled feta (4 ounces)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saucepan, bring broth, 3/4 cup water, butter, salt, and pepper to a boil.
In a 3-quart baking dish, combine chicken, orzo, feta, dill, lemon zest and juice. Pour broth mixture over orzo and stir to incorporate.
Bake until orzo is tender and cooking liquid is creamy, 40 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Oh wow that sounds delicious!!

 

[candik]

If you like pasta dishes, here's one to try it's about 20 minutes from stove to table

Angel Hair with fresh tomato and artichoke hearts

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic minced
2 pounds roma tomatoes chopped and seeded
1/4 tsp dried basil (or a few tbsp fresh chopped)
1 - 9 (sh ounce) can artichoke hearts or can use frozen
1/4 cup white wine or chicken broth
4 ounces black olives (optional)
2 tbsp capers (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 package angel hair pasta

heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat, add onion. sautee for 2 minutes, add garlic sautee another minute (don't let it brown!). add chopped tomatoes and artichoke hearts, wine (or broth) and basil simmer 20 minutes over low heat. Meanwhile bring water to boil and cook pasta per package directions, drain and set aside. Stir olives and capers into tomato mix, toss with pasta, serve with freshly shredded cheese. You can use provolone, romano or parmesan. If you like spicy, add some crushed red peppers to the tomato mix as it simmers. You can also cut up and sautee chicken with the onion mix. A nice side salad and some bread makes a nice complete meal. If you're into garnish, some fresh parsley or a chiffonade of basil sprinkled on the top makes a pretty picture. You can also use shrimp instead of chicken too.

Steak or chicken doesn't take long in a foreman style grill. Potatoes done for minutes in the micro can be just as nice as an hour in the oven. Even meatloaf can be downsized from one big piece to muffin cup size and be time friendly.

I do lots of playing in the kitchen but most of the stuff I make takes a bit of time to prepare since I cook and bake from scratch. This recipe was in my mind since I just made it for the band to eat before rehearsal a few days ago. It's not too difficult to get things together for a quick dinner if you do some planning, use a slow cooker or some free time on those days off to cook for a work night meal. My off days are often spent making big batch things for the freezer like cincinnati chili, red sauce, soups or the longer kitchen time things like falafel, fish tacos, won ton tacos (kinda like applebees appetizer ones) and other things that require more time consuming main or side dish prep. (I make my own mayo and stuff like that.)

I'll add more for you when my mind is a bit more alert. It's been a very long and very tiring weekend (1 gig, 2 shifts for 23 hours at work and about 7 hours of sleep total!) and I'm just a tad brain dead.

 

[mare ze dotes]

Ha! Quick. A bottle of marinade of your choice, slather some chicken parts, bake. And serve it over rice. Thats what I call dinner after a long days work!

 

[FantWriter]

I should put in a caveat that I don't like a lot of the ingredients she uses, a lot of her ingredients aren't available everywhere, and I loathe the idea of cooking meat at high temperature, but Rachel Ray made a great career cooking 30-minute meals.

Her recipes can be found at:
30 Minute Meals Recipes : Food Network

30-Minute Meals - Recipes - Every Day with Rachael Ray

 

[MrStik]

You can do crock pot meals. Prep them ahead of time and stick them in the crockpot before work. .When you come home. yummy goodness.

 

[Crocky]

A very simple meal that I love when I am in a hurry and want something filling.
Boil some noodles. I like rotini
Cool them off under cool water and drain
Add any or all of your choice:
Diced cucumber (this really makes it IMO)
Fresh broccoli cut up in small pieces
Bacon bits
Tomatoes diced
Grilled chicken...I use Tyson's grilled frozen fillets when I am in a hurry and they are yummy cut into cubes
Anything else you might think would be good
Mix all together with noodles and top with ranch dressing (to tatse)...mix ttogether salt and pepper to tatse

I just made some tonight, refreshing, light but filling and most importantly....easy!

 

[chellemmm]

You lost me at the Ranch dressing! Everything else sounds yummy, tho...maybe some Italian substituted for the Ranch and I will get my fork!

 

[Crocky]

LOl, I use just enough to coat it. But Italian would be up yummy too.