[Food] Suggestions for something to cook for my wife, or good resources to find easy recipes?

So, my wife's been going through a lot of stress lately, so I figured I'd cook something special for her this weekend. Maybe make it a regular thing, if I don't burn the building down by accident.

Problem is, I'm not a very good cook. I can follow a recipe and toss ingredients into pots and pans, but that's about it. I have no idea what it means to broil or brown or saute. I once managed to set off a smoke alarm while frying eggs.

So I ask you, Halforumites... any suggestions for easy yet delicious dishes I can make? Any suggestions for easy recipes I can find online?

Also, caveats... I have no oven. Ingredients should, preferably, be easily available from my local supermarket. Finally, while I am not averse to spending a few hours preparing a delicious meal, it would rather suck to spend a few hours making something horrible. So I'd prefer to keep the prep time down, at least at first.

Thanks guys!
 
While I'm thinking of some easy recipes (honestly, hardy soups and stews are easy to make on the stovetop and yummy) your oven comment reminded me of something: is your kitchen in your home or is it across the street/alley like my in-laws?
Although I don't have a recipe on hand for it, niu rou mien seems easy enough.
 
While I'm thinking of some easy recipes (honestly, hardy soups and stews are easy to make on the stovetop and yummy) your oven comment reminded me of something: is your kitchen in your home or is it across the street/alley like my in-laws?
Although I don't have a recipe on hand for it, niu rou mien seems easy enough.
It's at home, heh. We live in an apartment.
 
We had this last night:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/classic-goulash/
Ingredients:
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups water
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dried Italian herb
seasoning
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon seasoned salt, or to taste
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Directions:
1. In a large Dutch oven, cook and stir the ground beef over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up as it cooks, until the meat is no longer pink and has started to brown, about 10 minutes. Skim off excess fat, and stir in the onions and garlic. Cook and stir the meat mixture until the onions are translucent, about 10 more minutes.
2. Stir in water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, and seasoned salt, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in the macaroni, cover, and simmer over low heat until the pasta is tender, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves, and serve.
My notes:
  • You don't need a dutch oven for this. Just a large pot with a lid. If you have a thin-walled pot (especially if the bottom is thin like some cheap pots are), you'll need to stir more often to prevent sticking.
  • We don't "skim off excess fat"...we dump the whole thing of meat in a strainer and then dump it back in the pot. Skimming is a pain in the ass.
  • If it's taking a while to come up to a boil, you can cover it early. The lid will help trap heat.
  • Check your simmering. On my stovetop, putting it on "2" (which seems low) will keep the thing at a rolling boil. Reduce it down enough so that you're just simmering (occasional/small bubbles).
  • Yeah, it takes an hour to cook. But it's super simple, and hard to screw up. If you want to save time, you can skip the first simmering stage (step 2), but the flavors won't come together as nicely.
  • Broil: Put in the oven under the broiler. If you have no oven, you can't do this.
  • Brown: heat a couple tsp oil in a skillet--medium heat. Cook (usually meat) 2-5 minutes on each side without touching it, to brown the surface of the meat.Alternately, cook ground beef, stirring and breaking up chunks, until no pink is showing.
  • Saute: Stir (usually veggies) with about a tbs of oil over high heat in a skillet until cooked.
  • A lot of new cooks tend to put the stovetop on high and leave it there. That's a good way to burn the outside of your food while the middle is still raw. Setting it on medium is usually better in nearly all cases. I cook eggs somewhere between low and 2. The only time I ever use the maximum setting is to quickly bring the skillet/oil up to temperature, and then I turn it down. If your oil is smoking, you're set too high (and risking a flare-up/fire)
 
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Kale soup is crazy easy and tastes amazing, IMO.

1 large bunch of kale (get rid of the tough stems and rip the rest into bite sized pieces)
1/2 a bunch of Mustard Greens (treat same as the kale)
1 lb smoked sausage diced
1 large onion diced
2 medium potatoes diced

In a large soup pot/dutch oven/big pot (don't use a non-stick pan):
1. Cook the onions (add about a teaspoon of salt) in about 2 T oil on medium-high heat until they start to look brownish, set aside
2. Add the sausage to the pan. Cook on medium-high heat until browned well, set aside.
3. Add water to fill the pot about 3/4 - 7/8 deep. Make sure to add the water when the pan is hot. Stir the water and scrape the bottom of the pan to dislodge any stuck on brown-bits. This will make the broth taste good.
4. Add the kale/mustard greens. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce the heat to about medium-low. There should be slow bubbling (simmering). Add the sausage and onions. Add a little more salt and pepper, but not too much at this point. Cook for about 45 min.
5. When there is 25 min remaining, add the potatoes, and cook until they are soft (20-30 min). Taste the broth and add salt if it needs it.

Eat it with some nice crusty sourdough.
Also, to fancy it up a bit, you can add some fresh herbs like thyme.

It's really simple and very satisfying.
 

Cajungal

Staff member
Kale soup is crazy easy and tastes amazing, IMO.

1 large bunch of kale (get rid of the tough stems and rip the rest into bite sized pieces)
1/2 a bunch of Mustard Greens (treat same as the kale)
1 lb smoked sausage diced
1 large onion diced
2 medium potatoes diced

In a large soup pot/dutch oven/big pot (don't use a non-stick pan):
1. Cook the onions (add about a teaspoon of salt) in about 2 T oil on medium-high heat until they start to look brownish, set aside
2. Add the sausage to the pan. Cook on medium-high heat until browned well, set aside.
3. Add water to fill the pot about 3/4 - 7/8 deep. Make sure to add the water when the pan is hot. Stir the water and scrape the bottom of the pan to dislodge any stuck on brown-bits. This will make the broth taste good.
4. Add the kale/mustard greens. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce the heat to about medium-low. There should be slow bubbling (simmering). Add the sausage and onions. Add a little more salt and pepper, but not too much at this point. Cook for about 45 min.
5. When there is 25 min remaining, add the potatoes, and cook until they are soft (20-30 min). Taste the broth and add salt if it needs it.

Eat it with some nice crusty sourdough.
Also, to fancy it up a bit, you can add some fresh herbs like thyme.

It's really simple and very satisfying.
This recipe is also great with some cannelini beans tossed in.[DOUBLEPOST=1418919388,1418919348][/DOUBLEPOST]When I want something easy and satisfying I made fried rice with lots of fresh veggies.
 
If she likes chicken with a sticky, sweet sauce you could try these garlic chicken thighs.

2 lbs chicken thighs
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. honey
2 cloves garlic, crushed (more if you really like garlic)
1/2 c. water


Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Marinate overnight or 24 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Place chicken in a baking dish. Do not discard marinade. Bake for about 45 minutes - 1 hour, basting tops of thighs with marinade about every 15 minutes. If you like spicy food, sprinkle on some red pepper before baking.
 
Well, you know, she's stressed and tired, and you know, the fried rice wasn't that good, and well... she was pleased, but not that pleased.
 
Well, you know, she's stressed and tired, and you know, the fried rice wasn't that good, and well... she was pleased, but not that pleased.
From a female perspective, the gesture of you cooking a meal for her when she is stressed, tired, busy, and so on, means more than how the food tasted. Maybe you didn't reap certain "benefits", but she's stressed and tired. It's likely not something she's thinking about right now. What you did is something positive though (unless you left the kitchen a total mess for her to clean) and once the pressure is off of her you might be pleasantly surprised.
 
From a female perspective, the gesture of you cooking a meal for her when she is stressed, tired, busy, and so on, means more than how the food tasted. Maybe you didn't reap certain "benefits", but she's stressed and tired. It's likely not something she's thinking about right now. What you did is something positive though (unless you left the kitchen a total mess for her to clean) and once the pressure is off of her you might be pleasantly surprised.
Whenever I do something sufficiently nice for Kati, and yank the big wad of stress out from under her, what usually happens is that she manages to croak out the word, "Thanks" ... just before she collapses and sleeps for 8 straight hours.

--Patrick
 
No oven, but a pizza anyway! :D

For week 2, I made a skillet pizza for my wife. Or, rather, I would've, but she got called away to a last-minute dinner engagement tonight, so I ate it myself. That's good though, it meant I had a chance to experiment, and thus it'll be even better when I do make it for her (probably next weekend).

It's topped with sweet peppers, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes, and of course with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. The crust is a scallion pancake.

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