5 Quick Recipes for the Lazy Working Person
I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record at this point, always crying about adulthood and Lagos stress and my hate for cooking but look, many people feel the same way, at least about the stressful mode of living in Lagos.
So, imagine being tired before you get to work due to the mad traffic that’s part of the character of Lagos, then finally getting to work, facing the pile of paperwork, that annoying co-worker, leaving work and then encountering that same traffic and then getting home to an empty fridge and no food.
It can be painful, and this particular brand of pain I am familiar with when you just want homemade comfort food and nothing else. Not mama put, not TFC, just homemade food. Well, here are a few quick throw-ingredients-in-the-pot recipes that do not require too much work and are perfect for the lazy, (or just exhausted) working person.
One-pot Pasta
Image by Eat Drink Lagos.
Also known as Jollof spaghetti. Pasta never fails, cooks fast and most importantly is easy to cook. This recipe is close to that of Jollof rice but is even easier with pasta because it doesn’t require finesse. There are two ways to cook this:
Cook the pasta and sauce separately and then add both in one pot, or, prepare the sauce- fry onions, garlic and ginger, add pepper and tomatoes, some vegetables if that’s your thing, some sausages or prawns or chicken, if you like.
Next, add spices and let it cook together for a few minutes, then add water to cook the pasta in and it just let it stew- pun intended. This method is a little more effective because the pasta is cooked in the sauce, and so the flavours are more pronounced.
This recipe works even better when you have a left-over pot of chicken or beef stew. All you need to do is add a cup of water to the stew and then add the pasta. Maybe a few more spices to enhance the flavour of the stew and then boil for ten minutes on low heat. I was about to suggest you can do this in the morning before work, just to have it for lunch but then I remembered that we live in Lagos.
One-pot okra soup
Image by Eat Drink Lagos
Think seafood okra. Also known to we Yorubas as Ila Alasepo which literally translates to okra cooked with others. I’m not a fan of okra but this is something I don’t mind eating. This is also really easy to make and one pot can last you for about two-three days.
The recipe is easy: you can either grate or slice the okra, and you begin the soup like you would ordinary okra. Boil the okra in a cup of water, add salt and leave it to boil for a few minutes and then add the other ingredients like palm oil, pepper and other spices.
Stir for a bit and then add whatever form of protein you want: fish, shrimp, beef, prawns, even pomo. It can be eaten with any swallow but as Folarin has rightly said, it’s best with eba.
Asaro (yam, plantain, potato)
Image by Eat Drink Lagos
The beauty of porridge is that it can be made with any tuber- even cocoyam, if that’s what you fancy. It also requires minimal effort and culinary skills. It’s literally just boiling and mashing yam, or plantain, or potatoes (sweet) in the sauce. This doesn’t require a breakdown or step by step recipe honestly because it’s literally just thrown and mashed together. The messier, the better and don’t forget the protein.
Beans
Image by Eat Drink Lagos
Bean porridge is one highly disrespected meal. High in protein and versatility- it can be used to make moi-moi, akara and ekuru- it is another easy-to-cook-meal and can be cooked with carbohydrates like plantain, yam or potatoes or even corn. The only problem with beans is that it takes a while to cook completely, but it’s easy outside of that.
Jambalaya Rice
Image by Eat Drink Lagos
This is basically jollof rice that studied abroad. It’s basically the same format with one-pot pasta, you can add plantain, sausages, seafood, whatever catches your fancy.
What’s your go-to lazy dish?