My best friend, who unfortunately lives on the other side of the country, just had knee replacement surgery. She’s doing well, but it will be a few weeks before she’ll be back to her usual cooking. Her husband is a timid and inexperienced cook, but he is going to have to step it up slightly for a while. I’m writing out very simplified recipes for him to try, and I thought I’d ask for your suggestions for easy dinner recipes for someone who has the palate of an 8 year old midwesterner. (He has other good qualities.) Plain is the key word to keep in mind. No shellfish, and the only fish he likes is salmon. Thanks! 
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Meat sauce and spaghetti - you can add as much/little to the meat sauce (ground beef, ground pork, sliced/sautéed mushrooms and onions, etc.) as their palate will allow.
Grilled chicken tenders and a salad - marinate the chicken in bottled Italian dressing
Chicken and Veg stir-fry - options on veg vary - broccoli florets, sugar snap peas, onions, red bell pepper strips. He could use a bottle low-salt stir-fry sauce. Make some rice and it’s a full meal.
Baked Potato with assorted toppings - crumbled bacon, broccoli with a cheese sauce
Cheese Tortellini Soup - add chunks of chicken, can of cannellini beans, handfuls of spinach to the chicken or vegetable broth.
Chili
Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo
Sloppy Joes - ground beef and an Old El Paso taco seasoning mixed with salsa and shredded cheese
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Do they have a slow cooker or crockpot? A “dump” meal could work….just have to gather ingredients, a little chopping and dump in slow cooker, set time, temp…pot roast, chili, even spaghetti. There’s a buttload of dump recipes online.
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Butter-roasted salmon is easy and delicious – slow-roast or quick & high temp both work. Can season with whatever is at hand.
Pan- or oven-roasted chicken thighs are also pretty foolproof.
Both these can also be made in bulk & used in various other meals – as a pasta accompaniment or addition, side to fried rice, and so on.
Some frozen helpers may come in handy here – for eg frozen mixed veg for fried rice.
Eggs, of course, are the ultimate cheat.
Do they have / can he use an instant pot or slow cooker or rice cooker?
Many ideas on these threads:
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Vegetable Fritters…
In a pinch, one could use “just add water” pancake mix, add some mixed vegetables – fry, flip & serve.
Same concept - vegetable fried rice (make rice in a rice cooker the day before and refrigerate until time for dinner). Throw Rice and Mixed vegetables into a deep skillet with a little oil, mix, add some soy sauce and serve.
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One choice: American chop suey. Brown ground beef with chopped onions and garlic. Add a package of frozen chopped green/red peppers and a jar of good tomato sauce. Cook a cup of elbow macaroni in boiling, salted water. Drain and add to beef mixture. Top with shredded parmesan cheese. Serve with garlic bread purchased from frozen and prepared according to package instructions.
Other choices: Order Take Out. Frozen pizza.
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Best wishes to your friend for recovery! My half knee replacement was in 1999, when I was 43. It’s still going strong. I lived alone at the time and stocked up on frozen lean cuisine before the surgery, just put it in the microwave. Even back then it was encouraged to walk around on crutches as soon as possible and I was able to resume simple real cooking fairly early along by sitting down to chop vegetables, getting help from friends, and having groceries delivered.
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My mom had her bunion fixed in January so same situation she did a lot of coaching from the couch. Sandwiches and bagged salads for lunches.
Much more ragout than usual pizza Chinese etc
Freezer section: frozen lasagna, gyro kits, meatballs with jarred sauce
With a total knee if things go as standard she should be having 10 minutes of standing tolerance about 2 weeks out. I tell my patients this is survival food time and your cooking will be even tastier after
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What I’d tell my kids who are novices in the kitchen and whose desire for cooking is much larger than their behavior would Lead you to believe. The husband is more likely to cook something he would enjoy eating. He should start there and google search some recipes. There are often more streamlined versions of things and more complex.
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Thanks all. You’re the best, and you’ve given me a lot of possibilities. 
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Tonight I made a tomato-pasta dish that was all over TikTok a couple years ago ( that’s not why I tried it! and it’s stupid easy.
If necessary, skip the alliums and use onion and garlic powders, and use dried thyme (1 tsp). I use way less oil than the recipe says, probably 3 T total.
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Breakfast for dinner is always popular! Bacon in the oven in a foil covered sheet pan. Or sausages.
Pancakes/waffles from scratch or Bisquick. Scrambled eggs, toast, jam. Orange slices or grapefruit for freshness.
Send him to Trader Joe’s for dumplings, pasta and sauce, Indian dishes or pigs in a blanket?
I like a big salad with hard boiled eggs, avocados, tomatoes, some kind of crunchy thing and maybe ham or tuna.
When all else fails, Whole Foods does a nice fried chicken (at least in my neighborhood).
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I really like WF Rotisserie Chickens (especially the organic ones), in my area they are $2 cheaper on Tuesdays.
Marcella Hazan’s Roasted Chicken with 2 lemons is easy, delicious, just get a good quality chicken. If you have leftovers from these chickens, make chicken salad for sandwiches. (You can bake potatoes at the same time)
I love C & W Petite Frozen Peas, easy.
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Do they have a slow cooker? Have him make this:
When I was laid up after surgery, BF was totally able to manage this (if pepperoncini is scary, then he could use mild banana peppers). Also, I taught him a simple way to manage store bought tortellini and jarred marinara sauce - pan fry the tortellini for about 5 minutes in a little oil over medium heat, add the jar of marinara (a couple cups worth for 11 oz pasta), put a lid on and turn to medium low. Should be cooked in about 4 minutes. Add cheese and eat!
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If they have an Instant Pot this is a ridiculously easy dump recipe (use a box of Pomi chopped tomatoes instead of cutting any up and 6-8 chicken thighs, again instead of cutting up a chicken) and is incredibly tasty. Super forgiving of inexact amounts too.
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This one is a star…when it first went viral, I figured it couldnt be bad with those ingredients so I tried it.
Its delicious…and is now my standard way to use tomatoes that Ive had for a while.
Only caveat is that its very salty with the feta so adjuat accordingly
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I make this with Boursin. So delicious and easy.
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