Easy Recipes For Every Meal

by / Jun 25, 2020

I think we can all agree that quarantine life has forced us to brush up on our cooking skills. While I’ve missed dining out and checking off my Bay Area Restaurant Hit-List, I’ve found joy in experimenting with new recipes and brushing up on my skills. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but when there are so many amazing restaurants to try in the Bay Area, I have to admit that I’d slowly and gradually lost touch with my apron.

Staying at home has allowed me to get back into my love for cooking! I’ve shared some of my favorite easy recipes for every meal — I hope that even as stay-at-home orders get lifted, you can find some joy in these amazing recipes. 

Note, all servings are for two.

Hard Boiled Egg over Avocado Toast
(Time: ~15 mins) 

Photo of Avocado Toast with soft-boiled egg

Ingredients 

  • 2 eggs
  • ½ avocado
  • 2 slice of Dave’s Killer Bread
  • Pinch of Salt 
  • Pinch of Pepper
  • 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
  • 1 tsp Herbes de Provence
  • 2 tsp of olive oil (we love using EXAU!)

Avocado toast just never gets old. It’s simple, easy, and delicious! Plus, it’s my favorite way to start the day. Add a hard-boiled egg for ultimate power breakfast: protein, carbs, and fats — all your macronutrients in one!

1. Add the eggs into a pot of water (should cover an inch above the egg) and bring the pot to a boil. Meanwhile, toast your bread to its perfect crisp.
2. Once the water boils, turn off the heat and let it sit for the below times to achieve your desired cooking level:

  • 3 mins: Soft boiled
  • 6 mins: Medium boiled 
  • 12 mins: Hard boiled 

3. Remove the egg from the hot water into a colder bowl to let it cool down. 
Meanwhile, add ¼ avocado onto each piece of bread. Use a fork to mash up and spread the avocado evenly across the bread. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper and red pepper flakes and pour over the little bit of olive oil.  
4. Peel the boiled egg and slice horizontally. Place sliced egg over avocado toast.
5. Sprinkle additional salt and pepper, if desired. 

Salmons with Sauteed Asparagus & Tomato
(Time: 10-12 mins vs. 45-60mins)
Recipe Courtesy of Brava

Salmons with Sauteed Asparagus & Tomato

As an 8-in-1 cooking device, Brava is a game changer in your cooking routine—making cooking simple, stress-free, and quick. It replaces your oven, microwave, toaster, grill, air-fryer, dehydrator, warming drawer, and slow cooker, using innovative light technology and recipe presets to make consistently great tasting and healthy food. You can finally ditch your take-out and meal delivery for quick, home-cooked, and delicious food.

This innovative light technology allows you to consolidate your meal preparation and eliminates the hassle of separately sautéeing, grilling, searing, and baking your food. Brava has dedicated chefs that create meal recipes to make sure they're cooked perfectly every time.
While this recipe would normally take 45 to 60 minutes, Brava cuts your cooking time to 10-12 minutes. Enjoy this delicious recipe, perfect for lunch or dinner.

Equipment

Ingredients 

  • 1 teaspoon butter
  • 10 oz medium asparagus spears (about 15 spears)
  • 6 oz organic cherry tomatoes (about 1½ cups)
  • 2 Ora King salmon fillets (about 6 oz each and 1–1½ inches thick)
  • ¼ oz fresh thyme
  • 1 tbsp Cooking oil
  • 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Flaky sea salt (optional)

1. Start by prepping your vegetables and butter. Let the butter stand at room temperature for 15–30 minutes to soften and trim the bottom 2 inches of asparagus. Cut asparagus into 2-inch pieces.
2. In a medium bowl, toss together asparagus, 1 teaspoon cooking oil and a pinch of salt. Evenly spread asparagus in Zone 3 of the Brava glass tray.
In the same bowl, toss together tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of cooking oil, and a pinch of salt. Evenly spread tomatoes in Zone 1 of the glass tray.
3. Once you’ve prepared the salmon, spread about half of butter on Zone 2 of the glass tray. Any uncovered butter may burn, so spread only enough for the fish to cover it. Pat salmon dry with paper towels, and season fish on both sides with a pinch of salt.
4. Place salmon, skin side down, on top of butter and make sure the thinnest salmon fillet is on the left side of Zone 2. Top each fillet with a few thyme sprigs.
5. Once all the ingredients are on the glass tray, slide tray into bottom oven shelf. Select “Salmon Filet, Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes” on your oven touchscreen and follow the instructions. After plugging in TempSensor, insert it horizontally through center of salmon fillet.

Summertime Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, White Beans and Kale Pesto
(Time: 10-15 mins) 

Pesto Pasta Salad

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup of whole grain bow-tie pasta or rotini or penne
  • 1 can (15 ounces) white beans
  • ½ cup cherry tomatoes sliced into thin rounds
  • Grated Parmesan cheese (optional) 
  • ¼ cup Trader Joe’s Kale Pesto Sauce

1. Prepare pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain and reserve 1 cup cooking liquid.
2. Place warm pasta in a large bowl. Add pesto and mix well. Add cooking liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time, to reach the desired consistency of a creamy sauce.
3. Add beans and cherry tomatoes. Toss gently, so beans remain intact. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve immediately with Parmesan, if desired. 

Kristin’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Bake Time: 10-12 mins)
Recipe Courtesy of Na Na /Jenny Ming

Kristin’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Note that this recipe makes approximately 2 dozen cookies. You can always freeze the unbaked cookie dough and save it for another night! 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • Melted 3 cups minus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 1/2  cups light brown sugar
  • Firmly packed 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 12 ounces, chopped chunks of semi or bittersweet chocolate in bar form (Trader Joe's PoundPlus is a favorite) pull aside some larger chucks to decorate at the center top of each cookie

1. Preheat the oven to 360°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, melt the butter in the microwave at a low setting until melted, but not bubbly.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. Take the melted butter bowl and whisk in the sugars until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until just combined. Stir in the vanilla. Use a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to stir the dry ingredients until barely blended. When things are still looking a bit floury, stir in the chocolate until all of the ingredients are just combined.
5. Scoop the dough into balls with an ice cream scoop or with a spoon, about 3 tablespoons each, and arrange them on the prepared pans, leaving 3 inches between each cookie.
6. If desired, place a larger chunk of chocolate chuck at the center and press down lightly and sprinkle each cookie with a bit of flaky sea salt. Bake until the cookie tops are cracked and lightly golden, 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

We want to continue expanding our array of cooking—what have you been cooking up in your kitchen? We'd love to hear your recipes in the comment section below.