Ok, we make weird stuff, but a few things are really simple. Most of you meat-loaf and mashed potatos and green beans people will probably think EWWW GROSS but here's a few things that are just so simple and quick as sides or mains or whatever, and no recipes written because they're so simple but yummy.
Ham and Green onions
Slice ham into strips
Slice Green onions the same way
Sprinkle with a little salt, add a dash of msg, and fry in preheated hot sesame oil QUICKLY and only until hot. When you use sesame oil only use a tiny bit.
BTW, that kind of oil, just a drop or two, makes those cheap noodle soups (Top Ramen or whatever is in your area) taste better.
Interesting way to cook raw spinach...stir fry it. Just heat up a little oil in a soup pot until hot and throw the spinach in, sprinkle a little salt and if you find you like it stir in a bit of soy sauce right before you take it out. Spinach cooks down to a little bit when it's cooked, so don't be afraid to fill up the whole pot with it, just make sure you start stirring right away!
White fish...just buy a whole one, steam it, and then pour heated soy sauce/oil mixture on it.
Salt shell shrimp: buy the kind of shrimp with the light pink thin shells, if you do you can eat the shells too and not peel them. If not buy whatever but then you'll have to peel them after cooking and it kinda ruins it, but they're still good.
Cut down the backs of the shrimps and remove the vein, rinse them, dip them in flour you've seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, coating them well. Slice up a bunch of green onions. Heat up oil in a frying pan, medium flame or medium high electric, put the shrimp in, throw in green onion all over it, you only have to turn the shrimp once when it's all crispy on one side, the total time is only a few minutes. Right before you take it out sprinkle soy sauce over it and stir, just stand back when you put the soy sauce in. Great way to impress company or kids who are watching you cook. LOL Then throw more green onions on top to serve, it makes it look pretty.
You can dice up squash into kinda big chunks and use it in soup kinda like you would potatos. Know your squash or you'll soup will be squashed. LOL Turnips instead of potatos are good too, or mixing them with potatos. Experiment with it a little and come up with your own thing, there's no rules.
Use baby eggplants and tofu in your veggie stir frys, it makes it much more interesting.
We cook white rice, top it with sliced avocados and sun dried tomatos, add pepper and a bit of salt, then squeeze lemon slices over it and throw the lemons on too. Simple, colorful, and tasty.
If you insist on deep frying fish, you can cut it into smaller pieces than you normally would and coat it in raw sesame seeds before you fry it.
Chicken leg quarters are on sale a lot, and very good if you bake them very slowly with just salt, pepper, and diced garlic at 275 or 300, covered, and then take the top off to brown it. It pretty much just falls apart.
Make split pea soup without the ham and puree it in the blender and serve it cold in summer.
You can do the same with carrots, cook them and add salt and pepper and cream and puree it and serve cold.
Can you tell I don't like to spend a whole lot of time in the kitchen?

That's why I like a lot of this stuff, it's so simple and easy but colorful and looks like you've spent forever on it when it only takes a few minutes.
Gina