HELP!!! I have to cook...

[Traditional_Ale]

So my girlfriend just called and asked me to put dinner together. This gives me about 4 hours to go shopping and have something ready for 5:30. Doesn't have to be super fancy, but no suggestions of frozen pizza and the like.

On a skill level of 1 to 10, I'm a solid 5!!!!

What the hell should I make?

[LChoy]

Food allergies, restrictions, things you guys don't like/eat?

[old-fart]

Maple glazed salmon with basmati rice and a nice veggie - say garlic oregano tomatoes or honey ginger baby carrots. Nothing complicated, and pretty damn good.

[Jason14h]

Make whatever her favorite food is and you can't go wrong even if you mess it up a bit!

[troutman]

veal paremesan with fettucini alfredo

salad, and a baguette

[Muta]

Best answer: Make a real pizza.

Buy a pizza shell, throw on tomato sauce (or pizza sauce... whatever... and make sure you don't go all the way to the edge with the sauce), then throw on anything you want.... cheese, onions, pepperoni, banana peppers, olives, whatever. Make it gourmet with some pesto, feta, tomatoes.... entirely up to you.

Then, make a salad on the side. Buy some lettuce and cucumbers and throw in some oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix it up. Do this while the pizza bakes.

Voila! Ready to serve in no more than 1.5 - 2 hours including prep.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

For something easy and very yummy, you can go with homemade Pizza rather than frozen. Either buy the raw pizza dough or just make it--it's not that hard (though it is time consuming--you'd have to start right away. Pick up some Prosciutto (like a 1/4 lb) and some fresh mozzarella and Roma tomatoes. Arrange the prosciutto and then the cheese in medallions and the tomatoes around the pizza, bake until done. Total prep time: 10 minutes. Total cooking time 20 minutes. Pair with a dry red wine and you'll look like a genius.

EDIT: Muta types faster than me. I still say go with Prosciutto!

[nik-]

Lasagna is ridiculously easy to make and will give you great leftovers. You can make a simple salad with it.

[Kidder]

Step one: cut a hole in a box....

When she stands there flabergasted you can tell her you knew what she was really hungry for.

[ComixZone]

...I want some lasagna now...I'd go with Lasagna, if you wanna do something easy just go hit M&M's and pickup a premade lasagna.

[LChoy]

Or use pita bread for crunchy thin crust

If you really torn for time, you can always pick up a roasted chicken ($7.99) from the grocery store, a bag of prewashed salads ($3.99) that include dressing and prebaked garlic bread (the frozen ones good too).

[burn_this_city]

Get a couple hungrymans.. Nuke them to defrost and remove from package. Put in dishes and heat parts separately. Remove evidence from garbage. Pass off as own hard work.

[North East Goon]

Manwich with Tater Tots!

[Traditional_Ale]

This thread rules! Thanks everyone!

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by old-fart

Maple glazed salmon with basmati rice and a nice veggie - say garlic oregano tomatoes or honey ginger baby carrots. Nothing complicated, and pretty damn good.

We may have a winner...

[Table 5]

^ or some sort of fancy pants housewife...

[Dion]

Throw a couple of steaks on the BBQ.

As for the side dish, dice up a sweet oinion(Walla Walla) and fry up in a skillet. Set aside when caramelised and dice up some fresh mushrooms. Cook some Uncle Bens wild rice and when done add to the skillet with the onions. Add the mushrooms on top and turn down the heat and put on a lid to let simmer simmer.

Open up a bottle of wine and your ready to eat.

[Addick]

This recipe is quite easy and tastes great!

Sweet and Sour Chicken



When Elise asked me to be a guest writer for Simply Recipes, we decided to take Chinese favorites and make them better, lighter and easier to cook at home. So, I grabbed a take-out menu from the local Chinese restaurant and I will be working my way around those recipes for you.

If there's one thing that I detest, it's greasy fried food covered in goopy Chinese take-out sauce. Okay, so sometimes I like that stuff, but it usually those cravings come at 3 o'clock a.m. during a certain time of the month.

But, I digress.

This recipe for Sweet and Sour Chicken doesn't deep fry, but instead uses a method for creating a delicate, smooth and succulent chicken that goes perfectly with a lighter sweet and sour sauce. The secret is in the chicken marinade, specifically using egg white and cornstarch, which creates a super-light coating all around the chicken. It won't be a crunchy, deep fried coating, but I think it's a nice alternative, both texture-wise and weight-wise!

©2003-2008 Simply Recipes, Inc.

[Jayems]

Go to CoOp.

Buy a pack of those pre-marinated souvlaki chicken sticks.

Get some tzatziki, feta, onions, pita bread etc.

BBQ those bad boys up. When they're almost done, paste some oil on the pita and shake some Hys seasoning salt on it, flip it and cook for a minute or so.

You can cut up some potatoes and bake them in oil in the oven to get some crispy taters.

Real easy to make your own chicken souvlaki pita wrap(s).

some caesar salad for the side too.

Tastes like happy.

[BlackArcher101]

Could always go for a beef stroganoff... mmmmm. Simple way to make it is fry up some beef cubes along with some green pepper, put a can of mushroom soup into it, then let simmer while you cook some noodles. Serve on top of the noodles. 15 minutes tops and easy.