Between classes, work and anything else you’ve done in a day, it is hard to find the effort to cook a homemade meal. It usually feels easier to just eat something premade or order take-out, but cooking doesn’t always have to be a negative experience.
Here are some easy tips that can make cooking easier and more enjoyable at the end of the day:
- Learn a few simple recipes to start. Cooking can seem intimidating at first, so rather than making something different each day, rotate between a few simple recipes. I started by learning how to make fried chicken, steak with vegetables and chicken noodle soup, but anything you want works. There is no need to learn 100 recipes at first when a small handful can feed you for the entire week.
- Prepare before you cook. Mise en place is a fancy way to say “prepare all your ingredients before you start the recipe.” Measure your ingredients, chop your vegetables and do anything else the recipe calls for before you begin. Most importantly, read the recipe entirely before you start! Simply being prepared in advance can avert you from almost any disaster that can occur.
- Buy a food thermometer. Food thermometers are one of the most useful kitchen tools. It takes the guesswork out of cooking meats. Just put the tip of the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat you are making and in seconds you will know how well-done it is. If you have ever worried about undercooked or overcooked meat, a thermometer is worth every cent.
- Do anything to make cooking fun. I can’t put it any better than Chris Morocco, deputy food editor of Bon Appétit did: “Pour yourself a glass of wine, put on music, have a late 90s action-comedy movie going in the background. Whatever. Just get yourself set up to enjoy it.” If you hate chopping vegetables, buy pre-chopped vegetables. If you hate chicken, swap it out for meat you do like. If you can enjoy the process of cooking, your food will turn out better and it won’t feel like a chore.
With those tips in mind, try this simple sheet tray dinner of chicken with onion, potato and broccoli! The best thing about this recipe is that you can use any vegetables or meat you want, you can cut them any way you’d like and you can add other spices or flavors. The cooking time will change but the recipe stays the same otherwise.
Sheet Pan Dinner
Servings: 2
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 medium russet potato, thinly sliced
1 head of broccoli, chopped
½ cup of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 chicken breasts, sliced
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
In a mixing bowl, toss the onions, potatoes and broccoli with ¼ cup of olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Spread the vegetables out on a sheet pan and cook for 15-20 minutes or until all the vegetables are lightly browned and soft.
Put the chicken breasts in the mixing bowl and toss with the rest of the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the tray from the oven and add the chicken on top of the vegetables once they are browned. Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the thickest piece of chicken reads 165 F. Serve while hot.