A Pinch and a Dash

Me, cooking.

I'm no cook. If you follow me on Pinterest, you'll know I collect recipes on a board called "If I cooked..."

But I have to eat, and I'm not interested in eating out every night so I do, in fact, cook. Mostly boring things -- and a lot of microwaving --- but I do have to say that I've made a few exiting discoveries in the kitchen, basically from throwing in a little bit of this and a bunch of that. And best of all, they're all really easy and quick :) Here are some of my quick and dirty favs:

Tuna

Tuna is the best. I make so many things with it - burgers, salads, sandwiches. For dinner, I love stir-frying packaged tuna with a packet of microwave rice. And to really make it good, add a dollop of ranch dressing and a scoop of salsa. 

Dinner = done.

For burgers, combine a pack of tuna with one egg, breadcrumbs, and ranch dressing. Mix and then form into patties; fry in a pan. Serve over spinach salad!

Lentils

Lentils are an easy and cheap way to get protein and healthy carbs. You can buy a pack of dry lentils, rinse them and simply cook them on the stove with some water in about 20-30 minutes. They're great on a salad (I love an herb blend) with chopped avocado, cucumber and homemade dressing (olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice.)

Curried Cauliflower and Lentil Soup: Or, if you like spice, cook up some cauliflower in a separate pan while the lentils are cooking. Cook with olive oil, white pepper, cumin and curry powder. When the cauliflower is done, combine with the lentils - setting some aside. Blend the remaining cauliflower in a food processor  (Magic Bullet rocks, y'all) with some coconut milk and dump in with the mixture -- this will make your soup creamy. Add a can of diced tomatoes and spices to taste. Let the soup heat to meld the flavors (can put in a crock pot or leave on the stove) and you're done!

Chili

  There are a million ways to make chili, and they're all good but they're not all easy. Mine is. Brown some ground turkey or chicken with garlic and add to the crock pot. Top with one can of tomato paste, one can of diced tomatoes, a can of white beans and a can of spinach (trust me, you can't taste it and it's good for you), and one jar of salsa at your desired spiciness. Then add in red pepper, white pepper, cumin, garlic, and a touch of cinnamon. Cook on low all day or on high for an hour or two. Right before eating, stir in some pasta and let it cook for a few minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Images from here, here and here.