Quick Dishes to Prepare When You Have Less Than an Hour to Cook

Tostada, which means “toasted” in Spanish, refers to a dish made from toasted or fried tortillas. They can be easily topped with mashed avocado and a poached or fried egg.

The beauty of sheet-pan cooking is that everything cooks together in a single pan. Just pick your protein — chicken, beef, fish, or tofu — add some vegetables, seasoning, and a light coating of olive oil. Then roast until golden brown. You can add vegetables and/or potatoes to roast alongside the protein, just beware of the different cooking times and adjust accordingly.

It would be hard to mess up this simple recipe. Cook the sausages in a little water. Next, in the same skillet, cook the peppers and onions with seasoning, tomato paste, canned tomatoes and chicken stock. Slice the sausages and add them back in, and presto!

This meal can be prepared in a matter of minutes. You can use canned black beans, but you’ll also want some spices and seasoning as they are otherwise bland. Cook up some onions, partially mash the beans, heat up the tacos, and add whatever you’d like to go with them — slaw or cabbage, avocado, salsa….

While true jambalaya — a classic Louisiana dish made with sausage, pork or chicken, seafood, vegetables, and rice — can take a few hours to prepare and cook, there are many time-saving variations, like using ham instead of sausage.