Dinner when life is too stressful

[LindaK]

When busy, stressed, but with a little time to cook, I almost always choose fish. Under the broiler or as a saute, it's done in minutes. Steam or stir-fry some veggies to go along. Drizzle with your favorite vinaigrette or miso dressing and you'll be happy.

I'm also a big fan of eggs, whether hardboiled and part of a composed salad or made into a tortilla or frittata. Quick and versatile. Almost as easy is a souffle. Though not as quick, most of the time is in the oven while you can be enjoying an aperitif. It makes you feel very special to have a souffle in the middle of the week.

Finally, I like to have good canned tuna on hand. Whether it's added to a green salad, tossed with rice or beans, or whatever, it can turn something simple into something that feels like a meal.

[dcarch]

When life gets nerve-racking, the last thing you should be doing is cooking and washing dishes.

Go get some sushi and warm sake, and let some soothing music reset you tense rhythm.

Sushi, it’s so simple, elegant and calming just like a Japanese garden. Zen.

dcarch

[liuzhou]

Last night was a disaster. I got back really late and very tired but started to prepare a simple curry using a bit of beef, some mushrooms and some South African curry mix a friend from SA had recently given me to try. I should have known better than to try something new when I was so tired.

I had just chopped stuff up and got a basic garlic/onion/ginger mix frying when my cell phone rang. An old and very good friend - but she was on a major downer and feeling ridiculously, self-indulgently sorry for herself. But I felt obliged to let her whine on, although I was getting very impatient towards the end.

While being distracted listening to her diatribe against the world, I somehow managed to add three times the amount of the curry mix that my friend had suggested then, ignoring its obvious redness indicating its chilli content, I one handedly chopped a couple of Thai chillies and threw them in. (The other hand was still holding my cell phone to my ear as friend rattled on and on.)

Finally she went off, no doubt to call someone else to whine at, and I added my beef and mushrooms and left the mixture to simmer.

Of course when I went back to test the beef for tenderness, I found the whole shebang utterly inedible.Of course. By now it was 10 pm and I was seriously drained of energy and starving.

Canned sardines on toast then bed in a less than joyous mood. The end of a perfect day. Not.

(I seldom have such disasters - can't remember the last one and I do love my friend really.)

Edited November 29, 2012 by liuzhou (log)

[annachan]

Pasta is always easy. I found prepping to be the key though. I tend to shop for easy to cook protein and veg on the weekend for weekday meals. Meat that can be cooked up quickly (meat for stir fry, chicken ribs, etc.) or can be left alone to cook (duck legs for confit, pork neck roast, etc.).

I also love my Korean BBQ grill. From thinly sliced meat to flank steak, it cooks up easily alongside with some veg.

Soup noodle is also quick and easy - stock, noodle and top with whatever you want: meat, veg, tofu, fish balls/fish cakes, corn, egg, etc. If I don't have premade stock, I just use the box stuff, and maybe add some miso.

Edited November 29, 2012 by annachan (log)

[radtek]

... I found the whole shebang utterly inedible.Of course. By now it was 10 pm and I was seriously drained of energy and starving.

I'm sure you tossed it. But IME the heat often fades significantly after an overnight in the fridge! Often to my disappointment. And a little served with a lot of steamed rice is a good way to combat over-spiced curries and 5-alarm chili's. I treat it more like a condiment in this situation. Not to say I'm above trashing a fail!

[liuzhou]

But IME the heat often fades significantly after an overnight in the fridge!

It would have taken a lot more than a night in the fridge to bring this back to edible heat. But it wasn't just the heat. I can do chilli heat. It was just a total mess on every level. And is now giving the local pigs an experience they didn't expect.

The rice I had prepared was refrigerated and used tonight.

[radtek]

LOL! I wonder if our porky friends will complain about the after affects?

[SylviaLovegren]

Pre-spiced pork!?

An old reliable quickie is linguine with white clam sauce -- lots of olive oil, canned clams with juice, white wine, garlic, handful of parsley. Sauce is ready by the time the pasta is boiled and drained.

But if I'm really feeling drained and low, grilled cheese sammiches (with processed cheese!) are the bomb. Might have a salad, or a bowl of tomato soup, or a side of pickles and chips, but those aren't necessary, just nice. There's something about the crispy buttery toasted bread filled with melty warm cheese that is the ultimate soul soother.

[Shel_B]

Just though of something: Quesadillas ... what could be simpler? Add a quick salad if so inclined, pop a Negra Modelo ... bada bing!

[pacman1978]

Steak(onglet or rib eye), mccain oven french fries and some leaves washed down with dijon mustard, wholegrain mustard and a nice full bodied red. Bliss in 20 mins, I probably have it once a week!

[phatj]

A panini press is a godsend for this kind of scenario. In the five or ten minutes it takes to preheat, you can prep your sandwiches, from the simplest possible grilled cheese to as fancy as you want, limited only by the bread you have on hand and whatever you have in the fridge.

[rod rock]

Steak(onglet or rib eye), mccain oven french fries and some leaves washed down with dijon mustard, wholegrain mustard and a nice full bodied red. Bliss in 20 mins, I probably have it once a week!

This is good for instant calming down from stress