Hands off Dinners

c.p.w.g.w

So i'm looking for you help guys.

I need dinners that are hands off and quick.

Something a long the lines of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjDDUC8QvH8

But with a little more variety and maybe with more vegetables, I've had a search online. There seems to be lots that use pre-made sauces.

I'm looking for these type of dinners, as when summer(i know its January) hits i plan to do a lot cycling after work. So i could be doing 3-4 sessions a week lasting between 2-3 hours each. So i'd very much like to be able to pop the dinner into the oven and shower and have my feed once i'm out of the shower.

Cheers

Shenshen

First thing that springs to my mind would be oven-roasted vegetables with couscous.

Get whatever veg you fancy (peppers, courgettes, aubergines, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, etc), cut them to bite-sized pieces. Mix up some olive oil with spices (I would usually use Ras-al-Hanout, but you could just use smoked paprika, some chili, maybe some cumin or some Garam Masala) and salt, and mixed that with the vegetables.

Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread the vegetables on it, then put it in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes.

Put the couscous in a flat-is bowl and just about cover it with boiling vegetable stock.

Once the veg are done, mix it all together, and squeeze one lemon over it all.

But if you'll be out for hours on the bike, I would suggest getting a slow cooker. You can put your food on before you leave the house, and return to a lovely stew, chili or curry.

c.p.w.g.w

Shenshen wrote: »

First thing that springs to my mind would be oven-roasted vegetables with couscous.

Get whatever veg you fancy (peppers, courgettes, aubergines, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, etc), cut them to bite-sized pieces. Mix up some olive oil with spices (I would usually use Ras-al-Hanout, but you could just use smoked paprika, some chili, maybe some cumin or some Garam Masala) and salt, and mixed that with the vegetables.

Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread the vegetables on it, then put it in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes.

Put the couscous in a flat-is bowl and just about cover it with boiling vegetable stock.

Once the veg are done, mix it all together, and squeeze one lemon over it all.

But if you'll be out for hours on the bike, I would suggest getting a slow cooker. You can put your food on before you leave the house, and return to a lovely stew, chili or curry.

Cheers.
Have a slow cooker but have cats who like to try and remove the lid when left alone with it

Shenshen

c.p.w.g.w wrote: »

Cheers.
Have a slow cooker but have cats who like to try and remove the lid when left alone with it

You wouldn't also have a door you could close to keep them out of the kitchen for a few hours?

c.p.w.g.w

Shenshen wrote: »

You wouldn't also have a door you could close to keep them out of the kitchen for a few hours?

Open plan dining room/kitchen...Its where their cat litter, bed & climbing things are...oh and the windows that they look out at all the birds they love watching.

L1011

Nearly everything you can do in a slow cooker can be done in a Dutch Oven in the oven on low. I'm amazed they've become so popular as gadgets when their functionality isn't new

kylith

L1011 wrote: »

Nearly everything you can do in a slow cooker can be done in a Dutch Oven in the oven on low. I'm amazed they've become so popular as gadgets when their functionality isn't new

I'd imagine that they use a lot less electricity than the oven

ellejay

I've a similar issue - but go jogging not cycling.

Apart from the use of a slow cooker the only other options I've come up with are reheats.
Eg Spag Bol, Chicken a la king, Stirfry.

Occaisionally I'll put a pie in the oven but everything's ready to be quickly assembled.

Donegal Catch can be cooked in the oven, spuds etc already peeled and just to turn on or mashed and reheated from night before.
But in saying that salmon fillets poached in water is quite quick and probly Healthier.
You can cook Cod in the microwave but I haven't tried it.

I've made fishcakes and popped in oven also.
(Made earlier in day)

Fishfingers cook quite quickly under grill.
You can grill steak too, I get striploin - not as quick as the fishfingers obviously!

Spanish Omlette is quick enough after shower.

That's all I can I think of but might be some help to you.

Lidl do ready rolled-sheets of puff pastry. If you slice it into 2cm wide strips you can then layer them over a chicken breast, tucking the ends underneath and it comes out like a big chicken croissant. Make sure to egg-wash the pastry, or use butter if stuck for time.

Once you get used to the process you can then start getting adventurous. Use any combination of pesto, mozzarella, basil, chorizo, blue cheese, hot sauce etc. to cover the chicken first and you're away in a hack.

You need to have the oven low enough to stop the pastry burning, but its easy enough to get the hang of. Perfect for preparing, leaving in the fridge, then sticking in the oven while you get your sh1t together.

L1011

kylith wrote: »

I'd imagine that they use a lot less electricity than the oven

I really wouldn't be sure about that. Its not like the oven is losing masses of heat externally if its not faulty.

The recent trend for the devices to have multiple functions, lots of buttons and screens etc appears to have made them must-have gadgets more than them actually being hugely more useful than what they replaced!

Graces7

L1011 wrote: »

I really wouldn't be sure about that. Its not like the oven is losing masses of heat externally if its not faulty.

The recent trend for the devices to have multiple functions, lots of buttons and screens etc appears to have made them must-have gadgets more than them actually being hugely more useful than what they replaced!

The size alone makes them cheaper to run. In an oven so much wasted space being heated

L1011

That isn't the only factor to cover. If the gadget one loses heat faster it's irrelevant that it's smaller, and plenty of them are flimsy poorly insulated things thrown together in China.

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

multiple functions, lots of buttons and screens

this does not describe any cheap slow cooker

usually one single knob with three settings, low, high and warm

cefh17

c.p.w.g.w wrote: »

Cheers.
Have a slow cooker but have cats who like to try and remove the lid when left alone with it

Tape the lid to the handles! There's a slow cooking thread in here with a ton of good recipes

RacoonQueen

Hands off dinners are pretty much all I do...I've a few dishes maybe a bit bigger than these that I do a lot of my dinners in


Cherry tomatoes, mixed chopped peppers and some diced carrots throw 4/5 sausages on top and whack in the oven. All you need to do is turn the sausages a couple of times to brown them. If I have them I might throw in a few smoked bacon lardons too.
Sometimes I might throw some asparagus, mangetout, sugar snap peas on a pot of boiling water too for extra veg...a baked potato smothered in butter goes nicely too. About 40 mins in the oven.
I don't use oil and pierce the sausages and tomatoes to allow their juices to escape and make everything tasty.

Same idea, cherry tomatoes, peppers, carrots...slice a chicken fillet and stuff with mozzarella and maybe more veg/some bacon/some chorizo = chicken 'pizza' and roast veg. 25/30 mins in the oven.
Again, don't use oil the tomatoes and chicken juices make everything tasty. And again you could do a baked potato or other quickly boiled/stemed veg with this...or rice if you prefer. Lots of lovely flavoured rices out there now.

Dice chicken fillet and chorizo, throw into oven dish with some passata, basil and mixed peppers. After maybe 10/15 mins I in half cooked pasta and mix it in ensuring it's covered by the sauce. Takes maybe 25/30 minutes. With about 5 mins to go I throw some mozzarella cheese on top.

Make up meatballs (my meatball are purely pork/beef mince I don't put any breadcrumbs or crap into them :P ) cover with a mixture of passata, beef stock cube, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Into oven again, with 5 min or so to go throw cheese on top. Serve with pasta or whatever.

This is all stuff I would throw on as soon as I get in (usually) from a run or cycle...by the time I'm showered and dressed it's more or less ready to go (and I have feck all washing up to do).

At weekends and during the week when I restock, I will wash and prep most of my vegetables. So I'll wash peppers( I eat a lot of peppers) and dice them, dry them off them put them in tupperware in the fridge. Wash my tomatoes and put them in fridge. Wash my asparagus, mangetout, broccoli, sugar snaps and put them in tupperware in the fridge so when I'm going dinners like this they take about 5 mins to prep and clean up after while I'm waiting for oven to pre-heat. I can't eat garlic and onion but you could throw them into pretty much anything above either or whatever other veggies you like that roast well. I never put oil into anything I put into the oven. Also eat a tonne of spinach with pretty much anything, give it a quick wash and throw it in with any sauce and mix around quickly just before I serve. Or just throw it uncooked on the plate and put everything else on top of it. If you have a load of veg prepped in advance, you don't even need to do these dinners - you can quickly do a stir fry or whatever also...you can buy most meats already diced or just dice them quickly yourself while you're waiting for the wok to heat up. Throw on meat cook it around, throw in veg...10 mins and you're pretty much done.
I don't 'do' packaged sauces, if I make a stir fry I put tomatoes in earlier and let them release their tomatoey deliciouness to add moisture to a stir fry...hate the taste and smell of packages stir fry sauces and can never understand why anyone would destroy a quick, tasty and healthy meal with a load of packaged junk.

OldMrBrennan83

L1011 wrote: »

Nearly everything you can do in a slow cooker can be done in a Dutch Oven in the oven on low. I'm amazed they've become so popular as gadgets when their functionality isn't new

If you can find me someone to put the casserole dish (you're not in America) into the oven at around 2pm then grand. Some of us like dinner during the week though and I can put a slow cooker on before I go out to work.

the beer revolu

Patww79 wrote: »

If you can find me someone to put the casserole dish (you're not in America) into the oven at around 2pm then grand. Some of us like dinner during the week though and I can put a slow cooker on before I go out to work.

almost all ovens have a timer function.

Gloomtastic!

the beer revolu wrote: »

almost all ovens have a timer function.

I’m afraid that would involve reading the f@cking manual! :rolleyes:

OldMrBrennan83

the beer revolu wrote: »

almost all ovens have a timer function.

Never used it and don't need to, because I've a slow cooker. It also has a split pot, which none of my casserole dishes do.