Quick, easy, healthy dinners always seem to be a tough thing to come by. The recipes that I read that are quick and easy are usually just one part of a meal. The chicken dish might only take 30 minutes, but getting a couple of side dish on the table at the same time makes dinner feel like a production. While doing our whole 30 last year I had to get creative with cooking and I started searching out new quick recipes. I quickly realized most of them called for a 400 degree oven. It was like having a secret whispered in my ear that suddenly made getting dinner on the table easy.
With a few cookie sheets, a meat, a few vegetables and a 400 degree oven you can have dinner on the table in 30 minutes with minimal clean up.
I love trying new recipes and experimenting in the kitchen, but when I get home at 6 or 7pm there just isn’t time for a lot of chopping and prep. I don’t want to sacrifice eating real food so this is the best solution on the nights I don’t have time to put a more complex meal together. You can do this in one oven though two is ideal because it will allow every thing to brown and caramelize. If you need to do it in one try rotating the baking sheets halfway through the cooking.
It is really that simple!
Below are some more detail directions about how to prepare your meal. You can download above as a printable to keep on the fridge as a quick reference.
Line two rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil.
Season the meat with some olive oil, salt and pepper and set aside until you are ready to put it in the oven. If you want to spice it up you can add other seasoning blends to the meats like jerk seasoning or chinese five spice. Penzsey’s offers a wide variety of already mixed blends and even suggest the type of meat they go best on.
Cut your vegetables in to pieces that are similar sizes so they cook evenly. The vegetables will shrink while roasting. For two people you will need at least a pound of vegetables. We go heavy on vegetables over here so we get closer to two pounds for our meals.
Season the veggie similar to the meat. Use olive oil, salt and pepper. If you toss the vegetables with the olive oil and spices you will get a more even coating and use less oil. I am lazy and hate making another bowl dirty so I do all of it on the baking sheet. I just drizzle the olive oil, shake on some seasoning and toss on the pan. If you want some ideas on what spices are good on a particular vegetable check out this great graphic from CookSmarts.
What is your best trick to getting dinner on the table quickly?
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