But why would you transfer your vege’s to another dish to serve them in the first place when it’s just your family at home? (I understand if you’re having a more formal dinner party.)

Anyway, for us, if we’ve run out of extra meals from a previous meal (there’s just the two of us and a lot of our meals are cooked in family of 6 quantities) we often just steam some vege’s and add a sauce (tahini, garlic, lemon juice and water mixed together is a favourite) or go for the emergency box of samosas heated in the microwave oven.

When I am in the mood for a simple meal, I want to come into the kitchen, grab some food, and eat. I do not want to prepare or cook anything. I don’t even want to cut anything.

Some components of my simple meals are as follows (these may be mixed and matched): peanut butter (eaten from the spoon), cereal, bread, milk, yogurt, raw vegetables (such as broccoli, baby carrots, or red peppers [eaten like an apple]), fruit (banana or apple), or nuts (almonds or cashews).

Great tips, thanks. For those of us who prefer a little starch with our Simple Meal, I have this recommendation:
1. Cook a large batch of rice – white, brown, doesn’t matter. Just don’t add butter.
2. Lay it out in a thin layer on sheet pans to cool.
3. Once cooled, put the pans into freezer as is.
4. Once frozen, chunk up the rice as best you can and put into freezer bags for easier storage.
5. When you want a quick side dish, zap the rice in the microwave. It comes out perfectly.

We’ll use a high-protein high fiber pasta as base. It’s less starchy than regular pasta and doesn’t get sticky. Use the minimum amount of water necessary to cook, add more only as needed to keep things cooking. Too many nutrients are lost when you drain your pasta and vegs. I don’t salt the water.

Half way through cooking the pasta, add your favorite frozen vegs to cook with it if you don’t have summer squash in the garden. I keep a broccoli-carrot-cauliflower mix on hand for this. Frozen peas are also good.

While the pasta and veggies cook, gently fry chopped onions, celery, and garlic in a little olive oil. A few red pepper flakes are also good. Don’t overcook.

If you didn’t use too much water, the pasta and veggies should be done with very little water left to spare. Turn off heat. Add the onion, celery and garlic mix and toss with a good can of tuna or salmon. If you have parmesan, parsley, canned artichokes, anchovies, or capers on hand, use any of these to season further. I like to finish off with a dusting of lemon zest and ground fennel seed, which I always have on hand. Or I add leaves from one of my garden herbs like rosemary, thyme, basil.

Serve. I under-salt so that people can add that for themselves if they want.

Btw, a ripe, deep red garden tomato, sliced, with a few drops of balsamic vinegar and good olive oil is a more gourmet salad than almost anything you can get from any restaurant, bar none. It’s the quintessential summer food, and the real meaning of luxury, in my opinion.

Yesterday was the opposite with very slow food. My son and his friend (13 and 12 years old respectively) have entered a local outdoor dutch oven cooking competition, using dutch ovens, charcoal with no electrical tools allowed. They did a practice run yesterday. Over the course of 3 hours they made a yellow cake with chocolate ganache and blueberries and 40 garlic clove chicken with roasted potatoes and carrots.

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 cups thinly sliced onion

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tsp. paprika

• 1 tsp. ground coriander

• 1 level tsp. cayenne pepper

• 5 cups sweet potato, peeled and cubed

• 8 cups chicken/vegetable stock

• 14 oz. can of cream style corn

• Pepper to taste Garnish with a dollop of fresh cream

Directions
1.Place oil in large soup pot . Add onion, cook uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring often until softened (do not brown).

2.Add garlic, paprika, coriander and cayenne pepper; continue to heat and stir for about 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant.

3.Add sweet potatoes and toss until coated.

4.Add broth and stir. Increasing heat bring to a boil.

5.Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes stirring occasionally until sweet potatoes are tender.

6.Remove from heat, let stand for 5 minutes.

7.Process mixture in 2 batches, in a food processor, or blender until smooth.

8.Return to pot.

9.Add corn and pepper Stir and return to a boil on medium high.

10.Continue to heat and stir until heated through.

Ladle soup into bowls, dollop cream over the top. Serve immediately.

An all time fav protein in my family is baked salmon in soba sauce. 25 mintues in oven while everyone go do a quick washup after reaching home. By the time I set the table, dish out the rice and soup and the fish is done.

One idea I am going to use from the contributions here is the grilled veg. May just try it together with the fish instead of stir frying separately. Thnks for all the ideas.

Summer – Tuna and cheese salad. Whatever salad vegies I have to hand (ripped or chopped), a 1-cup tin of tuna drained and emptied onto the salad with some crumbled feta cheese (or whatever cheese I have) and a sprinking of balsamic vinegar. If I have no salad vegetables, I use steamed or microwaved frozen veg and make a hot salad.

Winter – stirfry frozen vegetables, heat fresh udon noodles in a cup of boiling water for 1 minute then drain and add to stirfry with sauce. Sauce is 2 eggs mixed with 1/4 cup of tomato sauce or ketchup and a thick slice of cheese broken into chunks.