I can barely cook- what are some good "level 2" dishes I can make to learn?

[Texan Penguin]

So I know how to do the basics- but I've been put in a situation where I need to learn how to cook- my mom can't right now because she just had minor surgery on her foot and is barely ambulatory, and my stepdad is an okay cook but he doesn't know how to make too much. And I'm tired of pizza/fast food.

So I'm going to start doing some more cooking. My mom usually makes quick meals- Hamburger Helper, chicken fried round steak, pork chops, chicken, hamburgers, sausage with biscuits and gravy, eggs, spaghetti, etc with a side of Knorr rice or some fries/baked/mashed potatoes and whatever canned veggies I can find in the cabinet.

But I want to step up the family's lunch game a little. Stuff that's healthier, more diverse.. I was going to try and make Zataran's jambalaya with some sausage and red beans but I didn't have time to get the sausage or the beans yesterday. Learning how to do dried beans would be a first for me, plus it would spice things up just a bit.

So what can I start my culinary journey with that won't break the bank or take hours to prepare?

[Fincayra]

get a few cans of cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken
get like 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
combine in a pan
bake covered for 45 mins to 1 hour
Serve with baked potatoes or noodles

[tikcol]

I woud start by adding slices of beautiful sausages to your rice and utilizing aromatic peperoni on top.

[Arrkon]

I would suggest taking a stab at making either stir fry or fajitas seeing as both have the flexibility of ingredients and are relatively quick and easy to prepare/serve.

[Naramag]

I would suggest you stay away from cans as often as you can. Nothing beats fresh ingredients. Something I cooked a while ago:

take some fresh mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper and cauliflower. Cut everything in bitesize bits, put it in a bowl. Take some dried basil, oregano and parsley, salt and pepper and season it. Add some olive oil and mix everything. The oil should cover everything, but it shouldn't swim in it.
Spread everything on a baking sheet, put it in the oven and bake it at 150 degree Celsius (about 300 Fahrenheit) for about 40 minutes.

Take some chicken breasts. Wash then and dry them. Salt them. If you like you can pound them a bit flat. No pepper or anything. Heat up a pan with butter oil. Don't use butter, it'll turn brown and loose taste. Fry the breasts until they are golden brown.

When the vegetables are finished, but them on a large plate and sprinkle fresh parsley over it. Place the chicken breasts around the vegetables.

All you need now is some fresh bread, idealy some ciabatta.

[Inukashi]

you can roast any kind of meat in a pan and just add potatoes, salad, rice or vegetables.

Sausage and potatoes
Chickenbreast and Vegetables
Beef and Rice
etc..
These aren't masterpieces to eat, but still taste good most of the time
If you are not sure when it's finished, just pick the meat of the pan, cut it open and have a look inside. If it's not finished just put it back. To roast it you will need oil or butter. If you use oil, don't use olive oil. Use Sunflower or Peanutoil.

Since you mention you want to eat more healthy

Fish = Chicken > Beef > Pig > Any Kind of sausage most of the time
Vegetables > Salad > Rice >= Potatoes > Noodles

The more you take from the left, the 'better' it is.

Cooking potatoes, vegetables or rice is easy. You just put it in a pot with water and wait till it's finished. How long it takes is printed on the packaging. For potatoes you will find the time they need on google.


Also noodles. Cook em how it's described on the package and add some sauce or ketchup. You can buy sauce in glasses in the supermarket, but many people like ketchup on noodles.

You can make salad. Just buy letuce and add what ever you want.. tomatoes or cucumbers and a dressing from the supermarket.

If you want I can give out some rules to for a bit advanced cooking

[Ghazan Julio]

Buy a fish you think looks tasty.
Get olive oil and seasoning to your own personal taste.
grab whatever side item you want
Cook the fish after rubbing the seasoning on it in a pan with some butter along with the olive oil mentioned.
Cook the fish flipping it around 4 times so each side can sear and absorb flavor
Make sure the fish is cooked white all the way through then get your side dish and enjoy.

[Yunru]

Check your house for any recepte book. Your family should have some.

[Chloral]

Get some of this. It will change your life.

A super easy but always amazing recipe:
Boneless chicken breast cut into slices
sriracha while it's grilling in a pan
add spices

This will make a great spicy chicken wrap. You can add wathever vegetable and cheese you feel like that day. Get some fresh costco salsa and BAM.
It's like 5 to 10 minutes preparation and 5 to 10 minutes cooking.

[Ghazan Julio]

adding some lemon grass or even stirring some butter and real lemon juice together is even better and gives the fish a more vibrant flavor

[Grimbold21]

adding some lemon grass or even stirring some butter and real lemon juice together is even better and gives the fish a more vibrant flavor

Can confirm on the second part. Cooking my meat in a mix of butter and lemon juice just makes it even more tastier.

[rewhaha]

buy an instant pot

[Ryme]

Fried prawn and lemon Risotto

Ingredients:
2 lemons
350 carnaroli rice
1 litre of veg stock
150g prawns
2 shallots
200g mascarpone cheese
Fresh Parsley

Prep:
Dice the shallots
Get the zest from the lemons

Method:
Dice the shallots and fry in a saucepan until softening
Add the rice and cook for 2 mins or until shiny
Steadily add 200 ml of the stock and wait until absorbed, repeat until all gone stir constantly. Will take about 15 mins.
Add the cheese, parsley, zest and the juice of a 1.5 lemons
Mix and then take off the heat
Fry the prawns in the remaining lemon juice for a few mins on each side
Serve

[Sandal]

Cooking is more technique than following recipe. The most important thing is to understand what steps in cooking have which result, how to handle different kinds of food, how different cooking methods turn out etc.

Have a bit of patience and just try a lot. Start with easy recipes, repeat them and learn the basics. How to cut, how to build flavor, how to salt, etc. The better your basics get the easier cooking gets and your creativity gets involved.
Just following a recipe yields you a dish which is kind of what the picture showed to you but it will most likely not measure up the the expectations you have. As soon as your experience grows you will notice a lot of errors most people make which when changed just a little yield much better results.

I would suggest you to have a look at Food Wishes on youtube (youtube.com/user/foodwishes). I really like this channel and I learned cooking mostly by this guy.
He is funny, also a culinary instructor and has a huge backlock of recepies. In his videos he shows a lot of details, explains the basic techniques used, always focused on the food, shows how things should look color/texture wise.
There a lot of other cooking channels, you will find them on youtube and have to make your own mind about the different people. However I think for a beginner the videos of John (the Food Wishes guy) are among the best.

[Blobfish]

Buy a WOK

A Good Iron Wok

You can cook anything in a WOK... Stir Fries

Ground Beef & vegetables add a sauce

[Deleted]

So I know how to do the basics- but I've been put in a situation where I need to learn how to cook- my mom can't right now because she just had minor surgery on her foot and is barely ambulatory, and my stepdad is an okay cook but he doesn't know how to make too much. And I'm tired of pizza/fast food.

So I'm going to start doing some more cooking. My mom usually makes quick meals- Hamburger Helper, chicken fried round steak, pork chops, chicken, hamburgers, sausage with biscuits and gravy, eggs, spaghetti, etc with a side of Knorr rice or some fries/baked/mashed potatoes and whatever canned veggies I can find in the cabinet.

But I want to step up the family's lunch game a little. Stuff that's healthier, more diverse.. I was going to try and make Zataran's jambalaya with some sausage and red beans but I didn't have time to get the sausage or the beans yesterday. Learning how to do dried beans would be a first for me, plus it would spice things up just a bit.

So what can I start my culinary journey with that won't break the bank or take hours to prepare?

Simple, tasty, and fairly affordable.


Chicken breast, frozen or not, get what is cheaper.
Rice
Mushrooms (if enjoyed by family)
Look at a package of frozen stirfry veggies, now go and buy the same ones but fresh.
Cream
Chicken stock
Salt
Pepper

Cut the chicken breast in half if fresh, then salt and pepper both sides and fry them in a pan, you're looking for a golden color and a feeling that is close to the tensed up part beneath your tumb in a closed fist, but with them that thin, once they're golden they should be nicely cooked. If you have a temp aim for 72 degrees Celsius, if you use farenheit just google it.

If frozen, it's even easier, Just boil them at roughly 80 degrees celsius for 30-40 minutes, add some curry spices, dried rosemary and pepper to the water along some chicken stock (about 30% stock to water ratio). Once done let them rest for 10 mins or so and then slice them up into 1 cm slices.

Now for the rest of the meal, fry the mushrooms with some oil or butter and salt/pepper, once decently mushy, add them to a pot with chicken stock and cream, salt and pepper for taste. If you have non-burnt fat from frying the chicken in a pan, add this as well, not needed, but adds a nice extra bit of taste.
This gets you a lovely creamy mushroom gravy.

Now for the veggies, just chop them into bite-size pieces and fry them at high heat with oil, when they are fairly soft, they are done. You want some resistance and crunch, but overall its better if they are mushy than raw.

And rice is simple, get some 10 min parboiled rice, add 75grams per person of rice to a pot, cover with water to about a thumbnailsworth extra or 3-5 centimeters. Let it cook with some salt for 12 minutes, yes I know... 10 minute rice for 12 mins what? But it really gets perfect results every time.


I hope this is fairly accurate and easy, but its a quick simple meal without pointlessly unhealthy things that most people should be able to manage.

[Aitch]

Level 2? Is that like adding bacon to Mac n Cheese?

[Deleted]

Please stop telling the guy to wash his chicken. Thats such a myth its stupid. You get more germs over your sink and other equipment then you're actually washing off the chicken it self.

Holy shit.

[Captain N]

I know the OP said he doesn't want hours to prepare but a good crock pot will make some great meals with very little work. Throw your ingredients in before you leave for work, let the crock pot do the work, come home from work, stir up the ingredients and add a few spices and such. About 15 minutes after being home your meal should be just about ready. My wife makes an excellent ranch chicken chili this way.

[shadowmouse]

So what can I start my culinary journey with that won't break the bank or take hours to prepare?

Your intentions are good, but don't treat them like a captive audience. Talk to your mom, tell her that you've been thinking about learning more about cooking, and that this seems like a good opportunity. See what she is interested in, maybe watch some cooking stuff on youtube together or look for recipes. Consider bringing your stepdad in on it too, why not have fun with it. Recovering from illness or surgery can be frustrating because you keep finding that you can't *do* things. This might be a way to reduce the frustration.

//s// bungee, drifting further into his dotage, but planning on going out fighting.