# Europe Forum > European Culture & History > European food and recipes >  Ideas for quick and easy recipes

## Maciamo

It often happens not to be in the mood to cook something complicated, or even to go out to the restaurant or take-away. In these situations, it is better to cook something fast and simple, but that tastes reasonably good. Here are a few suggestions :

*Spinach & Cheese tagliatelle* (Maciamo's Original)

*You will need* : tagliatelle (fresh ones with eggs for better taste), frozen cream spinach, and grated emmenthal/gruyere, and if possible also parmesan, camembert and blue cheese.

*Preparation* : cook the pasta, warm up your cream spinach in a bowl, then when it's done add the cheese in the pasta first (as many kinds as you like, but those above make a good mix), then the spinach. Mix and it's ready !

*Pesto pasta* 

*You will need* : pasta (e.g. linguine, or ricotta-spinach tortellini), green or red pesto sauce (in jar, e.g. from Bertolli), parmesan and/or emmenthal cheese.

*Preparation* : Just cook the pasta and add the cheese and sauce on top. You can improve it by frying a sliced courgette and onion, add some cream, and mix the lot with the pesto before pouring on the pasta.

*Four-cheese pasta* 

*You will need* : pasta (e.g. penne, conchiglie, rigatoni, fettucine, tagliatelle), emmenthal/gruyere, parmesan, blue cheese (e.g. Gorgonzola), another cheese (e.g. chedar, gouda, ricotta). 

*Preparation* : 

Cook the pasta. During this time, warm up the four cheeses in a frying pan until they melt. Pour the whole on the pasta. Add some herbs mix if you wish (not too much, especially the basil !).

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*Kaisendon* 

*You will need* : Japanese rice, scallops, big _raw_ shrimps, nori (fried seaweed), soy sauce.

*Preparation* : Cook your rice. When its' ready, put in in a bowl, add the nori, place the scallops and shrimps on top, and pour a bit of soy sauce on top. 

*Magurodon* 

Same as above but replace the scallops and shrimps by red tuna.

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*Boursin Steak* (Maciamo's Original)

*You will need* : a red-meat steak, not necessarily of beef - I usually use kangaroo or ostrich. Boursin herb cheese (there are now new ones special for cooking).

*Preparation* : Fry your steak to your liking, then pour some Boursin on top. Short pasta (penne, rigatoni...) can accompany well. The advantage over the traditional pepper cream sauce, or mushroom cream sauce, is that you don't need to make chips.



The last three dishes are a bit less convenient as they require fresh products (meat, fish, seafood) which cannot be kept for long in the fridge. It's ok if you have a supermarket (that selss these) at proximity, or had planned in advance that you probably wouldn't feel like cooking that day.

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## Mycernius

One of the fastest things is with rice and a microwave rice steamer. Put your rice, a selection of mushrooms of your choice, prawns or other shell fish, or a mixture (mussels, octopus rings, crayfish, etc) something green like peas, sugarsnaps, mange touts (you kinda get the picture). Put it in the mircowave. When it is done add some seasoning, I like plum sauce, and serve. Plus not much washing up after. :Smiling:

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## misa.j

Thank you for the recipe suggestions. I really needed to explore new tastes. 

*Stuffed Chicken*
Boneless chicken breasts
Broccoli
Chedder cheese
Bread crumbs

Saute broccoli in olive oil, season with chilli powder. Make a pocket in the chicken, stuff the broccoli and cheese. Salt & pepper, coat with bread crumbs and bake in the oven.

*Baked Buttercup Squash*
Buttercup squash
Melted butter
Maple syrup or honey(optional)

Halve the squash, wrap in tin foil. Put it in oven flesh side down and bake it. Pour melted butter and if you wish, honey, scoop with a spoon.

*Raspberry Salad with Feta*
Fresh raspberry
Greens
Cherry tomatoes
Feta cheese

Mix all the ingredients and toss in dressing.


I'm getting hungry. I will be back with more later!

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## Maciamo

If, like in Belgium, you have these ingredients in your country, you can also make these dishes :

*Stuffed chicken fillet with mashed potatoes and apple compote*

*You will need* : chicken fillet stuffed with mushroom or ham/cheese or Italian sauce (sold in most supermarkets and butcher's shops in Belgium), apple compote (Materne is the best), and mashed potatoes (a dozen variety sold in ready-made vacuum-packed version made by famous chefs in Delhaize supermarkets)

*Preparation* : Just warm up the stuffed chicken in a frying pan, and the mashed potatoes in the microwave (also the compote if you want, but I prefer it cold).


*Black pudding with mashed potatoes and apple compote*

Same as above but with black pudding (blood sausage for Americans).

*Sausages with red cabbage and mashed potatoes*

Same again, but with regular, long and thin sausages and cooked reb cabbage with apple vinegar (sold frozen in supermarkets if you don't want to spend time cooking it yourself) instead.

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## misa.j

*Mashed Potato Pancakes with Pureed Spinach Sauce*
I made this one the other day because I had some left over mashed potatoes.

Left over mashed potatoes
Cream or Half & Half
Olive oil
Fresh spinach
2/1 cup chicken stock
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Microwave the mashed potatoes just to warm it up. Pour about a half cup of cream in potatoes and mix it well. Take a handful and shape in oval pancakes. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan, pan-fry the pancakes on both sides till golden in color for about 3~5 minutes on each side.
Meanwhile, cook the spinach in a sauce pan with the stock. When the spinach is welted, lower the heat and add some cream, salt and pepper. Use a blender and puree until smooth.

Here is a pic of this dish.

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## Kinsao

One of my favourite quick meals is simply scrambled egg, ham & tomatoes on toast!  :Liplick: 

Also I like a pork chop with a smidgin of bought Red Pepper & Black Bean Sauce, together with spuds, carrots and broccoli boiled all together for 10-15 mins.

Stir-fried chicken with red and green peppers, mushrooms, beansprouts, tomatoes, carrot and noodles is also nice and doesn't take very long.  :Smiling: 

One of my xmas presents was a Health Grill and you can cook your whole meal inside it very quickly including veg, it has a recipe book with it, I'll have to try that out sometime. ^^"

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## Maciamo

Nice to see the diversity of recipes from everyone.  :Smiling: 

Misa, your Mashed Potato Pancakes rather look like Mashed Potato Burgers.  :Poh:  It reminds me of Tofu burgers in Japan.

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## ShayLee

Yum yum, I'll have to try some of those  :Smiling: 
My favourite "quick and easy" is Couscous with vegetables
I use: a bit of olive oil, 1 small onion, carrot, pepper, corn, zuccini, broccoli... [you can really use any type of vegies you like] 
Prepare couscous following the instuction on package [put in boiled water and wait it's absorbed]
Just put oil in saucepan and add chopped vegies, let it steam for about 10-15 minutes and then mix it in already prepared couscous.
Maybe add some mozarella if you like and voila, meal is ready  :Wavey:

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## misa.j

*Cold noodle salad with sesame dressing*

This dish requires almost no cooking. It's super easy and good in the summer when you don't have a big appetite. It was very popular when I took it to a BBQ party the other day, I think the colors caught people's eyes.

<Ingredients> for 4 servings
Spaghetti 1lbs
Red, orange and yellow peppers 1 of each, seeded and sliced 
4~5 stalks of scallion or green onion sliced
4 tbs toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup rice vineger
2/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbs sesame oil
1/2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine the liguids, the oils, sesame and cayenne and mix well to make a dressing. Set it aside in a big bowl, big enough to mix all the ingredients.
Cook the spaghetti and cool it down under the cold running water. When it's cold enough add to the bowl with the vegetables. Stir well and serve.
If you would like more volume, add cooked chicken.


This dish has a very asian taste, and cold noodles are almost like staple meal in the summer for the Japanese. Are there foods like that, eaten especially in summer time in Europe?

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## miu

Carrot and feta cheese soup

500g carrots
1 onion
5dl vegetable/meat stock
1dl cream
100g feta cheese
some thyme

1) Peel and chop up the carrots and the onion (cleaning the carrots is a nice idea too... :Blush: ). 
2) Heat up the stock and add vegetables, boil until the carrots get soft enough.
3) Add cream and feta cheese and mush up the whole thing into a soup with a blender.
4) Add some thyme and check taste, add pepper if needed.

Super easy and tastes good  :Joyful:

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## Viktoriya

One of the easiest recipes is cheese soup. You need 40 minutes of your time, 2 potatoes, 1 carrot, 500g cheese and 1 onion. If you like you may add some spices and mushrooms. This will add some delicious taste. The soup is promised to be yummy!

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## Alizey

*Good sharing. Here I also want to share a recipe which make quick and easy.
What you'll need*
Ingredients

20 ounces lean ground turkey2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated1 clove garlic - minced1/2 teaspoon basil,, dried1/2 teaspoon oregano,, dried1 teaspoon salt freshly ground black pepper16 dinner or slider rolls1/3 cup mayonnaise1 tablespoon honey Dijon mustard
Directions

Combine ground turkey, cheese and all seasonings. Mix together well.Shape turkey into 16 small patties.Place patties on a greased baking sheet.Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 - 10 minutes or until cooked through. Be careful not to cook too long or they will become dried out.Combine mayonnaise with honey Dijon mustard and stir until well blended.Place on rolls and top with honey Dijon mayo.

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## American Idiot

recipe #1
(LOL) Peanut Butter sandwich!!!!!!!!!

what you will need: 
1 .Peanut Butter and maybe Jelly if you so choose
2. 2 slices of sandwich Bread

Preparation: with a butter knife, spread the peanut butter (and jelly if you want), on one slice of bread
then, take the other slice of bread and place it on top. Wah-La!

have not had a pb sandwich since I was a kid but if you are on the go and dont want take out then have at it, Lazy-ass!



recipe #2 fried pig brains and scrambled eggs-

this sound gross but my 90yr.old grandmother says it's good, as she ate it at home when she was growing up.

what you will need:
1. eggs, as many or few as you like.
2. pig brains-have NO idea where to get them but I assume there is some store somewhere that sales pig brains, if you look hard enough.
Or else just steal a pig from your neighbor's farm like back in the old days!-LOL

preparation:
1.scramble the eggs.............if you cant even scramble an egg, then you are pathetic!
2.pig brains- fry the brains in a frying pan......that is all I know about that part...sorry.

seriously I have heard Old people say fried pig brains with scrambled eggs tastes good.......but then again people even say chitlins aint all that bad either, so WTF do they know! (LOL)



P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to all you other American Bastardz out there!

and you know what they say........"kill a turkey, save an Indian." LOL!

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