Here’s mine currently (although I need to get more veggies in the diet)…
My smashed Philly cheese whatever with McCain fries - once or twice a week because I love it and it takes less than 10 minutes.
Pasta - once a week for fresh - takes about an hour.
Sweet and Pungent Shrimp - couple times a month - 3 hours start to finish.
Chinese Chicken Salad - couple times a month - about an hour.
Falafel/Hummus/Tahini with assorted veggies - once or twice a month - about an hour.
Chicken Culets (usually fried, but we try to bake or air-fry them occasionally). Served with mashed potatoes and a veggie such as steamed asparagus or broccolini. Sometimes we will do yellow rice and gandules on the side to change things up
A panini or sub once a week, usually turkey. With chips or McCain fries.
Indian food two-three times a month using a jarred simmer sauce which I then doctor up with additional spices and ingredients. With basmati rice and frozen naan (from Trader Joe’s) I keep stocked in the freezer.
Chinese takeout religiously once a week.
Breakfast for dinner, whether pancakes, waffles, or French Toast. Usually with Canadian bacon or Amylu Chicken Breakfast Sausage (its delicious).
I had been doing steak once a week but am trying to cut back on red meat and pork. But chicken is getting so damn boring!
You need to add aji verde, mole, gochujang to repertoire.
Is that an “Indian” simmer sauce? Please explain.
We call it “bits and pieces”. Accumulated veg and protein. A relief from too much red meat or chicken fatigue. Husband requests this frequently. Never yet always the same.
We’re really eclectic because I have so many inputs when the kids are home from college (and two are close enough they come home 1-2 weekends a month). The only things that get hit as much as once a month are roasted/grilled/rotisseried chicken and some kind of curries, whether meat or veg or paneer (one daughter is veg but will eat paneer). I have a self-texted list of about 60 dinners that I go through so as to not repeat any one thing too frequently.
Scott I actually started out planning to make your shrimp dish last night (you’ve posted it once before) but I got intimidated by it and ended up making shrimp/veggie stir fried rice instead!
Maybe next time…
Your list reminds me that we haven’t made falafels in almost 6 months.
Why… how? What can I address for you? It is delicious, almost candy-like.
Well, #1 was that I was drinking as I started peeling and halving the shrimp (being retired, “every day is the weekend” as far as I’m concerned).
#2 was the total time required plus (compared to fried rice) relatively a lot of ingredients. Also fried rice I can do off the top of my head without any thought, so it (and the beer) won out.
LOL… yeah, cleaning the shrimp is a PITA, plus you have to do it a couple of hours in advance. I am not sure what happens if you don’t fridge the shrimp, CS, and oil for a couple of hours… I just use that time to prep the other ingredients while having a few cocktails.
While the shrimp is in the fridge, put the red pepper flakes, zest, garlic, ginger and onions in a small bowl (about 1 cup). You can set this aside without worrying about it… same with the sugar, salt, vinegar and catsup mixture (in fact the longer it sits, the better the sugar will dissolve).
You can also do the sherry/cornstarch way ahead, but it will probably need to be whisked again (I use a chopstick) just before you add it.
The sauce is done so quickly, you can actually fry the shrimp (I do a shallow fry with about 3/8 inch of oil in a cast iron skillet) and remove it to paper towels (I use tongs). Then throw together the sauce in a wok or 3Qt sauce pan (only takes a couple of minutes), and add shrimp and toss to coat. Your Done!
But hopefully have white rice ready to serve it over… or sticky rice is a great option too (maybe even better). It is sweet, sticky, crispy, spicy, and very aromatic. Yum!
Over the past 6 months:
Miso salmon or maple ginger salmon. Fish every Friday.
Ribeye (almost every Sat)
Roast Chicken
Olivier / Russian salad
Fried noodles or stir fry around twice a month. I often make this recipe. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/better-than-takeout-stir-fried-udon
Takeout fish & chips once a month. Takeout pizza around once a month.
I used to make potato, rice or pasta every night. I’ve started eating less complex carbs. Using a third of the starches I would have been using last year.
Sounds great. I love it with garlic, honey, and lemon too.
Looks great and I’ll have to try. Here is my honey garlic recipe…
Pacific Nortwest Grilled Salmon
Serious Eats puffy taco filling
Potato and onion frittata
Seriou Eats Salisbury Steak
Serious Eats “perfect seared pork chops”
Reverse seared New York Strip
Carnitas taco (my take out from a local taqueria)
Carne Asado Burrttos (husband’s take out from a local taqueria)
We never (or very rarely) cook a dish a second time - too many interesting recipe, too little time (in life).
Thanks!
I follow a low-carb diet so my meals are often boring) It’s a piece of meat/fish/eggs/by-products and veggies)
We’re a chicken lover household. I don’t understand the concept of chicken being boring, as I find it incredibly versatile and, if cooked properly, delicious.
Apart from piccata with flattened chickie boobs, crispy spicy chicken tenders, BISO boobs treated Greek-style and roasted in the oven or grilled, or a riff on the NYT Trini-Chinese chicken recipe with BISO thighs, Samin Nosrat’s whole buttermilk chicken has become a favorite. It’s about as easy as it gets, and always comes out nicely. I prolly make it on a monthly basis.
Salads of any kind also make a regular appearance on my dinner table.
The NYT lemony shrimp and bean stew is another fave. Noodz/pasta with simple marinara or amatriciana or puttanesca or shrooms, grilled steak & baked tater with the PSTOSSC.
I also like to smoke a pork butt on occasion or make pork shoulder carnitas.
Grilled fish (whole or filets) of any kind, with steelhead trout and salmon or Chilean sea bass being faves.
Ah, so much food, so little time 
In order of appearance:
Yes. We rotate through different brands, usually Patak’s. They’re nothing like what restaurant Indian food tastes like but usually a good starter base for when we want to cut corners and not do a sauce from scratch.
