Easy recipes for someone who doesn't cook?

[ArcticChicken]

So, my neice is moving in with us, and we want to start her on leaning household chores right away. She's almost 17, but for various reasons she's been babied all her life, and doesn't know how to cook and clean very well. She's going to be responsible for cooking one night a week, and, as I'm already cooking two nights, I volunteered to supervise her on one of those nights.

My basic plan is to have a list of easy recipes that she can pick from, and to help her put them together. This is where the good people of CS come in. Can you provide me with your favorite easy recipes? There are two restrictions: no gluten, no dairy. Or, rather, recipes where those ingredients are easy to substitute or leave out.

[Parrothead]

http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2010...tichoke-salad/


(I think it's gluten free?)

[csquared]

I posted this one before.
http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...39&postcount=5

Quick & easy. It is also a good way to learn about seasoning blends.

[taxguykarl]

Do you have a slow cooker? That is one easy vehicle for simple and good foods.

[EricKei]

I'm no expert, tho I am reasonably competent at baking, which normally means violating both of those requests...

So, how about Bacon for Dummies? ^_^

Lay strips of bacon on a foil-lined pan (ideally one with a lip so it can catch the grease)
Place into a "cold" (NOT preheated) oven
Turn oven on Bake @ 450F
Cook for 17 minutes -- do not, at any time, open the oven door until the time is up
If they're a little underdone, stick 'em back in for 2 minutes -- but, in my experience, the vast majority of the time, this will result in fully-cooked bacon that has some crispiness, but is still reasonably tender.
You may need to vary the cooking time for unusually thin or thick cuts of bacon, or if you have multiple trays -- This should work with a normal-cut generic grocery store bacon.
This works in toaster ovens, too, but you will likely need to fiddle with the time.

[Kal]

I've got a fairly simple pasta bake I do. Depending on the level of "not cooking" though, it might still be a bit difficult.
Finely chop an onion, fry in a saucepan with a lump of butter. When it's cooked, put in a tablespoon of plain flour, then 300ml of milk when the flour's mixed in. Keep on a medium heat and stir every so often until it thickens.
Add a handful of grated cheese, can of tuna, can of sweetcorn and mix them together, off the heat.
Mix in a pan of cooked pasta (whatever type you like) then put into an ovenproof dish, cover with a sprinkling of grated cheese and bake until it's melted.
Very hard to get wrong, and having the flour mixed with the butter and onion means that you don't get lumps in the sauce.

[Seraph]

Best pot roast you and your family will ever try.

Get a crockpot ready, and a roast of some sort. I typically get a chuck roast, sometimes a london broil...whatever's on sale. Take a tiny plate, flip it upside on the bottom of the crockpot. Lay the roast on top of that. You don't want it touching the bottom.

Mix up 1 packet ranch dressing mix, 1 package italian dressing mix, and 1 package brown gravy. Whisk it up, and then divvy it up over the top of the roast. Lay it on THICK.

Take 1 cup of water, and pour it in the sides of the crockpot. Try not to pour it on the powdery awesome mix. Just pour it in the sides.

Cover, and cook on low for about 6-8 hours. Eight for best.

Bam. Best. Freaking. Roast. Its amazing. Holy mackerel amazing.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this thread for ideas.

...though perhaps not from Seraph. No offense, dear, but I find it hard to believe you can cook anything without starting a grease fire or some other calamity.

[Seraph]

I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this thread for ideas.

...though perhaps not from Seraph. No offense, dear, but I find it hard to believe you can cook anything without starting a grease fire or some other calamity.

...I do cause fires on occasion, but I'm a surprisingly decent cook

[lupo pazzesco]

Hey, Seraph can TOO cook. She even shared a recipe with me, addressing the dangers of fire, and how to make sure it doesn't effect the food. Allow me to share

Seraph's Non-Firey Ramen Lo Mein.

1 package chicken ramen (beef works too, chicken's better imo)
chopped lettuce, carrots (liiiittle bit of iceberg salad mix works as well)
1 normal spoonful of peanut butter. probably about 1 tbsp and a half.
soy sauce
water

Start cooking the ramen noodles, set aside the flavoring. In the meantime, chop up the lettuce and carrots to smallish pieces. After that, check your noodles for fire. No fire?

Good, now on to the mixy part. In a cup, start by mixing up the peanut butter with some soy sauce, and a bit of water. Its tough to do, but with some crazy whisking, its doable. You'll want it to be a slightly watery consistency, but do a taste check and make sure its mostly peanut buttery, without the soy sauce being WAAAGH.

Check the noodles again. No fire still? Yay! Ok, if they're done, now drain them out, and rinse them under cold water. Drain again.

Start heating up a frying pan, and just put a wee bit of veggie oil. Toss the veggies and noodles in there, and start gently frying them. Add in the peanut soy watery stuffins, and then spread out the whole shebang over the pan. Sprinkle a little bit of the flavoring over top of the whole thing, and just keep stirring until the noodles have absorbed all of it.

Check for fire. No fire? YAY ITS EDIBLE NOW. Enjoy!

See?

[Kal]

Take a tiny plate, flip it upside on the bottom of the crockpot. Lay the roast on top of that. You don't want it touching the bottom.
.

When I do this, I just chop three onions in half and put them under the roast as a stand. You can blend them into the gravy when the meat's done too.

[EricKei]

Keep in mind that we have a Recipe Swap group in here somewhere, as well. ^_^

[Sarlon]

Best pot roast you and your family will ever try.

Get a crockpot ready, and a roast of some sort. I typically get a chuck roast, sometimes a london broil...whatever's on sale. Take a tiny plate, flip it upside on the bottom of the crockpot. Lay the roast on top of that. You don't want it touching the bottom.

Mix up 1 packet ranch dressing mix, 1 package italian dressing mix, and 1 package brown gravy. Whisk it up, and then divvy it up over the top of the roast. Lay it on THICK.

Take 1 cup of water, and pour it in the sides of the crockpot. Try not to pour it on the powdery awesome mix. Just pour it in the sides.

Cover, and cook on low for about 6-8 hours. Eight for best.

Bam. Best. Freaking. Roast. Its amazing. Holy mackerel amazing.

I make something VERY similar to this, but mix either red wine or beef broth instead of water, pour it over the beef, cook like seraph says, shred with 2 forks and serve over mashed potatoes.

[SteeleDragon78]

i posted this in another thread, but its so tasty its worth a second:

my family's favorite rice dish is pretty easy:

1 onion chopped fine (medium to large, Valida if you can get it)
3 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon italian seasoning (oregano, basil, parsley)
3 cups rice
2 tbls olive oil (regular not evoo)
5 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
salt and pepper to taste

in a dutch oven or similar sized pot heat the oil till it shimmers. saute the onion till its almost translucent and add the garlic. cook till you just smell the garlic then add the rice. toast the rice till its just turning a bit tan. toss in the herbs and broth. bring to a boil then drop the heat to low and cover. cook for about 25-30 min or untill the broth has been absorbed. fluff and serve. will feed 6-7 easily

[mathnerd]

If she really has never been in a kitchen I would start really small and easy. It might not be the healthiest thing, but pasta and canned sauces and other pre-made or partially pre-made meals (like those frozen skillet meals that a couple of companies make) can be used as a way to just get her comfortable using pots, pans, stove and oven. You can have her make tossed salads to teach her knife skills. Once she's not quite so green in the kitchen, then move up to "fresh" meals.