Quick, easy, light and tasty food recipes that you invented or improved!

[romaniaK]

I love inventing all kinds of quick and easy recipes ... especially during the summer when I love being outside and don't feel like spending time cooking. I just open the fridge, take a look around and put something together, and it usually comes out really good.
Im also up for trying all kinds of new foods, so post yours up!!!...

(Pls refrain from posting "OMG this sounds gross etc. We can't control our taste buds. If you don't think it sounds good, ignore it.)

This is what I made 5 minutes ago and am eating as I type. (I don't have exact measures, I just eyed it)

Smoked Salmon Salad
Spinach or Lettuce (I used spinach)
Shredded Swiss Cheese
Plain Croutons
A small piece of smoked salmon chopped very very fine. Don't use a lot because the taste is very strong, and will make the fish/smoked taste too powerful.

Dressing (also just came up with)
1/3 tea spoon of garlic powder
1-2 table spoon of soy sauce
1 table spoon of lemon juice
some olive oil
(This should make about 3/4 - 1 cup of dressing if you dilute it with water)

Mix everything together and serve. Don't add anymore salt. The salmon is a little salty and so is the soy sauce.

I'll add more as this thread progresses

 

[hoopyfrood]

That sounds pretty good.

I'm not much of a cook or anything, but I like to make things with tuna a lot... it's healthy, tastes pretty good, and is real quick to make.

Tuna salad (you can put it on a sandwich, too)

-can of tuna
-mix in a little mayonnaise (I usually stay away from the stuff)
-green beans
-garbanzo beans
-letuce/spinach
-any herb you like

Then it's a meal.

 

[romaniaK]

That sounds pretty good.

I'm not much of a cook or anything, but I like to make things with tuna a lot... it's healthy, tastes pretty good, and is real quick to make.

Tuna salad (you can put it on a sandwich, too)

-can of tuna
-mix in a little mayonnaise (I usually stay away from the stuff)
-green beans
-garbanzo beans
-letuce/spinach
-any herb you like

Then it's a meal.

Have you tried mixing in some mustard with your tuna and mayo? it's really good

Here's another quick one, more suitable for dinner ... requires some baking in the oven but nothing major.

Veggie/Meat "Pie"

Take a few slices of bread and cut the crust off. Dip them in some milk and make a layer of them on the bottom of a baking pan (this will keep the bread from drying like toast, and it will golden nicely)

Fine chop some celery, some green peppers, some onions and some steak/chicken left-overs or lunch meat if you don't have anything else (or whatever meat you want, you can use ground beef or whatever, but it requires a longer cooking time ... you can also use whatever veggies you want, but the celery and onions are sooooo yummy together). Cook everything in a pan in a few drops of oil to golden the celery and onions. This mix is also rly good just to eat on sandwiches

Spread everything over the bread and put in the oven. Wait till everything is hot, beat some eggs and pour them over your food. Bake again until the eggs are cooked. You can also add some shredded cheese over this.

Sounds like some work ... but it takes less than 30 minutes

 

[hoopyfrood]

^ Maybe I'll try that tomorrow. Sounds good. Then again, I'll eat anything.

 

[LivingInTheMoment]

A friend made these, and they were delicious!! You can keep them on the bench and munch whenever you want to!


Zucchini Croquetts


Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Ingredients:

* 2 1/4 pounds of small zucchini, grated
* 7/8 cup of grated pecorino cheese
* 1 medium onion, grated
* 2 eggs
* 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint
* 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill
* 1 1/4 teaspoons of sea salt
* 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
* 7/8 cup of toasted bread crumbs
* 2 tablespoons of margarine
* wholemeal flour

Preparation:

Place zucchini in a colander or strainer, add salt, and let sit to drain for 15-20 minutes. Before using, press to remove all excess moisture. Drain grated carrot and onion.

In a frying pan, melt the margarine, add grated onion, and sauté until translucent. In a mixing bowl, add zucchini, drained onion, cheese, bread crumbs, mint, dill, eggs, and pepper. Mix well with hands until all ingredients are well blended and the mixture is firm. Add flour to bind if there's too much liquid. Shape into patties about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch high.

Fry in hot oil until golden, about 2-3 minutes. Drain on absorbent paper towels and serve hot.

 

[hoopyfrood]

^
Quick [ ] - Light [ ] - Easy [ ] - Tasty [X]


Well, that's by my standards, obviously.

 

[LivingInTheMoment]

^^Sounds like you had them before, or are you just guessing?
A bit messy making them though!

 

[hoopyfrood]

Oh no no, I was just judging by the recipe. They look good, but hard to make.

 

[LivingInTheMoment]

I would not say hard to make but takes a little time, and worth it in the long run-they are delicious ( I made them twice after the friend made them and I added some of my own things in them too, like different cheeses etc), but it is messy, and yah you need to great and chop, if you have the right equipment it should be ok. They fry quick!

 

[romaniaK]

A friend made these, and they were delicious!! You can keep them on the bench and munch whenever you want to!


Zucchini Croquetts


Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Ingredients:

* 2 1/4 pounds of small zucchini, grated
* 7/8 cup of grated pecorino cheese
* 1 medium onion, grated
* 2 eggs
* 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint
* 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill
* 1 1/4 teaspoons of sea salt
* 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
* 7/8 cup of toasted bread crumbs
* 2 tablespoons of margarine
* wholemeal flour

Preparation:

Place zucchini in a colander or strainer, add salt, and let sit to drain for 15-20 minutes. Before using, press to remove all excess moisture. Drain grated carrot and onion.

In a frying pan, melt the margarine, add grated onion, and sauté until translucent. In a mixing bowl, add zucchini, drained onion, cheese, bread crumbs, mint, dill, eggs, and pepper. Mix well with hands until all ingredients are well blended and the mixture is firm. Add flour to bind if there's too much liquid. Shape into patties about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch high.

Fry in hot oil until golden, about 2-3 minutes. Drain on absorbent paper towels and serve hot.

Im definitely making these soon, except the mint. I hate mint in food

 

[mariacallas]

Good thread! Will post some goodies later :D
I hate mint in food too

 

[LivingInTheMoment]

Im definitely making these soon, except the mint. I hate mint in food

You will love them romaniak, they are quite tasty but if you don't like the taste of basil you can place dry basil which is not very strong!...or another herb. You can't taste the basil though with all the other ingredients, though zaccini needs something like basil to make it tastier!

Good luck-I 'll be waiting to hear how you did with it!

 

[romaniaK]

this is my favorite way to make a delicious potato side.

Potatoes with onion

over-boil potatoes in water, after they are boiled, peel them and cut them in slices or cubes (not very thin or small) (you can also use the boiled potatoes that come in a can.)
finely chop an onion (depends how many potatoes or how much you likes onions ... I put a lot of onions) and parsley and fry in a bit of oil until golden.

Mix everything together while still heating for a few minutes (while still mixing to mash the potatoes a little but not like mashed potatoes). Add salt.

They are delicious with red meat.

 

[RigaCrypto]

Fried Bananas and Apples

I read about this recipe in a book and searched for it on the net. The best thing I've eaten in a long time:

Batter
for 1 banana or 1/2 apple:
-2 full teaspoons powdered sugar
-2 full teaspoons flour
-1/3 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/6 teaspoon ginger
-1/6 teaspoon nutmeg
-milk added until all is dissolved but the batter remains thick (otherwise it won't stick)

Cut the bananas transversally and sagittally (into 4 long quarters), cut the apples into 1,5cm thick slices, dip them in batter and fry them in pre-heated oil on a high flame until browned. Put them on paper tissues to absorb the oil.

Time: 20-30min

This will utterly shatter your conceptions about bananas and about life. A DMT blast to the taste buds

 

[morphinecolors]

I really love sweet potatoes, and they're pretty cheap and convenient. The most common way I eat is microwaving the sweet potato for 5-8mins. depending on size. Then I mash it with about 2tblsp. of coconut oil. Throw in some raw oatmeal and maybe some nuts....there you have it. Of course, most in my family find it repulsive. It's very healthy, and I happen to love it. Oh, tuna is one of my favorite convenient proteins. I like to add a little mayo, jalapenos,celery, onions, diced cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. Then I add salt and pepper and put it on top of a huge bed of baby leaf spinach.

 

[artaxerxes]

I really like Quinoa so I made a salad based on tabbouleh. I don't really use measuring cups/spoons when I cook so these are approximations. You can adjust the ratio of grain to veg as you prefer.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

1 c. of Quinoa
1 3/4 c. water or broth, chicken or veg
1/2 c. cucumber, diced into 1/4" cubes. You may want to soak the cucumber pieces in salt water to remove extra water. If so, soak then drain on towel.
1/2 c. tomato (seeded and de-juiced), diced into 1/4" cubes
1/2 c. parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 c. cilantro, roughly chopped

Dressing
1-2 cloves garlic, finely mashed
2-3 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
1 tsp salt, adjust to taste
Freshly ground pepper
Olive Oil, as much or little as you desire.

Start the dressing, then prepare your Quinoa. They will both be ready at about the same time.

1. Mash cloves of garlic VERY fine (I use a garlic press to get it as fine as possible)
2. Squeeze lemon/lime juice into small bowl and add salt. Stir until salt is dissolved.
3. Add garlic to acid/salt mix and let sit for 1/2 hour or longer. This macerates the garlic so that it's "cooked" by the acid and salt but retains a bit of the fresh garlic bite.
4. Grind as much pepper as you desire into the dressing.

5. Rinse Quinoa and drain in colander. You have to rinse it because it has a bitter outer coating.
6. Toast Quinoa in a wok or skillet until slightly golden brown.
7. Add water or broth to quinoa, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until water is absorbed. Let rest 10 minutes then fluff with a fork.

8. Dump Quinoa in large bowl, add tomatoes and cucumber, parsley and cilantro, then mix in the dressing.
9. Stir in as much olive oil as you like. This salad does very well without a lot of oil. It even tastes good with no oil at all.

You can do it with just cilantro or just parsley or add a small amount arugula. Sometimes I just do it with parsley or cilantro then add a bit of fresh herbs from the garden: thyme, oregano or dill. The combination of 5/6ths cilantro and 1/6th dill is delicious.

You don't have to toast the Quinoa, you can just steam it, but I think it tastes better if you toast it. This salad will also taste better if it sits in the fridge for a few hours or a day because the dressing will be absorbed by the grain and veggies. You may have to add a little more citrus juice, salt or pepper the next day to compensate for the absorption of the dressing.

 

[a thing]

Salsa with ground flax

 

[hoopyfrood]

How 'bout some even quicker, easier, things in here. You know. For college students.

 

[a thing]

How 'bout some even quicker, easier, things in here. You know. For college students.

Poke some holes in a sweet potato, put it in the microwave, and hit the "Potato" button. Goes well with carob powder and whatever else you fell like.

 

[LivingInTheMoment]

Banana Cottage Cheese Tofu Pie

If you like tofu and looking for new ways to cook it, you'll want to try this one!

It's a healthy dessert recipe: Sweet and tasty enough to be a dessert, but full of enough healthy ingredients to be a meal. This is a delicious pie for an afternoon snack.
It is substantial and nutritious.

Note: You'll need a blender and an unbaked pie shell for this recipe.

Preheat oven to 350F/175C.

1 cup/250 mL tofu

1 cup/250 mL cottage cheese

1 cup/250 mL plain yogurt

1 large (or 2 medium) ripe bananas

2 eggs

2 Tbsp/30 mL honey

1 Tbsp/15 mL lemon juice

1/4 tsp/1 mL nutmeg

1 unbaked pie shell

Place all ingredients in the blender.
Blend until well mixed.
Pour into the unbaked pie shell.
Bake for at least one hour, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.