Yes. You can cook some really tasty meals if you want to without much angst. I began cooking with my dad when I was in middle school. He showed me some basics, and I was off to the races. To start, if you’re not a vegetarian, you’ll need to purchase a meat of some sort, like say, pork chops or chicken. You’ll need some basic seasoning, like salt, pepper, and garlic powder. There are many others, but as a beginner, this is just great. Some people like to buy seasoning in the spice section of the grocery store, and that’s totally fine too. Regardless, seasoning the meat is a must. We’ll get to the meat preparation in a minute. Serving a couple of vegetables (starchy and non-starchy) with the meat is nice if you want to impress your guest(s). A few of my favorite starchy vegetables are potatoes and corn. The easiest thing on the planet is to bake the potato. You do absolutely nothing to it except wash it and poke it with a fork before sticking it in the oven for an hour. Corn is super easy to prepare whether you like fresh, frozen, or canned. Broccoli or asparagus are great choices if you’re not into starch. That’s basically it. Seriously, that’s it! Here’s how to put it all together:
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees. While you’re waiting for it to heat up, prepare the potatoes by washing them and poking them with a fork. When the oven’s hot, stick them in there for an hour.
- Season the meat very well ON BOTH SIDES and let it sit to room temperature.
- After the potatoes have been cooking for 40 minutes, heat the oiled pan or the outside grill to VERY HOT before you put the meat on. (The hot pan or grill will bring out the flavor of the meat). The meat you chose will determine how long to cook it on each side. Turn the meat only ONCE.
- While the meat is cooking (and you’d better set the timer to remind you to turn it ONCE), prepare your non-starchy vegetable, as this takes the least amount of cooking time. If you choose broccoli, you’ll need to cut the flowery parts off into pieces. The trick here is to heat the oiled pan to medium heat before you add the broccoli (or other non-starchy vegetable). If it sizzles when you add the first piece, it’s ready! If not, then wait a bit more. *If you don’t want to do all this work for a boring, non-starchy vegetable which you probably don’t even care for, then simply open up a can of green beans and heat them in a pan. Season with salt and pepper and there you go.
- If you like rolls with your meal, Rhodes frozen yeast rolls are irresistible!
That’s it. I mean it’s really easy. I know you’ve probably heard that before, and perhaps you’ve even tried to cook without much success, but I ask you to give it one more shot. Then send me a comment about how it turned out. Or, invite me to sample your next one! Most of all, have fun!
