Recipe

Easy Weeknight Dinner Ideas

By Chloe Porter at University of Pennsylvania

Now that I have a kitchen, I make dinner most nights. It’s usually cheaper and healthier, and cooking is calming. Unfortunately, on nights when I have a billion things to do or when I’m exhausted (or both), cooking often seems more like a chore than anything else. Here are a few tips for super quick dinner ideas for those nights when you’re not feeling like a person:

• Meet your new best friend, couscous. Couscous is awesome. It’s fun to say, for starters. It also cooks in just a few minutes, and makes a great base for lots of veggies and maybe a little meat or some chickpeas. Try to go for the plain, whole grain kind to avoid added sodium and to add some fiber. Throw some Sriracha on there if you’re feeling saucy. Make extra and have it for lunch the next day.

• Buy a rotisserie chicken. Shred the chicken and use it as a garnish (for example, on couscous), add it to soup, heat it up with some broccoli. A rotisserie chicken will last for multiple meals and doesn’t require cooking. Magical.

• Prep a little on Sunday night. Roast some sweet potatoes (or regular ones if that’s more your style), stick them in the fridge, and for the rest of the week you can have mashed sweet potatoes within minutes. This is particularly useful because sweet potatoes are amazing and it is always an appropriate time to eat them.

• Eggs. Eggs and toast take about five minutes to make, are versatile, are cheap, and are pretty difficult to mess up.  Also, breakfast for dinner is never the wrong choice.

So there you have it: making dinner doesn’t have to be a huge production. Of course, if you’re up for making a multiple-course, fancy meal, go right ahead. Just make sure you invite me over.