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What’s For Dinner?

Need Dinner In A Hurry? Here Are Our Staff’s Quickest Ideas!

Kosher.com Staff April 15, 2021

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We’re going to cut right to the chase. Getting a quick dinner on the table can be a challenge. Especially if you want a hearty, nutritious, and filling meal as opposed to, let’s say, a bowl of cereal.

 

We asked our Kosher.com team for what they do when they need dinner on the table in a hurry, and they didn’t disappoint! From easy fish and chicken recipes to egg and rice dishes, there’s an idea for everyone on this list (even those picky eaters!).

 

What are some of your quickest dinner ideas? Let us know in the comments below!

 

 

 

Naomi Nachman (Sunny Side Up):

When I need the quickest dinner I order in, lol. If I had to make something for dinner that would be super fast and easy, that would be steak, fries, and a salad. All can be made in under 30 minutes and everyone eats it.

 

Rorie Weisberg (Living Full ’n Free):

 

Quick Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry is my go-to quick, easy dinner that everyone in my house likes. That’s a rare find!

 

Chanie Nayman (Kosherdotcom Editor-in-Chief):

 

For a quick dinner my whole family enjoys, I combine dark meat chicken cutlets, shawarma spice, and olive oil in a bowl, transfer to a large sheet pan and bake. I serve it with Israeli couscous and a quick Israeli salad. It always goes over really well.

 

Leah Gottheim (Kosherdotcom VP):

 

My secret is to keep ingredients on hand that can be quickly combined into a dinner. So I stock my freezer with frozen breaded fish (it feels more like grown-up food when it’s a fillet, but it’s basically fish sticks!) that bakes in less than 15 minutes, and I use my convection oven so no pre-heating time. Alternate that with frozen fish fillets that I bake or fry with spices or marinara sauce. You can quickly defrost the thin, vaccuum-sealed fish fillets in a bowl with running water.

 

For a vegetable, I take frozen mixed vegetables and boil or stir fry them – this takes ten minutes.

 

To prepare for the truly rushed days, I include whole wheat pitas on my grocery list so I can create pita pizzas in less than a minute.

 

Sometimes I do eggs: shakshuka, scrambled eggs, or a cheesy omelette – also ready in ten minutes. And in the beginning of the week there’s instant dinner: Shabbos leftovers!

 

 

Jenna Grunfeld (Kosherdotcom Managing Editor):

 

My go-to when I’m not sure what I want is pasta and veggies in a parve creamy “cheese” sauce.

 

I sauté some onions in a pot with oil until they’re translucent. If I have other produce in the house I’ll add that too, like diced zucchini. Then I add a couple of tablespoons of flour and stir to make a roux (although with the onions I’m not even sure if it still counts as a roux). I add almond milk a little at a time and stir until it makes a creamy sauce. I season it with salt, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast. I almost always have tomatoes on hand, so I add them in diced at the last minute, and then stir in cooked pasta. It sounds more complicated than it is. It takes ten minute and it’s less unhealthy comfort food.

 

Rachel Kor (Kosherdotcom Editorial Assistant):

 

For a quick meal I make some sushi rice, which usually takes 20 minutes or so. Then I add in fresh salmon, uncooked. The heat from the hot rice steams the fish perfectly without it needing to go in the oven. I add whatever veggies I have on hand like frozen, shelled edamame, avocado, or cucumbers, and drizzle it with soy or teriyaki sauce.

 

Renee Schwartz (Kosherdotcom Recipe Editor):

 

I have little, sometimes picky, kids, and when I’m in a pinch I focus on offering lots of choice and not getting hung up on whether what I’m serving is really “dinner food.” In the wintertime, soups are my go-to supper. Blended vegetable soups are pretty quick (less chopping), as are mushroom barley and red lentil. If made in a dairy pot, whoever wants can add shredded cheese to their bowl. If made in a meat pot, I offer shredded chicken or sliced hot dogs. I’ll offer croutons, chia or sunflower seeds, zaatar, sometimes dried cranberries or raisins on the side.

 

Once the weather gets hot, my last-minute dinner (if we’re sick of noodles and cheese) starts with a batch of oven-baked rice. I tend to eyeball in the kitchen, but the basic recipe is something like 1 and 1/2 cups basmati rice, rinsed (I agitate and drain right in the baking pan), about 1 and 1/2 cups boiling water combined with 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour the water over the rice, then cover and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes. When serving, I offer options like tahini, olives, pickles, tuna salad, chopped nuts, dried cranberries or raisins, sliced tomatoes … anything that my kids like!

 

 

Raquel Malul (Kosherdotcom Marketing Assistant):

My quickest dinner when I am short on time is to make Shakshuka in the oven, toast some crunchy bread, and throw together a quick salad. Shakshuka in the oven is even quicker than making it on the stove; it’s a real ‘set it and forget it’ kind of dinner recipe.

Nechama Fink (Kosherdotcom Back End Management Assistant):

 

This is a one-dish meal that even picky eaters enjoy, and it is perfect when you are short on time!

 

Down Home Chicken

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cut up chicken
1 cup rice
1 small can corn
14 and 1/2 ounces chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup barbecue sauce

 

Directions:

 

1. Season chicken with some salt and pepper.
2. Combine rice, corn, broth and salt in 12 x 8 x 2-inch pan (a 9×13-inch pan works as well).
3. Place chicken over rice mixture and cover with foil.
4. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for one and a half to two hours, or until done.
5. Uncover, and spoon barbecue sauce over chicken.
6. Cover loosely and return to oven for five minutes or until chicken is tender and most of liquid is absorbed.

 

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