I've been trying to improve my cooking and baking lately, as I'll soon be moving into an apartment with a kitchen (instead of living in a college dorm and eating at campus dining halls). There's a cool diversity of people and cultures on BotB, and I know some of you make good looking food, so I'd love any recommendations!

What are some favorite, easy-ish recipes of yours?

_{I originally considered making this a plaintext battle but idk how people would vote on that}

Omelettes are pretty great because you can just throw whatever vegetables and/or proteins you have on hand in a pan, stir fry 'em then just add eggs. You can flavor with salt, pepper, herbs, salsa, sriracha, or any other flavor you like.

Chili is also easy and delicious, and has a lot of variations. There's a billion recipes out there and honestly google will serve you better than I could for specific recipes. But the basic idea is always the same: throw tomatoes, spices, vegetables, beans, and/or meat into a pot, then just simmer for as long as you can bear to wait. You can put almost anything into chili and it will taste good. I once had chili with cherries which was unexpectedly delicious.

Good luck!

more here than I can get out in one post!

mb area specific, we're in about the same spot; Food City's got the best deal on chicken! and Fry's has best deals on hot sauce. Guacamaya rules. it'll be in a plastic 34oz bottle and it'll be about $2.50 and it's great on chicken and fish and really everything. feels like a really focused chili pepper type deal. it'll have a yellow label with a parrot on the label! and I put it in the chili I make too. and even pineapple. the black label Valentina rules but anymore I keep going for the Guacamaya

also it's good to have clarified butter! easier to cook with than just going directly from the sticks and it stays good for longer; I keep jars of clarified butter around for months and I just can't do that w sticks of butter out in the open. put the sticks of butter in a pot or pan; I use glass bc I can see thru it; heat and melt the butter at a really low heat. it'll make three layers! and it'll burp the water out and make a big mess. so I scoop off the top with a metal tablespoon and put it on paper towels and toss the towels. after all the water is burped out the gurgling will get less wet and gutsy sounding and be more like bubbles at the top; just keep scooping the whey out the top and mb move the spoon around the bottom to burp out more of the water. if it turns really deep brown black that's good too! it'll be more toasty and more flavor. you'll have the oil left and it's cool if it's orange and it's cool if it's like brown black. pour the hot oil thru fine metal mesh like a strainer. smth fine enough that sand won't pass thru. this will catch a lot of the solids. four sticks of butter will make a pint mason jar worth of clarified butter but it feels better for me to do three at a time. after I got the hot oil in the mason jar I put on a lid, like the metal round plate and the metal part on the jar to hold it down, and then I put it all in the fridge. it'll be lighter in color now! and then I take it out and just have it on the counter. this clarified butter will be great for doing stir fry! and I use it for making popcorn; half clarified butter and half avocado oil bc both can be pushed really hard on the heat without smoking and burning

also have MSG! if it has tomatoes it can have MSG. even on a lazy food day adding MSG to a cheapo ramen will boost the flavor

and also w chicken I do lots of pulled chicken! and after holidays the turkey will be cheap. I give turkey 15 mins at 500F and then overnight plus a few hours at 200F. just made a huge bowl of pulled chicken, same-ish deal; just straight ahead 200F overnight. the 15 mins 500F step is to get the turkey skin brown! so not needed for pulled chicken. best deal on tortillas is Costco but anything works and I use cast iron to heat them. they'll stick so I'll have a big wide spatula ready. this means yeah go for the raw ones in the coolers that come in a big flat stack and they kinda stick together

if this were many years ago I'd have more set recipes. Fluffy-BotB gets a head start on like diced canned tomatoes and paste and I just stir fry whatever feels right and start smelling and adding spices and we end up w chili or spaghetti sauce depending on what we land on. my burger bun technique is impractical here; the desert will annihilate bread bc heat. the mold will take out bread before there's any time to even think of making a sandwich. but we got tortillas!

a dressing to make boring vegetables tasty:
equal parts sesame oil, soy sauce, and lime juice
a small amount of ginger garlic paste (you can use fresh ginger and garlic if you like but it's easier to buy premade paste lol)
chili powder (or a fresh chili, but powder is easier)

Rice + Feijoada + Farofa + Couve + Vinagrete + Puree + Minced beef + Pickled onions + Big cuppa Coke

You can make your own feijoada but it takes long. I instead buy some from the Anglo brand in a nearby market. It is godlike. Same with farofa, but any brand is fine.

For the vinagrete i dice tomatoes, purple onions and red and yellow (NOT GREEN) bell peppers. I season with salt, oil and plenty of powdered black pepper. I like it spicy.

I like the beef minced because it often seeps a brown sauce that i can drop on the food. You can also fry the couve on the same pan and imbue it with bovine souls!

Any soda works, really. But some of the best are guaraná fruit soda and cashew fruit soda. Sadly the latter isn't sold where i live, atleast as of right now. It is literally the elixir of life...

homemade tomato sauce is a game-changer for pasta, pizza, chicken parm, etc. how i do it is: warm some oil in a pan, add sliced garlic and crushed red pepper, then when those are fragrant add a can of whole tomatoes & crush them with a wooden spoon (where i live, canned is better than fresh for sauce purposes), plus some basil leaves, salt & pepper. simmer down the sauce until it tastes good, adjust seasoning to taste. it kind of takes a while but it's a very easy and hands-off process overall

speaking of which, basil is a really easy plant to keep at home on a sunny windowsill - just give it plenty of water and trim the buds whenever it tries to flower, and you'll have fresh basil leaves whenever you need them for cooking

if you haven't made bread at home before i recommend trying that too, because fresh bread is just the best. you don't need a standing mixer or a bread machine, and you can even find a no-knead recipe if kneading isn't your thing. you should basically ignore the amount of water a recipe calls for though, and just add water until the dough gets to the right texture - different flours and maybe climates will require different amounts of water

Shout outs to basil! I've got a nice crop by my bedroom window. It smells wonderful and goes great in a sandwich.

Pizza is pretty easy to nail but seems to impress people a lot. I want to say like 7 or 8oz fine flour, 1tbsp yeast, 1tbsp salt, equal amount water to flour by weight. You might want to look at some recipes to see if I'm in the right ballpark; I can't quite remember right now. Imo it should be pretty darn yeasty. Many will say not to add salt and yeast at the same time, which in my experience is a bit of a meme. You can add some olive oil to it as well. Knead it ferociously and put it away; you can have it in the fridge for a day or a few days, or do it in the morning and leave it out with a towel over it kind of thing.

For sauce just do what jangler sez :) The kids will think you're cool and have arcane knowledge if you use san marzanos so maybe just buy those once and put the empty can up on the top shelf by the empty liquor bottles, then hide the winco brand crushed tomato cans in a place of shame. Fresh cherry tomatoes are quite nice as well

You might experiment with folding or rolling the dough but I don't find it necessary. Just pound it back together when you're ready to use it and stretch it out into a sheet pan with olive oil and/or corn meal. Some like the corn meal and some don't, but you don't want it to stick of course. Spread on your sauce and cheese to taste. Fresh mozzerella is naturally the way to go if you want it to be really nice. Of course you can add anchovies, sausage, etc. Bell peppers that have already been stewed down in some oil and a lil vinegar are a fantastic choice with sausage. You want to use a hot oven. Tbh I'm not sure what I would set on a timer because I usually check it, but setting a known time and temp would probably give a better result :-] You want that sucker to be pretty CRISPY at the edges! If it rose right it will still have a chewy middle when you start to see some brown and black crust

There are some fun paths you can take that raise eyebrows but are still very common in italian walk ups, so fuck the haters. By no means is it necessary to use red sauce. "Breakfast pizza" with sharp cheese, peppers and bacon cooked right on the pie has turned out really well for me (greasy of course.) Artichoke hearts and ham, like canadian bacon, are a stellar mashup. Something creamy pumps that up even more, like ricotta, or mayo. You can chop canned artichoke hearts and fold them into mayo for a heavenly topping. Thin sliced potatoes, like for scalloped potatoes, pre-boiled a little bit, are good. Lastly, you can just make pizza bianca, with nothing on it at all. Eat it with some salt and oil, use it for sandwich bread, etc. Fresh basil is often a good addition towards or at the end

I think peoples' common pitfalls are: using sweet canned sauce with 20 ingredients that has no acid and tastes weird; using dry or canned "italian" spice blends which make it taste like chuck.e.cheese; using dough that's dense and not particularly yeasty, and being afraid to cook it pretty hot. Oh and salt is not your enemy lol. Hipsters have made pizza a whole ~thing~; I've never been blown away by the results of all that elborate special stuff and I think it makes some people scared to try it. But if you don't always get the fancy ingredients it can be cheap as shit and a proper omelette is probably more difficult

Currently this

though i hope salmon is cheaper where you are

serve with a carb of your choice, I go cous cous or chips with this

a few years ago I went on a big salad kick. I combed through a few recipe sites/blogs that I had found good stuff on before and tried more things that sounded interesting. I'll share some of the ones I liked and have since remade. the humble salad can be so much more than lettuce and tomatoes! (although lately if I want a little side for a sandwich or some eggs, I'll just grab a handful of arugula, cut a few cherry tomatoes in half, drizzle a bit of olive oil, fresh cracked salt and pepper and that's perfect. yum!)

also, making your own dressing is generally quite easy and I'd always recommend it over a store-bought one; most recipes have an accompanying dressing. I usually mix them by putting the ingredients in a little mason jar and shaking aggressively. if you're planning on holding onto leftovers, it's often best to only pour out as much dressing as you want on your serving & leave the rest in the jar. stuff like cucumbers and tomatoes end up losing all their water when hit with all that salt, so you can end up with messy soggy leftovers if you poured the whole thing on the salad bowl. if you think to do it the next day, removing the mason jar from the fridge a half hour before you wanna eat will get it back to a temperature where it's easily shaken/stirred again.

Spinach Cantaloupe
- ingredes: spinach, cantaloupe, avocado, diced red bell pepper, fresh mint
- dressing: 1tbsp mint jelly, 1.5tsp white wine vinegar, 3tbsp veg oil, 1 clove garlic (you might need to do some whisking to this to break up the jelly)
- instructions: chop everything up as desired (I like big chunks of the melon and the avo, diced bell pepper and coarsely chopped mint; the spinach you can chop a bit more if you want but not required) and add to a bowl!

Chicken Avocado Caprese
- ingredes: chicken thighs (or tofu for vegetarian), romaine (or spinach but the romaine has good crunch factor), avocado, cherry/grape tomatoes halved, mini balls of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, salt & pepper
- dressing and marinade: 1/4cup balsamic vinegar, 2tbsp olive oil, 2tsp brown sugar, 1 clove garlic, 1tsp dry basil, 1tsp salt
- instructions: make the dressing first and pour half-ish of it into a bowl with the chicken. let that marinate for at least 30min and up to a day. then cook the chicken up real nice in a frying pan - discard the marinade (don't use it as more dressing... it has raw chicken juice in it...). it comes out sooo rich and sweet with the balsamic + brown sugar. let it cool, chop it up, and add it to the bowl with all the other ingredients, which you can cut up to your preferred sizes. as mentioned before, I'd avoid pouring the whole jar of dressing on at once if you want leftovers

Chopped Greek
- ingredes: 4 persian cucumbers, 1 can chickpeas (drained & rinsed), diced red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes halved, minced red onion (smallish amount), kalamata olives halved/chopped, feta cheese, fresh italian/flat-leaf parsley
- dressing: 1/4cup olive oil, 1tsp dijon mustard, 2tbsp red wine vinegar, 1tbsp lemon juice, 1/4tsp garlic powder, 1/4tsp onion powder, 1/2tsp dry oregano, salt & pepper
- instructions: chop veggies up to a fairly uniform small size. it's pretty simple, just a bunch of chopping. you'll end up with leftover soup if you pour all the dressing on at once though, so this is not advised for leftovers

Strawberry Spinach
- ingredes: chicken breasts, spinach, strawberries, avocado, red onion rings, feta, sliced almonds
- dressing: 1/4cup olive oil, 1tbsp gold balsamic vinegar (regular is ok too), 1tsp sugar, 1tbsp fresh tarragon, 1/4tsp salt & pepper
- instructions: simple enough - cook up the chicken breasts however you want, let cool, chop up, add to a bowl with everything else. I usually like quartering the strawberries unless they're huge. the onion rings should be as thin as you can get them because raw red onion is intense. you can find sliced almonds in the nut section at the grocery. don't skip the fresh tarragon, it adds a lot to this dish. ALSO generally speaking, strawb + spinach + feta is an iconic combo. experiment as you see fit

Avocado Chickpea
- ingredes: canned chickpeas (drained & rinsed), avocado, finely chopped red onion, english cucumber chopped, cherry tomatoes halved/quartered, fresh cilantro, feta
- dressing: 3tbsp olive oil, 3tbsp lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, 1/2tsp salt, 1/8tsp pepper
- instructions: chop all that stuff up and add it to a bowl! this one is really more than the sum of its parts imo. if you hate cilantro try flat-leaf parsley

Avocado Chickpea ~Another~
- ingredes: lettuce, avocados, canned chickpeas (drained & rinsed), scallions finely chopped, brown rice, grated cotija cheese, minced fresh cilantro
- dressing: 2tbsp lime juice, 1tbsp olive oil, 2tsp honey, salt & pepper
- instructions: another easy one - prep the rice in advance and combine everything anytime after it's cooled. makes for a nice side!

Cucumber Chickpea Pita
- ingredes: cucumbers (I like the mini ones), canned chickpeas (drained & rinsed), green onions, fresh dill, feta, pita chips, salt & pepper
- dressing: 3tbsp olive oil, 2tbsp white wine vinegar, 2tbsp lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, salt & pepper
- instructions: chop up everything except the pita chips and combine. they're there for crunch, so when you're ready to eat, put them in your serving bowl and toss with the salad. this is one of my favorites both for flavor and efficiency - great way to use up all those little bits of pita chip at the bottom of the bag : )

Chinese Chicken
- ingredes: coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage+carrots), green onion, chicken or tofu of choice, toasted slivered almonds, wonton strips (or chow mein noodles), sesame seeds
- dressing: 2tbsp veg oil, 1/4cup rice vinegar, 1/4cup hoisin sauce, 1tbsp soy sauce, 1tsp fresh grated ginger, 1tbsp toasted sesame oil
- cook up the chicken or tofu however you prefer, let cool, chop up, add to a bowl with everything else except the wonton strips, which you should add when serving, they provide crunch. surprisingly little prep work needed here for how tasty it is. I prefer to toast up the slivered almonds in a small frying pan, stirring frequently. this salad keeps super well in the fridge imo, and you can even lay on the whole jar of dressing immediately. it'll be even more tasty tomorrow!

Italian Pasta Salad
- ingredes: pasta (rotini, bowtie, penne...?), chopped hard salami, cherry tomatoes halved, black olives sliced, green bell pepper, sweet bell pepper (red/yellow/orange), some chopped red onion, fresh mozzarella balls, grated parmesan, fresh flat-leaf parsley, fresh basil
- dressing: 1cup olive oil, 1/4cup lemon juice, 1tsp dry oregano, 2tsp dijon mustard, 1tsp honey, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2tsp red pepper flakes, salt & pepper
- cook up the pasta al dente or slightly past, reserve a little cup of pasta water, then drain and cool (you can run it under some cool water in the colander). chop up all the goods to relatively small and bite-sized. combine with cooled pasta, then add the dressing along with ~1/4cup of the pasta water - mix well. add more if you want the dressing thinner. can be served immediately or refrigerated for later!

Greek Pasta Salad
- ingredes: pasta (rotini, bowtie, penne...?), english cucumber, sweet bell pepper (red/yellow/orange), cherry tomatoes halved, kalamata olives halved + 2tbsp brine from the jar, red onion, feta cheese, fresh oregano (optional)
- dressing: 1/3cup olive oil, 3tbsp red wine vinegar, 2tbsp lemon juice, 1/2tsp garlic powder, 1tsp dry oregano, 1/2tsp salt
- instructions: cook pasta al dente or slightly past, drain and rinse under cold water. dice all the veggies up. combine all the dressing ingredients in your intended salad bowl. add & mix the kalamata olives, onion and olive brine. then stir in the pasta and everything else!

Herby Feta Olive Pasta Salad
- ingredes: pasta (penne?), red onion rings, feta cheese, kalamata olives, pepper (& maybe salt)
- "dressing": fresh oregano (some), fresh flat-leaf parsley (a lot), 2tbsp capers, jalapeno or other chili pepper (seeded if desired), 2 cloves garlic, 1/3cup olive oil
- instructions: this one's fun! finely mince all the "dressing" ingredients together (or throw em in a food processor), then place them in your salad-bowl-to-be along with the olive oil. stir in the olives, feta cheese, pepper. more salt will probably not be necessary but add if you like. cook up the pasta to al dente or slightly past. put the onion rings in the colander!!! do it!!! then drain the pasta OVER the onions (it cooks them just a little and reduces their harshness) and transfer both to the bowl. stir together and enjoy at room temperature! if I have leftovers I even like to microwave the leftovers a little bit before eating - it's better at a less cold temp.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad (vegan!)
- ingredes: ~2lb sweet potatoes cubed to about 1 inch pieces, 2tbsp olive oil, 2tbsp taco seasoning. kale, fresh cilantro, green onions, can black beans (drained & rinsed), avocado
- dressing: 3tbsp olive oil, 1/2cup raw cashews, 1/2 jalapeno (or other chili), 1/2 avocado, 1/2cup cilantro leaves, 2 cloves garlic, 3tbsp lime juice (plus extra), 1/2tsp salt
- instructions: preheat oven to 425F, center rack. toss the sweet potatoes, olive oil and taco seasoning together in a large bowl, then spread them out on a large sheet pan. roast for ~25-30min. add all the dressing ingredients to a blender and pulse until smooth. (the dressing goes great on many things btw, this on its own is a useful recipe...) chop up the veggies that need it, add the kale and extra lime juice to your big salad bowl, mix well, then add in all the other goodness and toss with the dressing. this one's best closer to room temp too imo, texture is better for the beans and sweet potatoes!

oh yeah, and the first scheduled plaintext battle ever was a recipe sharing bitpack, I'd say it's totally doable in that form. I've made kilowatt's chili recipe from there before, it's tasty.

The following is a Flarf original gourmet meal. It is known as the "ultra calorie sandwich". 'twas invented during the COVID lockdowns and refined over the years, yet the original concept remains the same. This recipe will be loyal to you, provided you are loyal to it. I hope it serves you well

ingredients:

2 slices white/wheat bread. For alternative bread types see "list of breads" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_breads )

2 strips of bacon (microwaved or cooked. doesn't really matter)

a slice or 2 of your deli meat of choice

a slice of cheese

lettuce

2 eggs

butter

poppy seed or similar garnish

oregano leaves

mustard


step 1: put egg yolks into frying pan

step 2: place bread in toaster

step 3: prepare bacon for cooking

step 4: scramble eggs, cook bacon, and toast the bread

step 5: get a rush of dopamine when it all gets done at the same time

step 6: butter toast and sprinkle poppy seed

step 7: place bacon on one of the toast slices

step 8: apply mustard liberally

step 9: place slice of deli meat

step 10: place eggs

step 11: sprinkle oregano leaves

step 12: place cheese slice

step 13: garnish with lettuce

step 14: stack sandwich and consume

Here's one of my super easy white trash comfort food meals. It's basically chicken divan but super simplified and without the brocolli. My mom made it a lot for me and my siblings when we were younger and we all just called it "Chicken Rice"

CHICKEN RICE
Ingredients:
- Chicken
- Rice
- 1-2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 big spoonful of mayonnaise
- Chicken broth or milk
- Cheddar cheese
Instructions:
Cook and season some chicken however you like. Cook the rice. Mix everything else together in a casserole dish and add chicken broth or milk until it's a consistency you like. Mix in as much grated cheese as you want and then add chicken and put it all in the oven at 350F for about 25 minutes. Eat on top of rice.

Most recipes also add lemon juice but I haven't tried that yet. Also pretty much every single chicken divan recipe adds broccoli and breadcrumbs but idk I just like to keep it simple sometimes. I'd rather eat broccoli on the side.

Another similar dish I like is called "Hawaiian Haystacks". It's basically just chicken gravy on top of rice that you load up with toppings: cheese, sweetened coconut flakes, pineapple, green onions, bell pepper, celery, etc. If that sounds weird, that's because it's utah mormon cusuine, but I swear it's good lol. Another ex-mormon here can vouch for me.

Also I can vouch for Damifortune's Strawberry Spinach Salad recipe. My family makes a super similar recipe often and I love it. I might have to try making that roasted sweet potato salad later this week.

The most straightforward meals I like to make I don't even really have a name for them, they're just sheetpan oven roast meals. It's just some sort of seasoned protein + some olive oil coated veggies on foil/parchment on a sheetpan, throw it in the oven for some number of minutes depending on the protein, serve with rice.

Examples:
- Protein:
- 1-2 lb chicken thigh w/ salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, Italian seasoning (30 min @ 350F)
- 1-2 lb salmon filet w/ salt, pepper (20 min @ 350F)
- Veggies:
- broccoli, cut into florets, optionally add garlic powder
- carrots, cut into rounds
- Brussels sprouts, halved
- potato, diced

1. Preheat oven
2. Grab sheetpan, line with foil/parchment paper
3. Season protein, place on sheetpan
4. Cut veggies, add seasoning, coat with olive oil, place around protein on sheetpan
5. Once oven is heated, place sheetpan in oven
6. Wait XX min, then take out and serve with rice

These are not gonna wow you but they are very solid for relatively little effort and prep required, and you can get at least 2 meals worth out of one cooking session.

Another nice simple meal I've recently learned to make is Thịt Bò Rang, or Vietnamese Ground Beef, which I figured from stuff I had around the house. I based it off of this recipe

but my version is:

- 1 lb ground beef (preferably 80/20)
- salt + pepper
- 3-4 cloves garlic (dice thin)
- 1-2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 stalk lemongrass (cut to thin rounds)
- 2 green onion (cut to rounds)
- 1 shallot (slice into halved rings)
- 5 carrot (julienned)
- 3 sprigs cilantro (coarse chop)

1. Add ground beef to wok/pan, add salt + pepper, and cook for a bit until meat starts to brown.
2. Break up and flip around the beef, add salt + pepper again, cook for another bit until it's fairly consistently brown.
3. Add shallot, lemongrass, garlic, and carrot, and cook for a little bit.
4. Add fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar, and mix. Here you can taste and adjust. If you need more sweet, add brown sugar. If you need more saltiness, add soy sauce or fish sauce.
5. Once thoroughly cooked, add green onion and cilantro, give it a little bit of time to cook in, and then heat off.

This one is also to be served with rice. Also, the amounts are approximate and do not need to be exact amounts - in fact, I encourage eyeballing the amounts and judging by taste in step 4. The fish sauce really carries the flavor in this one, was pleasantly surprised by how damn good it came out.

Okay, my absolute easiest meal I still "make" is ramen, although a) I get a bulk pack of ramen noodles from 99 Ranch (Asian market), and b) I like to spruce it up with an egg or two, extra protein (frozen shrimp/ground beef/ground pork), and some chopped up veggies (napa cabbage/bok choy/some other leafy green) and green onion. I also put in mushroom bouillon powder to add in umami.

i have been making PORK KATSU lately which is so so good and super cheap... all you do is get some half inch thick pork chops, salt em up and let them sit for a while, toss them in separate bowls of flour -> egg -> panko crumbs and then fry in vegetable oil for a little while and then serve with rice and katsu sauce (or hoisin sauce is also rlly good) you're eating for like four days off $10. signed a broke college student

Borscht

Cut one large potato in cubes, and roughly one third of a cabbage head. Chop one large onion, grate one carrot, grate one beet, slice one bell pepper, peel four cloves of garlic and chop some parsley. Keep the vegetables separated.

Heat up a large pot with water. Add chicken and/or white beans (soaked overnight in advance). Salt to taste. Bring to boil and lower the fire. Skim the fat. Add the potatoes and cabbage.

While the broth is simmering, on a medium-sized pan fry the onion until golden and add one spoon of broth. Afterwards, with a spacing of several minutes between each, add the carrot, beet and pepper. Add more broth, and then add 200 gram of tomato paste and the parsley. After a few more minutes, turn off the fire and crush in the garlic.

Finally, pour the pan's contents into the pot, turn off the heat and add some bay leaves. Borscht is usually better on the following day, and is often served with sour cream.

The stuff I cook the most is soup/slow cooking because i can set it and forget it. My favorite thing in that genre is brisket. I first trim as much fat off as I can, then season on all sides, then leave it to dry brine overnight, then sear the next day, then throw into a pot for 5 hours with wine, celery, and shittake mushrooms.

My favorite non-slow-cooked/soup thing that I like to cook is chicken tenders or thigh or breast along with kimchi and mushrooms again. Also steak is good.

if you ever wanted to learn how to cook indian food, I can recommended learning from 'vahchef' and 'ranveer brar' on youtube. look up their chicken curry videos to get started. upfront costs are going on a spice hunt and working on your cutting skills(finely dicing the onions is very important for the flavor!), and takes some practice, but after you get the hang of it you can cook heavenly meals that are quite fast and simple(and inexpensive). the cooking process is quite meditative as well, like the sweet spots at each stage of cooking are very sensitive and communicate with you through smells and colors and sounds

portuguese Caldo Verde is simple and (surprisingly) tasty
Bambá de Couve (from Minas Gerais, Brazil) is the same, with different ingredients (using corn instead of potato, and a different sliced sausage as well)

did you know you can actually microwave an egg? my strategy is to crack one into a coffee mug and put a plate on top of it so if and when it explodes it doesn't paint the walls of the microwave in egg fluids. then i season it with the leftover salt from the bottom of an otherwise empty pretzel bag. just make sure you scrape that mug clean because it sticks like crazy and you might find yourself drinking egg-flavoured coffee for a few days if you forget

https://www.recipetineats.com/spinach-and-ricotta-rolls
They're kinda 10/10