It tends to be cold during rainy days, and all you want to do is get cosy on your bed and enjoy watching or reading. However, one of the struggles of enjoying rainy days is cooking meals that can help you get through the day.
Although food delivery is an option, it’s not always available, especially when it’s raining heavily. One thing you can do is gather various quick-fix meals that you can prepare in just a few minutes.
In this article, we’ll give you some quick-fix meal ideas you can make during rainy days.
1. Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese
The classic grilled cheese and tomato soup can be one of the go-to rainy-day meals for many people. Aside from the fact that everything you need can be found in your pantry, it’s easy to make and delicious. In addition, it’s perfect to eat even if you prefer to eat in bed while watching your favourite movie or show.
Besides, when making tomato soup, you don’t need to start from scratch. You can find a can of ready-made tomato soup, and just enhance the flavour by adding some aromatics, like garlic. As for the grilled cheese, you just need some sliced bread, butter, and any cheese that melts.
2. Tortilla de Patatas
Have you visited Spanish restaurants or tapas bars? One of the most popular dishes that you can order in authentic Spanish restaurants and bars is the tortilla de patatas. It’s like an elevated version of your usual omelette but still requires a few ingredients, including eggs, olive oil, potatoes, and onions. Of course, you can add more vegetables, but the classic only requires four ingredients.
3. One-Pot Pasta
Are you craving some pasta? One-pot pasta is here to save the day! Of course, it depends on the type of sauce you like, but if you have a ready-made one, all you need is a pot, with enough water, and put your pasta, sauce, and vegetables in. After 8-10 minutes, check if your pasta is done, and taste the sauce (add salt and pepper if it’s a bit bland.
Once it’s done, don’t forget to add cheese. It can be cheddar or parmesan, depending on what’s available and your preference.
4. Stir-Fry Noodles
If you don’t feel like having pasta, stir-fried noodles is another option. You just need dried noodles, garlic, onion, carrots, cabbage, green onions, soy sauce, neutral oil, sesame oil, chilli flakes, and sugar. If you want to add some protein, like tofu, chicken, pork, or beef, you can do so.
First, cook your noodles depending on the packaging. Next, saute onion, garlic, protein of your choice, carrots, and other vegetables. Then, add the noodles, soy sauce, sugar, cabbage, and chilli flakes. Transfer the dish to a bowl, and top it off with some chopped green onions, and sesame oil.
5. Instant Ramen Upgrade
One of the easier dishes you can make is instant ramen. Nowadays, you can find a lot of instant ramen inspiration online. Aside from the ingredients that instant ramen comes with, you can also add sauteed vegetables, protein (like chicken, pork, beef, or tofu), and boiled egg.
Of course, if you want something extra spicy, you can add dried peppers.
6. Quesadillas
Another thing you should try making on rainy days is quesadillas. Of course, having store-bought quesadillas in the fridge is common, so you only need some cheese to make this. However, if you want to elevate it or make it more filling you can add beans, chicken or beef, lettuce, and salsa. Of course, adding more cheese is a must to combine everything.
7. Baked Potatoes
If you love potatoes, and you have some in your pantry, you can make it with just less than 30 minutes of preparation. And since they’re baked, you just need to wait once they’re in the oven.
When baking potatoes, you need potatoes, butter, cheese, onion chives, and sour cream. However, you can also add some bacon, eggs, beans, and salsa. Additionally, you need to prepare some aluminium foil that you should use to wrap each potato.
8. Beef Stew
If you love the preparation part of cooking, but don’t want to be present all the time in front of the stove, you should also try cooking beef stew. It may not be counted as a quick-fix dish, but it’s still not complicated given that you just need to combine all ingredients in a pot and wait for it to cook.
So, if you want to add some effort to making your rainy-day meal, prepare beef cut into cubes, carrots, celery, onions, red wine, mushrooms, salt, pepper, beef stock or water, tomato paste, and olive oil.
First, sear your beef cubes using a bit of olive oil, and set aside. Use the same pot you’re going to use for the dish. Next, saute onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil, and add in the seared beef cubes. Then, add some tomato paste, salt, pepper, beef stock or water, and some red wine. Simmer until the beef cubes are tender, and serve with garlic bread on the side.
Final Thoughts
Rainy days can be the perfect time to slow things down, and cooking may not be something you want to do. By trying to make these dishes, you can enjoy eating in the comfort of your home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aliana Baraquio is a web content writer who also loves cooking dishes from different countries. If you want to experience a Barcelona-style restaurant that serves high-quality food, and a modern, contemporary, fresh feel from the south of Europe, visit TAST Catala Spanish Restaurant.