When I want to prepare something fast, I make srambled eggs with bacon and rice.

Simple pasta dishes like pesto or carbonara are my go-to when I’m in a hurry, cooking time is limited by how quickly you can bring the water to a boil and then 10 min for the pasta to cook.

As for pasta sauces, ragù is a bit time consuming (but most of the time you’re not actively cooking, just letting the pot simmer) but if you make a big batch you can put them in jars and freeze them and bam, free to use ragù anytime you want!

When I first started cooking I was a big fan of 2 chicken and rice dishes my mom would make me as a kid. Both use very few ingredients that all last a while:

Chicken Provincial 2 chicken breasts (I usually cut them lengthwise, parallel to the cutting board so they’re thinner and make 4 portions, you could also pound them, too thick and they dry out and don’t get the flavor of the sauce ) ¼ cup butter ¼ lb mushrooms 1 tbsp dried onion flakes 1 bay leaf 8 oz can tomato sauce 1 tsp thyme ⅓ cup orange juice 1 cup white rice salt pepper

Make white rice per package instructions (I use an instant pot with equal parts rice/water)

Brown the chicken on both sides in the butter, remove the chicken and cook mushrooms, onions, and thyme. Add orange juice and tomato sauce and stir until homogeneous. Add chicken and cook until 165 inside (if you don’t have a digital meat thermometer I highly recommend them, thermapen is best but there are plenty of cheaper ones on Amazon)

Plate the rice, add the chicken on top and pour the sauce over. I usually serve with an Israeli salad. Skip the mushrooms if you’re not into them.

Honey chicken ½ cup honey ¼ cup mu. stard (grey poupon) 1 tsp curry powder ¼ cup butter 2 chicken breasts cut lengthwise into 4 portions pinch salt 1 cup white rice

Cook rice per package

Melt butter in a large high-walled baking pan in the oven at 350° (I use a 13x9 glass baking dish)

Add honey, mustard, salt, and curry powder to the butter and stir to combine. Add chicken and spoon sauce over until totally covered.

Bake for 15-25 minutes depending upon chicken thickness

Serve over rice. Again goes well with Israeli salad or any cool vegetables.

Tin of chicken, seasoned how you like(mustard/ranch/onion/garlic/salt/pepper for me), bag of potato chips, eat it like a dip. Easily customizable for various flavors, healthy enough, takes a few minutes max to prepare.

Soak green lentils overnight, then cook them in chicken or vegetable stock the next day. Roast a whole chicken. Strip the meat. Simmer the bones in water for an hours and a half. Sieve the bones, save the broth. Then toss in chopped veg (carrots, green beans, celery, kale etc). When the veg is soft, add in the chicken and lentils. You’ll have food for one for the whole week and most of the cook time is just stuff in the oven or simmering on the stove. Prep is just chopping veg and stripping meat from the carcass.

It feels time consuming the first time you do it but once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll do it with your eyes closed. Chicken soup / stew for the soul.

Also crazy easy are potstickers. Take an hour maybe? All the vegetables you like, mince them, the meat you like, mince it, but the potsticker wrappers in Chinatown and make 200 dumpings. Veggies and protein, fast, food for days, customizable, scalable.