Today marks the first day in I don’t even know how long that I got home at 4:30 in the afternoon. Seeing as that has definitely not happened in the past few weeks, I guess you could say life has been a little bit crazy in the CEC household.
Needless to say, getting anything on the dinner table has been quite a stretch — just ask the Husband who was served a bowl of food that he deemed to be “for a toddler” and laughed when I put jelly on the table for absolutely nothing that needed jelly. What? You don’t like to put jelly on potatoes? Whatever — I suppose that’s your prerogative.
Something tells me that you’re really busy too.
Somehow, summer always sneaks by me and somehow it’s fall and I’m struggling to get everything that needs to be done for the day accomplished. If we lived by each other, I would suggest a Saturday morning “freezer dinner” party — but alas, that doesn’t look like it will be happening any time soon. Unless you live in my area.. and then I am serious to get me through the days and weeks ahead.
And since this has nothing to do with anything, I must tell you that my “d” key on keyboard has something underneath it… which in turn means that I keep misspelling words that have “” in them (okay, that was supposed to be “d”.. I swear I did not plan that). I have to press down really hard.
But! Moving forward! I rarely spend less than 30-40 minutes in the kitchen each night, even on days when I really do have time to cook. I don’t know about you, but I have a Rachel Ray book, and I have never EVER in my life gotten to make one of those recipes in 30 minutes flat. Rachel Ray must have like 8 arms, 25 pots and pans, and a TV crew making her recipes behind the scenes.
I thought it would be nice to share with you some meals that indeed only take 30 minutes to make, are delicious, and will leave you with even more time at night to spend with your family or cross some chores off your list.
Creamy Artichoke and Green Bean Rotini
This dish is one of my favorites. It uses a vegan cream sauce that I seemingly always forget about — and believe me when I tell you that if the Husband eats it, it must be magical.
Tomato Basil Quinoa with Humnut Sauce
Another crows pleaser — this has it all. Protein, whole grains, and hummus. How could you go wrong with that?
Chickpea & Veggie Lettuce Wraps
A recipe from the days when my blog was just a little wee one, but this recipe is delicious — and it sure doesn’t disappoint!
Chickpea Broccoli and Fig Salad
Two words: Uh — Mazing. This salad is delicious on its own, but if you pair it with a bowl of plain quinoa, it would be taken over the top.
Sautéed Eggplant and Mushrooms
If you are ever looking to put some zest into a pasta night at home, this is the way to do it. Everyone can easily get bored with spaghetti, but tossing some of this flavorful eggplant and meaty mushrooms on top will bring it to the next level!
And to be perfectly honest with you, when all else fails, I always have a trusty sweet potato and a salad topped with hummus. Because nothing can get more simple or delicious than that combination.
And I guess now is the time that I have to tell you that I got the inspiration for this post from a Jimmy John’s guy who I saw running down the sidewalk to deliver sandwiches. That’s what I call freaky fast.
Question: What is your favorite meal to make in less than 30 minutes? Link away!
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Girl my whole life is one big fast meal and speedy recipe. If I can’t make a dinner in less than 30 mins, it’s not happening most nights!
I love all your recipes in this post.
Let’s see a fave of mine to make in less than 30 mins is some sort of “pasta” salad with dressing
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/03/raw-pasta-salad-with-creamy-lemon-herb-dressing.html
that one has a lemon dill dressing but sometimes I make 2 minute peanut sauce, whatever I have on hand. Lots of fresh veggies and then just go from there with sauces, combos, etc
I know you’re the queen of fast meals!! I always look to you when I’m in a pickle!
You know me…I’m a sucker for fast and easy. It’s the ONLY way I will cook.
Haha, so true about those Rachael Ray meals. I have 3 or 4 of her cookbooks and taking out the ingredients alone is at least 10 minutes!
My favorite meal when I’m pressed for time is a frittata. They come together in minutes and are super tasty. This was a recent one I made: http://www.runningtothekitchen.com/2011/08/collard-green-goat-cheese-frittata/
Your creamy artichoke and green bean rotini looks delicious. Wishing I hadn’t used my green beans last night otherwise I would totally make this right now (still haven’t decided on dinner yet).
Yum! All of these look really great! I just made this really fast chickpea salad with veggies and a cumin spice dressing. The website I got it from was called “20 minute supper club.” I guess thats freaky fast ! http://lauren-whatlaurenlikes.blogspot.com/2011/09/still-summery-wiaw.html
That sounds great! Thanks for the link!
I love quick meals - like throw everything in a bowl quinoa + veggies + hummus/salsa dinners. I also have frozen black bean mix that I made up for quick dinners. I usually always cook extras, so I can have easy leftovers or a salad topping for the next day’s lunch.
Buffalo Chicken pizza with buffalo chicken greek yogurt for the husband and a greek yogurt parfait for this girl!
I always seem to go for breakfast when I have less than 30 min to cook. Eggs are so simple and fast and delicious. In fact, that is exactly what I had tonight under the circumstances.
It NEVER takes me longer. I could probably do dinner in 10. Why? I do not cook. I assemble. Your freaky fast meals are like ….intimidating to me.
I always steam a ton of veg, cook more than one veggie burger and a crapton of rice. So when it’s dinner time. I assemble.
im not sure what kind of computer you have (bc i just realized that this might not be possible on my netbook) but most keyboards allow you to flick the keys off so you can clean out the keyboard. They pop right off and actually when i do it on my regular computer it’s actually really kind of gross what i find in there (eat and blog much??… egh). gooDDD luck
i’m at one extreme or the other. it’s either a gourmet lasagna made from scratch that takes hours to prep or a 3 minute grilled cheese with a side of cereal!
Sweet potatoes with cottage cheese on top + a side salad is my go-to meal any night that I’m night feeling up to cooking. I microwave the potato!
All of these meals looks amazing! The Creamy Artichoke and Green Bean Rotini especially sticks out to me as I LOVE artichokes and most any creamy kind of sauce. I also have to totally agree with you on the perfect simplicity of a sweet potato and salad!
I don’t remember the last time I made something that took me more than 30 minutes (not counting baking time). Most of the time, it’s grilled or sautéed though… All of this week’s meals (recipes on my blog for each of ‘em) were less than 30 minutes!
That Chickpea, Brocolli and Fig salad looks yummy! I love to cook and eat real food but finding the time is just so difficult
Fabulous Post! I am always in a rush to make dinner - in fact I had only 1 hour, 1 hour! to make dinner yesterday, so I decided on ole faithful - savory oats!
Pasta in marinara sauce is a under-30 min meal for me and perhaps my favorite! WHile the sauce is bubbling away, I boil the spaghetti (8 minutes), chop and stir fry the veggies and grate the cheese and bham, dinner is ready
! Orrr even better: steamed brocolli with sweet potato topped with baked beans (canned 
)
I have a feeling that this is going to be a busy semester, so I’m going to be needing these! Thanks for all the ideas!
My favourite fast dinner is a tofu and veggie stir fry with brown rice. So simple, but so satisfying!
I can’t agree more about the 30 minute Rachel Ray recipes! I swear one time, it took me two hours!! My boyfriend was like, “Isn’t this supposed to take only 30?” ha.
You sold me on the Chickpea Broccoli and Fig Salad! Making that next week
I absolutely love making a kitchen sink salad with beets, hummus, peppers, carrots, olives, egg, EVERYTHING I can possibly think of. SO GOOD.
Quick meals are the way to go. Who has time to cook forever when your hungry stomach is yelling at you? Love the idea of the tomato basil quinoa. My next hummus venture was going to be tomato basil, perhaps they’ll go together!
OMG your tomota basil quinoa looks amazing!
favorite meal to make in less than 30 minutes, um well love to make raw lasagna or some type of meal sized salad
I hear you on the fast meals thing. My fast meal is to pop an Amy’s bean burrito in the microwave and put a dollop of sour cream and salsa on my plate to eat it with. Guess that’s not really cooking though…
I love lettuce wraps - I made a Chinese veggie lettuce wrap myself but haven’t made one with chickpeas. That goes on my to-try list - i.e. my Pinterest! Thanks!
I know you don’t eat fish, but for those that do- this recipe takes less than 25 minutes including prep time! http://littlebees-blog.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-recipe-little-fish.html
mmm you’re making me hungry! All of those look so delicious
Sounds excellent, I’m putting those on my ‘to-do’ list! For those times when half an hour is about 28 minutes more than you have to spare, I whip up a salad. The post on 30-second salads is not so much recipes but ideas for stuff you can chuck in a bowl that tastes good together. Not rocket science, but hey, sometimes you don’t have time to think about food! (I hate those times.)
http://studiofood.blogspot.com/2011/08/30-second-salads.html?m=1#comments
Wowwwwwwwwwww, these all look very tastey! Thanks for sharing them with your followers.
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