Unless you’re that gal or guy that’s somehow capable of cooking a restaurant quality meal at a moment’s notice (how do you even prepare for something like that?!) you’ve probably been there: 6pm on a weeknight, tired, and starving. You don’t have enough energy to search Pinterest for a recipe (cue stomach growl) let alone attempt to pull it off – so what to do? If only you knew a few no-intimidation, fail-proof meals! Meat of any kind can be slightly terrifying to cook if you don’t know what you’re doing, with that whole overcook it and it’s terrible, undercook it and risk illness problem, but as with all things, you must start small… When you need a protein in your meal, try these simple fail-proof recipes for cooking meat. Yes… Even fish. Even steak. You’d be surprised at how much you can accomplish in twenty minutes or less, and hey, maybe it’ll inspire you follow to those chef dreams you didn’t know you had.
CHICKEN: Start with Balsamic Chicken & Vegetables from Averie Cooks:
Many novice cooks head straight to the oven when it comes to baking up one of the few chicken recipes they know. But with skillet chicken, you can season and flavor to your liking throughout the cooking process, and it’s a lot less likely to become too dry and blah. When it comes to skillet chicken all you need is a little oil or butter and seasonings and sauces galore – all with pretty much the same process: crank up the heat, sizzle, flip, sizzle and done. This chicken from Averie Cooks involves ingredients that if you don’t already have (like brown sugar and olive oil) are pantry necessities. Plus you incorporate the veggie side right in it to (meaning lots of flavor from the meat).
SALMON: Start with Lemon Herb Salmon from Damn Delicious:
Maybe it’s because many people don’t eat fish daily or even weekly, but salmon recipes tend to come along with a lot of intimidation. Of course, no one wants a subpar fish dish, but it’s probably the least difficult thing you can make in the oven. This one-pan salmon is flavored by zucchini, dill and lemon. Not only does it not have too many ingredients, most of them are dried herbs. All you do is chop the zucchini, lay it out, add the fish, top with the herb mixture and pop it in the oven!
STEAK: Start with Perfect Oven Steak recipe from The Kitchn
If we’re opting for steak, we all want it to be GOOD steak. Therefore it’s a good idea to master the basics, which often means learning how to cook a steak by pan-searing it and/or popping it in the oven. This recipe involves pan searing a steak followed by broiling for a few minutes. If you don’t have a broiler pan, you can still pan sear each side, smother with flavorful toppings like garlic, mushrooms and onions, and cook it the rest of the way (to your liking) in a baking pan. Be sure to let it rest for three or four minutes afterward. Steak is more trial and error than fish and chicken, so work you’re way up!
