easy to prepare meals for people who can't cook?

[bostjan]

Learn to cook. Don't try to life-hack your way through it.

Instead of my rattling off the entirety of my knowledge about cooking (I cook every single night and have done so for the last 10 years), check out the following YouTube channels:

Food Wishes
- addictive. Chef Jon is a charming fella who will teach you a lot and his delivery is so entertaining and good humoured.

Adam Ragusea
- basically a redditor. Insufferable know-it-all but I still watch his videos.

Babish Culinary Universe (formerly Binging With Babish)
- Babish is a cool guy who started off making things from TV shows (and he still does) but has started building a sort of food media empire.

J. Kenji López-Alt
- similar to Adam Ragusea.

Matty Matheson (if he can grow on me, then he can probably grow on anyone)
- hilarious. At first I found him annoying when I'd flick past Vice on TV but I binged his videos on YouTube and they're extremely entertaining and informative.

Epicurious
- extremely informative.

ThatDudeCanCook
- deconstructs the mysteries of takeout (we call them takeaways in New Zealand ).

Burrfection (it's about knife sharpening)
- knife maintenance is important

Townsends
- fascinating videos about what people cooked in the United States and Canada 100-200 years ago.

Made With Lau
- wholesome content about Cantonese cuisine and takeout.

Bon Appetit
- food media outlet experience some controversy but is worth checking out as I assume they're under different management.

Brad Leone (formerly Bon Appetit)
- I wish this guy was my best friend. His videos with Bon Appetit are hilarious and informative. Incredible guy.

SAM THE COOKING GUY
- kind of irritates me but the stuff he cooks is great and I'm sure you could learn something from his vids.

JunsKitchen
- don't remember much lol just check it out if you can.

This is just me looking at my YouTube subscriptions lol.

Final note: just jump into it and if you think something is difficult, then there's a good chance it's for one or many of the following reasons: a) you don't know something you should, b) you don't own something you should, or c) what you own is crap (i.e. dulled knife, baked-on crap pan, etc.)

No Uncle Roger? Haiyaa...

 

[CrushingAnvil]

No Uncle Roger? Haiyaa...

Actually yes you're right I think he is worth including. Mostly comedy but he really does have a wealth of knowledge about Asian cuisine.

 

[CrushingAnvil]

While I'm on my lunch break, I'll give you some tips that I've learned over the years... (sorry if you're vegan/vegetarian - you never mentioned it)

- Just because something can be bought in packaging that you'd otherwise find being made by an Italian nonna, doesn't mean it's not decent quality. At least in my area, I can buy pretty decent quality ready-to-boil ravioli. Italian cooking is a lot of the time very easy. If you had a packet of ravioli, you just need a can of peeled San Marzano tomatoes (you can stab 'em with your stirring utensil or do what I do which is spoon them onto a chopping board and go nuts with a knife - it's really fun lol), olive oil, garlic, thyme, and oregano for a sauce and a bit of finely grated parmesan on top.

- Surface moisture on basically any meat is not ideal. The reason for this is that, for example, if you sear a wet steak, the moisture will boil and cook the exterior indirectly as opposed to actually searing itPat down meat with paper kitchen towels, especially things like steak or roasts. This is why if you or someone you know has tried their hand at steak it's come out grey.

- While we are on the subject of steak...Steak is what you know, not necessarily what you can do. There are a few key components to a great steak: a very hot pan + a little bit of oil + salt (and sometimes even sugar). The real rub about steaks is this, though: if a steak is cut by the butcher too thin, it's worthless. The inside of a steak has to cook via carry-over heat from resting (sitting on a chopping board or plate). There is no recipe for the actual cooking of a steak since every cut of beef is different (the "5 minutes per side, and don't touch it" thing is nonsense). If you cook often enough, eventually you will be able to sear a steak off intuition alone. Sometimes you'll get it wrong but eventually you'll get it right 80-90% of the time.

- Tidying up a cut of meat with a boning knife (or any sharp knife you have at hand) really can do wonders. A lot of the sinew and silverskin on beef and lamb just gets in the way and does odd things when exposed to heat. They don't enhance flavour (and sometimes can detract), so removing them can do a world of good.

- While we are on the subject of trimming things, intramuscular fat is great, but fat caps (and especially harder fat) can be removed. These trimmings can have the fat rendered down in a pan on low-to-medium heat.

- Learn to make a roux. Pretty self-explanatory. Want to make macaroni and cheese the non-American way? Make a roux and dump in a variety of cheeses.

- Look at the ingredients table on packaging for foods you often like to eat. Like mexican food? It's often just flavours like garlic powder, onion powder, coriander (or coriander power), paprika. Like South-East Asian food? Again you can use things like garlic powder, onion powder, coriander, chili, tamarind paste, garlic paste, sesame past. Like Middle-Eastern and North African food? Cumin, turmeric, onions, harissa, raisins, dates, prunes...

- Try new things. Sounds like basic advice, I know, but try things like lamb (I know it's common to eat lamb in most places but eat more of it!), goat, or duck.

- I've talked a lot about meat so I will surprise you by saying some of my favourite dishes to cook are vegetarian (I compensate with kilograms of parmesan lol). Some of the best Italian cuisine is vegetarian.

- Learn to make risotto. Risotto is incredible. I'm not a master but I love making them.

- Don't be afraid to use butter, olive oil, and salt. Butter is great for caramelising the sugars which are found in vegetables and proteins/meats. Olive oil can be used in conjunction with butter to stop it from burning and it can be used to fry as well as finish a dish. Salt is incredible and shouldn't be feared. Add it to dishes pinch by pinch and taste as you go. I'd recommend Googling the many uses of salt, one of which is extracting moisture out of things. Another is preserving all sorts of foodstuffs.

Ok I have to go do my shift now. Hope this helps in some way!

 

[CrushingAnvil]

Also, yeah if you don't have a pressure cooker you should get one. Doesn't hurt to know how to cook AND own a pressure cooker lol.

 

[Gudbrand]

The number of people posting detailed, helpful replies is really cool.

Meanwhile vejichan appears to be not only unable to cook, but also unable to even think of a type of sandwich or cereal.

 

[spudmunkey]

Learn to cook. Don't try to life-hack your way through it.

Instead of my rattling off the entirety of my knowledge about cooking (I cook every single night and have done so for the last 10 years), check out the following YouTube channels:

Food Wishes
- addictive. Chef Jon is a charming fella who will teach you a lot and his delivery is so entertaining and good humoured.

Adam Ragusea
- basically a redditor. Insufferable know-it-all but I still watch his videos.

Babish Culinary Universe (formerly Binging With Babish)
- Babish is a cool guy who started off making things from TV shows (and he still does) but has started building a sort of food media empire.

J. Kenji López-Alt
- similar to Adam Ragusea.

Matty Matheson (if he can grow on me, then he can probably grow on anyone)
- hilarious. At first I found him annoying when I'd flick past Vice on TV but I binged his videos on YouTube and they're extremely entertaining and informative.

Epicurious
- extremely informative.

ThatDudeCanCook
- deconstructs the mysteries of takeout (we call them takeaways in New Zealand ).

Burrfection (it's about knife sharpening)
- knife maintenance is important

Townsends
- fascinating videos about what people cooked in the United States and Canada 100-200 years ago.

Made With Lau
- wholesome content about Cantonese cuisine and takeout.

Bon Appetit
- food media outlet experience some controversy but is worth checking out as I assume they're under different management.

Brad Leone (formerly Bon Appetit)
- I wish this guy was my best friend. His videos with Bon Appetit are hilarious and informative. Incredible guy.

SAM THE COOKING GUY
- kind of irritates me but the stuff he cooks is great and I'm sure you could learn something from his vids.

JunsKitchen
- don't remember much lol just check it out if you can.

This is just me looking at my YouTube subscriptions lol.

Final note: just jump into it and if you think something is difficult, then there's a good chance it's for one or many of the following reasons: a) you don't know something you should, b) you don't own something you should, or c) what you own is crap (i.e. dulled knife, baked-on crap pan, etc.)

I would also add America's Test Kitchen. Both their YouTube channel, as well as their cook books. Their "cooking for two" book is one of our most-used recipe books, and we like a bunch of recipes from their Slow Cooker Revolution book, and they also have Instant Pot, Air Fryer, and "Quick and easy" focused books. None of their book recipes are very complicated. Their youtube channel is a nice mix of "normal" recipes, educational segments, and more exotic recipes with hard-to-find ingredients that I rarely make, but still enjoy watching and learning.

 

[CrushingAnvil]

I would also add America's Test Kitchen. Both their YouTube channel, as well as their cook books. Their "cooking for two" book is one of our most-used recipe books, and we like a bunch of recipes from their Slow Cooker Revolution book, and they also have Instant Pot, Air Fryer, and "Quick and easy" focused books. None of their book recipes are very complicated. Their youtube channel is a nice mix of "normal" recipes, educational segments, and more exotic recipes with hard-to-find ingredients that I rarely make, but still enjoy watching and learning.

Great suggestion.

 

[Naxxpipe]

Would like to throw in Brian Lagerstrom and Nadiya Hussain in the mix for inspiration. Both of them do a lot of dinners focused on being easy, quick and tasty. Brian has a whole series on the matter, called Weeknighting.

I use several of their recipes in my weekday rotation. An example is a very simple beetroot pasta that is as quick as boiling pasta. Great for when you want food, but don't want to cook. (https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/nadiya-hussains-blender-beetroot-pasta/)

 

[cindarkness]

And my personal favorite:
- Henry's Kitchen

 

[spudmunkey]

Ethan Chlebowski. He's even done several videos about learning foundations, as well as how to plan a week from a few ingredients, and almost all of them are healthfully-focused without being boring.

 

[bostjan]

What about Steven Reed? The guy who did those Weber Cooks videos forever and a day ago? Remember? Depressed guy who is trying to teach college kids how to cook using only a microwave and a shoestring budget, but somehow still manages to fuck up even things like chips and salsa. I think there was one where he made microwave spaghetti and forgot the spoon in the microwave. Not educational in the least, but unintentional hilarity at its finest.

 

[bostjan]

What about Steven Reed? The guy who did those Weber Cooks videos forever and a day ago? Remember? Depressed guy who is trying to teach college kids how to cook using only a microwave and a shoestring budget, but somehow still manages to fuck up even things like chips and salsa. I think there was one where he made microwave spaghetti and forgot the spoon in the microwave. Not educational in the least, but unintentional hilarity at its finest.

This one is great:

Highlights for those of you who don't want to bother watching it:

Spoiler

1. "...today we're making ... uhhhhhhhhh ... rice dish ... that is really easy to make .... aaaaaannnnddd ... there's different flavours that you can get." [stares into space] "This one here, you just dump... the rice ... into the thing."
2. (multiple instances) Fumbles with microwave... "aaaaannnnddd...."
3. Leaves plastic knife in the bowl while heating the dry rice!
4. "This time, we'll set it for 20 minutes, and that will... ... make it ... come out great." Instant jump cut "...aaand, now that it's cooked for ... 20 minutes... you have this hot ... ... dish ... that you can ... eat ... that's ... made of rice."

 

[CanserDYI]

This one is great:

Highlights for those of you who don't want to bother watching it:

Spoiler

1. "...today we're making ... uhhhhhhhhh ... rice dish ... that is really easy to make .... aaaaaannnnddd ... there's different flavours that you can get." [stares into space] "This one here, you just dump... the rice ... into the thing."
2. (multiple instances) Fumbles with microwave... "aaaaannnnddd...."
3. Leaves plastic knife in the bowl while heating the dry rice!
4. "This time, we'll set it for 20 minutes, and that will... ... make it ... come out great." Instant jump cut "...aaand, now that it's cooked for ... 20 minutes... you have this hot ... ... dish ... that you can ... eat ... that's ... made of rice."

I can't freaking breathe man, I watched this and the spaghetti one and holy shit that was a wild ride.

 

[MFB]

I can't freaking breathe man, I watched this and the spaghetti one and holy shit that was a wild ride.

What in the actual fuck is the music in the spaghetti one?

 

[CanserDYI]

What in the actual fuck is the music in the spaghetti one?

No idea but I like to think he just google searched free "steven" music to play and slapped in on because Steven doesnt give a fuck.

 

[cindarkness]

That's the saddest thing I've seen in a while.

 

[neurosis]

Steven Reed is probably the best thing that has happened to me after Chef Tony and this is over 10 years since Chef Tony so thank you all for this amazing discovery. I will go boil some sand now ;D