16 Easy Recipes for People Who Don’t Cook in Quarantine

I’m not going to lie, as a full time traveler and entrepreneur, I need easy recipes because I’m definitely one of those people who can’t cook and stuck in quarantine! It doesn’t help that I’m also super picky and a pescatarian…

When my boyfriend and I decided to move to Barcelona, we said we wanted to take cooking classes and start cooking more at home. Little did we know that a week later, ALL we would be doing is cooking from home, since we went into a mandatory quarantine and have been in it for three weeks and counting.

We never got to do the cooking classes, and we’re not exactly the best chefs, so I did some research and got creative with easy recipes that were do-able with a limited grocery list. I also made up some of the recipes, and shared the ones that turned out BOMB!

I’ve been posting the photos of the meals on IG and a lot of people asked for recipes, so here they are!

(Sidenote: I am pescatarian so none of the dishes here contain meat)

(Sidenote again: I hate using actual measurements (who the F has measuring cups when they’re traveling?!), so mine are based on using your hands and good judgment. My directions are also how I would explain them if I were talking to you)

BREAKFAST:

Anything Goes Breakfast Scramble

This has been a go-to favorite of mine even before I was locked in quarantine! The main ingredients are egg whites and cheese, and then you basically just get creative with whatever is in your ‘fridge, and add your favorite sauce. Sometimes we like to also eat them in a tortilla with salsa, or in a lettuce cup.

Here’s the typical ingredients for a Breakfast Scramble:

• 1. 2 Egg Whites
• 2. 1 Handful of your favorite shredded cheese
• 3. 1 Handful of chopped onion
• 4. 1 Garlic clove
• 5. 2 Handfuls of leaf spinach
• 6. 4-5 Chopped mushrooms
• 7. 2-3 Tablespoons of either Siracha, Barbeque Sauce, Salsa, Chalula, or your other favorite sauce
• 8. (Optional) 1Sliced Veggie sausage
• 9. 2 Tablespoons of Butter

Directions: Heat a big pan on high, then coat it with butter. Add the garlic and onion first, and stir with a spatula until lightly brown and delicious-smelling. Add in the spinach, mushrooms, and veggie sausage, and cook until the spinach wilts and mushrooms shrink. Add a little more butter to the pan, then add the egg whites (if you don’t know how to separate egg whites out of the shell, carefully crack them into a cup first and remove the yolk with a spoon….or keep the yolk if you like yolk). Use your spatula to chop, stir and mix the eggs with the rest of the stuff. Finally, add the cheeses and sauce! Eat it alone, or with a tortilla or lettuce cup.

Pan Con Tomatayyyyy

This is a staple food here in Spain, and can really be eaten at any time. Most restaurants serve it instead of bread and butter, but locals will also have it for breakfast. It’s super easy, and fun to make!

• Easy Recipes Ingredients for Pan Con Tomate:
• 1. A few Slices of Baguette (note: this is a great time to use your baugette once it starts to get hard)
• 2. 1 Ripe tomato (preferably Roma)
• 3. 1 Garlic Clove
• 4. Drizzle of Olive Oil and Pinch of Salt

Directions: Heat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees, then toast baugette slices until toasty (7-10 minutes). While waiting, wash tomato and cut in half, and peel the garlic clove and cut in half. When bread is done and slightly cooled, take the garlic and rub it vigorously on the surface of the bread until half the clove is spread. Repeat for the other piece of bread. Then do the same thing with the tomato. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt on each.

Lox Toast You’ll Love

Apparently there are no bagels at the two grocery stores we are allowed to walk to during quarantine, so we improvised and found a MUCH better alternative; toasted baugettes!

Easy Recipes Ingredients for making Lox Toast:

1. 1-2 slices of Lox
2. 2 thin slices of onion
3. Cream cheese
4. Toasted baguette slices
5. Squeeze of lemon

Directions: Cut a small piece of your baguette, then slice it in half, and toast in the oven or toaster oven for 5-7 minutes. Thinly slice your onion in the mean time, and get you’re pieces of lox ready (I’m weird and cut off the brown parts). One ready, spread cream cheese on the baguette, top with onions, and then lox (the onions stay on better this way). Top with lemon juice!

Basic B*tch Yogurt Bowl that Can Also Turn Into a Smoothie

For the mornings when you’re feeling lazy yet still trying to make a solid attempt to be healthy, there’s the basic yogurt bowl! …Which can also turn into a smoothie if you stick it in a blender.

Easy Recipes Ingredients for yogurt bowl/smoothie:

1. 1 cup of greek yogurt (I prefer honey or vanilla flavor)
2. 1 Banana, sliced
3. 4 Strawberries sliced
4. Whatever other fruit you like, sliced
5. Dash of cinammon
6. (Optional) Dried oatmeal

Directions: Pretty self-explanatory, just mix everything together, or do it by layers if you want to make it look IG-worthy! For the smoothie, add everything to the blender with the addition of a half cup of either juice, water, or soy/almond milk.

LUNCH:

Tuna Melt Your Heart:

Easy Recipes Ingredients for Tuna Melt:

• 1. 1 Can of Tuna
• 2. 2 Tablespoons of Mayo
• 3. 1/2-1 Handful of Chopped Onions
• 4. Salt, Pepper, and any other seasonings
• 5. 1 Slice of Havarti, Gouda, or Cheddar Cheese
• 6. 1 Piece of Lettuce
• 7. 1 6inch piece of baugette
• 8. 1 Tablespoon of Butter

Directions: Heat a small pan on high, then coat it with butter. While waiting for it to heat up, mix the tuna, mayo, onion, and spices together in a bowl. Cut your baguette open, and fill it with tuna mix. Add a slice of cheese, close the sandwich, and place it in the pan. Use something heavy and CLEAN to smoosh the sandwich down in the pan (i.e. I used a wine bottle with saran wrap on the bottom). Smoosh for ten seconds then flip the sandwich over and do the same on the other side. Once thoroughly smooshed, take out, carefully open, and add lettuce.

Veggie Burger with Lettuce Bun Like You’re in LA

I believe they call this “animal style” in LA…Pretty straightforward, but I’ll walk you through it just in case.

Easy Recipes Ingredients for Veggie Burger on Lettuce Bun:

1. 1 Veggie Burger Patty (my favorite are Beyond Burgers or Impossible Burgers)
2. 1 Slick of Cheese
3. 1 Slice of Onion
4. Ketchup and Mustard or BBQ Sauce
5. Iceberg Lettuce

Directions: Cook veggie burger either on a stove or grill. Typically they only need 3-6 minutes on each side and should not be over cooked. While you wait to flip them, carefully peel two full leaves from the head of iceberg lettuce, wash and dry. Once the burger is done, place it in the lettuce bun and top with cheese, sauce, and onions.

Lazy Caprese Salad

Why get frustrated trying to cut and capture the tomato and cheese with just one fork? Use multiple for an easy, clean, fun way to eat a caprese salad!

Easy Recipes Ingredients for Caprese Salad:

1. 6 Small Mozarella Balls
2. 6 Small Cherry Tomatos
3. Fresh basil if avaialable
4. Olive Oil
5. Balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar

Directions: Wash tomatoes and basil leaves. Poke fork through tomatoes first, then basil if you have it, then the mozzarella ball. Lay on a plate and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze!

DINNER

Paell-Oh-Hell-Yah! (Paella)

Since we didn’t get to do our fun paella cooking class in Barcelona, we decided to attempt it on our own! Spoiler alert: we will never need paella cooking classes now!

Easy Recipes Ingredients for Paella:

1. 5 Shrimps
2. 10 Small Clams
3. 1 Squid, Sliced
4. 4 Langostines (or add more shrimp)
5. 1 Cup of Rice
6. 2 Cups of Water
7. Paella Seasoning
8. Optional: 1/2 cup of Seafood Soup broth instead of some of the water

Directions: In a big pot, mix the rice, water, and seasoning (and seafood soup if you have it), stir on high until it boils, then reduce to low-medium, cover, and let it turn into rice. Meanwhile in another pot of boiling water, boil the shrimp, clams, and langostines until the clams pop open, and shrimp turn bright pink. When rice looks like it absorbed all the liquid, fluff with a fork and add to a big pan. Add the boiled seafood and the squid and continue cooking and stirring together for a few minutes. Add more paella seasoning as you like.

Shrimp Taco Tuesday

Just because every day feels like the same and all the bars and restaurants are closed, doesn’t mean you have to neglect Taco Tuesday! Feel free to get fully festive with Mexican music and margaritas as well!

Easy Recipes Ingredients for Shrimp Tacos:

1. About 10 shrimps
2. Flour Tortillas
3. Shredded Mexican Cheese
4. Shredded Iceberg Lettuce
5. Taco or Fajita Seasoning
6. 1 Handful of Chopped Onions
7. Optional salsa and sour cream

Directions: Remove shells from shrimp, and place in an oiled pan along with the seasoning and onions. Stir and flip with a spatula until cooked. Place cooked shrimp in the flour tortillas and top with whatever you want!

Pesto Tortellini

No joke, when I first moved to LA, an actress I was friends with (who was in Bring it On and Sharknado) taught me her family’s recipe for this dish. I still make it to this day, almost ten years later!

Easy Recipes Ingredients for Pesto Tortellini:

1. 1 Package of Cheese Tortellini
2. 1 Jar of Pesto
3. 1 Small Can of Sliced Olives
4. 1 Chopped Red Onion
5. 1 Package of Crumbled Feta Cheese
6. 1 Package of Cherry Tomatoes, Halved

Directions: Boil a medium pot of water, and while you’re waiting, cut the onion and tomatoes. When the water is ready, add the Tortellini and boil for how many minutes the package tells you to (usually they float when ready after a couple minutes). Drain well with a strainer and return to pot. Add jar of pesto and mix gently to coat the tortellini. Add in remaining ingredients, carefully mixing them in so you don’t tear apart the pasta. (Note, this is a big portion, but this dish makes for a great leftover lunch!)

BBQ Salmon Without a BBQ

Oh, you’re trapped inside as summer is starting, and craving a barbecue? Just make this BBQ salmon, which only requires an oven, turn on some beach tunes, and reminisce about the days you were allowed to go to the beach.

Easy Recipes Ingredients to make BBQ Salmon:

1. 1 Salmon Filet (the part with NO BONES)
2. 1 Bottle of Your Favorite BBQ Sauce
3. 1 Red Onion, Sliced
4. 1 Red and 1 Yellow Pepper, Sliced
5. Tin Foil

Directions: Gently wash the raw salmon and pat dry. Then, place in a storage container and top with the sliced onions and peppers. Cover the entire thing in BBQ sauce, then cover, and refrigerate for a few hours. Later, preheat oven to 425 degrees, place the salmon on a piece of tin foil, and set in the middle rack. Cook for about 10-12 minutes, check with a fork to see if it’s flakey. If not keep cooking a few more minutes until it is.

Potato and Leek Soup

I made this on accident because we didn’t have a hand blender, so I tried to make mashed potatoes in the normal blender, and instead it became soup. It tasted really good though!

Easy Recipes Ingredients for Potato and Leek Soup:

• 1. 3 Yellow Potatoes
• 2. 1 Leak
• 3. 1 Cup of Water
• 4. 1 Stick of Butter
• 5. Salt and Pepper

Directions: Boil potatoes and leak until very soft. Once the potatoes are falling apart, drain them in a strainer along with the leek, and use a knife to cut them all into smaller pieces. Add them all to the blender, add the water, then blend on high until smooth. Then add in the butter (leave it out for a while so it’s soft, and cut into 3-4 pieces), salt and pepper, and blend again.

Home-Made Ceasar Dressing/Salad

You’re not going to believe this, but I found a recipe for how to make home made Ceasar dressing…in a fictional book I’m reading called, “Summer of ’69”. Kudos to the fact checker of that book, because this came out better than any store-bought dressing I’ve ever had, and it was super easy to make!

Note: For the ingredients, when I say “crushed”, I mean put through a garlic-press. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to finely chop with a knife, then smash with the flat side of it.

Easy Recipes Ingredients for homemade Ceasar Dressing and Salad:

1. 1 Garlic clove, crushed
2. 4 Anchovies (yes, anchovies), also crushed
3. Olive oil
4. Pepper grinder
5. 1 Egg Yolk
6. 1 Teaspoon French Mustard\2 Tablespoons of mayo
7. Romaine Lettuce, chopped
8. Sliced Parmesan Cheese
9. (Optional) Grilled Shrimp

Directions: Peel garlic and crush it with the garlic-crusher or your knife. Do the same for the anchovies (yes it’s gross but I swear it’s worth it). Put both in a largel bowl and whisk together with a fork to make a paste. Add a long drizzle of olive oil, and a couple turns from the pepper grinder. Separate the egg yolk and add that in, whisking it all together. Do the same with the mustard, and then the mayo. Taste a little bit to see if you need to add more of any of the ingredients (I added more anchovies). Next, chop your romaine, wash it, pat dry, and toss it in the bowl with the dressing until the leaves are coated. Toss in the Parmesan and shrimp, then plate, and impress the F out of everyone.

Super Easy Stir Fry

We were supposed to be making Pad Thai, but my boyfriend forgot to get peanut butter, so I improvised and made stir fry instead with the same ingredients. Apparently I spend a lot of time in Asian countries because he said he thinks I might have been Asian in my past life.

Easy Recipes Ingredients for Shrimp Stir Fry:

1. 1/2 package of glass noodles
2. 5-10 large shrimp
3. 2 Garlic cloves, chopped
4. 2 Ginger slices, chopped
5. 1 Handful of broccoli heads
6. 1 Handful of snap peas
7. 1 Handful of red peppers, sliced
8. 1 Handful of red onion, cut into chunks
9. 1 Handful of mushrooms, cut into chunks
10. Soy sauce
11. Brown Sugar

Directions: Boil two pots of water. While waiting for them to boil, cut all of the vegetables as described in the ingredients. Once boiling, add the glass noodles to one pot, and the shrimp to the other. Both should only take about 5 minutes, DO NOT over cook either or it will be gross. While waiting, get the biggest pan you have and heat it up. Drizzle olive oil, and start cooking the garlic and ginger first, then add in all of the veggies plus enough soy sauce to coat them, on medium heat. After the five minutes for noodles and shrimp, drain them both (separately) and add to the pan. Pour more soy sauce, along with brown sugar over all of the ingredients. Keep stirring and scooping the ingredients at the bottom onto the top. If veggies aren’t cooked yet, cover with a lid. Otherwise, once veggies look cooked through, turn off heat, plate, and enjoy! (Yes, I was tipsy when I made this dish).

Garlicky Shrimp Scampi

The bad breath will be worth it, I swear.

Easy Recipes Ingredients for shrimp scampi:

1. 1/2 pound of shrimp (or however many you can eat)
2. Fistful of dry linguini
3. 1 Garlic clove, chopped
4. 1/3 Stick of Butter
5. 1/2 Cup of White Wine (dry, like a sauv blanc)
6. 1/2 lemon
7. Parsley leaves, chopped (optional)

Directions: Boil two pots of water, add linguini to one, and shrimp to the other. Cook about 7 minutes or until pasta is al dente (AKA still slightly hard on the inside). Meanwhile, chop garlic and parsley leaves, and head a large pan on high. Grease pan with butter, then sauté garlic until it smells delicious. By this time the shrimp should be done — drain them and add to pan, tossing with the butter and garlic. Add the rest of the butter, white wine, and a squeeze of lemon. Simmer until shrimp is lightly browned. Drain and add in linguini, coating it with the sauce. Serve by itself or with a salad!

Dessert

Millennial Oatmeal Cookies

Despite not having an electric hand mixer or baking soda, the make-shift ingredients I used turned out to be really good! I’ll admit we ate half of the dough before baking the actual cookies, but the cookies were gone within minutes as well! …I also 100% made the dough while sitting on the floor in the living room so I wouldn’t miss our nightly Netflix movie…….. #quarantinelife

Easy Recipes Ingredients for Millennial Oatmeal Cookies:

• 1. 1 Cup of Brown Sugar
• 2. 1 Stick of Butter
• 3. 2 Cups of Oats (I literally used oatmeal)
• 4. 1-2 Tablespoons of Cinnamon
• 5. 2 Eggs
• 6. 1 Cup of Flour
• 7. 1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
• 8. 1 Teaspoon of Salt

Directions: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Melt the stick of butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds so it’s salt and melty but not fully liquid. Mix it with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl using a fork for about 90 seconds (your arm should start to hurt). Add in the eggs and keep stirring. Then little by little add in the flour while continuing to stir. Then the oats. Try not to eat all the cookie dough. If you succeed, make spoonful blobs of dough on a piece of tin foil. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

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