Confession: I like to prepare dinner, however I hate menu planning. Studying by the proper weeknight recipe, solely to find that I’m by myself for veggies or sides, makes me escape right into a sweat. As a result of now I’ve to spend time googling “simple and healthy-ish sides,” hop between recipe tabs on my pc, and juggle prep instances.

So! I’m at all times on the lookout for recipes that ship scrumptious easy dishes. Cue Caroline Chambers and her superb publication What to Cook dinner When You Don’t Really feel Like Cooking.

Caroline, a cookbook writer and mom of three, is aware of how a lot technique it takes to arrange a satisfying meal while you’re low on time and power. So, she places collectively recipes that you just truly need to make on busy evenings. Every recipe takes lower than an hour to arrange (some lower than quarter-hour), they usually’re crowd-pleasers. Exhibit A: This salmon tempura bowl…

Salmon Tempura Crunch Bowls
Serves 4
Recipe from What to Cook dinner When You Don’t Really feel Like Cooking

“I had this recipe in my head for a couple of months, after which I cooked it for lunch with girlfriends. My buddies misplaced their marbles over it! I misplaced my marbles over it. I additionally pulled it off in solely an hour with a cranky child desirous to be held each different minute. Throw the salmon in a bowl with dressed greens and buttery brown rice, drizzle sriracha mayo on high, and wowza! It’s pleasant.”

Buttery Brown Rice
1 1/2 cups brown rice (or simply use frozen rice)
2 tablespoons butter
Kosher salt

Crusted Salmon
1 1/2 kilos salmon, pores and skin on or off
Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha
2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
1 tablespoon maple syrup or brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons sesame seeds

Greens and Issues
1 bunch cilantro, divided
5 ounces combined greens
1/2 English cucumber, minimize in half then thinly sliced into half moons
Juice of 1 giant lime
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Elective additions: thinly sliced apple or persimmon, thinly sliced fennel or pink onion, thinly sliced scallions, peanuts

Sriracha Mayo
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha
Juice of 1/2 lime

Convey a big pot of salted water to a boil over excessive warmth. Add brown rice and boil it similar to pasta till tender, about 40 minutes. Drain, then return the rice to the pot and stir in butter and an enormous pinch of salt. Cowl till dinnertime. Whereas the rice is cooking, work on all the things else. (*Or simply use frozen rice!)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sprinkle 1 1/2 kilos salmon with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, garlic powder, and ginger powder, then rub with soy sauce, sriracha (1 tbsp is not going to make it spicy, it’ll simply taste it; add one other tbsp for warmth, in case you’d like!), 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and maple syrup (or brown sugar). In case your salmon has pores and skin, place it skin-side down on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, soften butter within the microwave. Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, panko breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, and an enormous pinch of salt. Roughly chop up 1 bunch of cilantro (your entire factor — leaves and stems!). Separate 1/3 cup of the chopped cilantro, finely cube it, and add it to the panko. Set the remainder of the chopped cilantro apart for the salad. Stir the breadcrumb combination till all is nicely mixed and the panko is coated in butter and oil.

Unfold the breadcrumbs excessive of the salmon. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, till the salmon simply flakes while you prod at it with a fork.

Whereas the salmon is cooking, make the greens and sriracha mayo.

Throw 5 ounces combined greens into a big bowl together with the remainder of the chopped cilantro and your cucumber moons. Add the juice of a giant lime, sesame oil, and an enormous pinch of salt. Toss to coat the greens. Style. Need it zingier? Extra lime juice or any vinegar! I often add a number of extra pinches of salt. Perhaps some pepper, too, in case you’re feeling wild.

Now make the sriracha mayo by stirring collectively 1/2 cup mayo, 1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha, the juice of 1/2 lime, and a small pinch of salt. Style and add extra sriracha if you need it spicier.

Then set all the things out (the buttery brown rice, salmon, bowl of dressed greens, sriracha mayo, and any optionally available additions) and let your eaters construct their very own bowls! I like for the bottom of my bowl to be rice on one facet, greens on the opposite facet, with the salmon on high drizzled with sriracha mayo.

Thanks a lot, Caroline!

P.S. 9 household meals we’ve liked to dying, and three Dealer Joe’s meal hacks.

(Images by Caroline Chambers for What To Cook dinner When You Don’t Really feel Like Cooking.)