This doesn't include time to meal plan, grocery shop, and clean dishes. Also, 15 minutes isn't a ton of time, but it isn't nothing.
For the rest, having your groceries delivered is one solution. Life is about trade-offs.
Instant oatmeal I guess? Anything requiring dairy or eggs won’t work.
Almost always the actual time for "15-minute meal" is 30-40 minutes—sometimes even longer. Not counting stuff like clean-up (any that you can't accomplish via clean-as-you-go, anyway) or shopping or any of that, just the actual time between "I have all the stuff I need for this recipe and am going to make it now" and "OK it is ready to eat".
Fortunately, 15 min start-to-finish recipes exist. And once you have four or five under your belt, it becomes something of a pleasure to extend the 15 mins to 20 (or even 30) and make something better. At least, when you have the time, which for me is on Sunday.
These are the basic staples I use personally. Three meals a day, hand-cooked from scratch. Add to that something pre and post workout consisting of whey protein, fresh fruit, and possibly some maltodextrin or blended frozen berries, that don't need to be cooked, and that's my entire diet.
I never had to take a home ec class and my mom did not teach me to cook. The basics are pretty simple. Apply heat until what you're heating is sufficiently palatable or above a safe temperature for meats that is indicated directly on the thermometer. Working from home is pretty key, though, since I don't have to eat super early in the morning, super late at night, or reheat a soggy lunch in the break room microwave. I guess a more powerful stove helps, as it doesn't take me anywhere near 7 minutes to bring a pot to boiling.
- Buy the best ingredients you can
- Taste and smell as you go
- Don't overcook
Following these three rules will allow for culinary experimentation, while avoiding disaster.
Final bit of advice: enjoy it. It's fun to make something delicious, especially after a hard day full of "emotional labor" and whatnot.
Don't be afraid to fail. The worst what can be is what you would wait for a pizza delivery while you are scrubbing pots.
No snapshots and backups there!
If you can't find 30 mins to make a meal, lowering that to 15 mins isn't going to make a difference. Just get up 30 mins earlier if it comes to that.
If you can't do that, then yeah ... you might be part of the .005% of people who are really in a bind, and physically cannot cook for themselves. My advice does not apply to such cases, and I can only give you my sincerest best-wishes.
This isnt an issue of whether people can physically move.
If you already have diced onion, bell peppers, and mushrooms in the fridge, then it doesn't even take fifteen minutes to make an omelette, a salad, or some sauteed vegetables with sausage.
The only thing that you need is that after bringing groceries home you need to prep the vegetables and put them in the fridge. The good thing is that all that labor is amortized for the rest of the week, and it makes home cooking easier and faster than ordering delivery.
Is that because you're vegan, or because you think it takes a long time?
I'll be having an omelette for dinner this evening and if it takes me more than 10 or so minutes to prepare, I'll be quite surprised.
My diet is basically vegan + meat. (Easiest way to explain it.)
Stir-fry meat and vegetables can be quite tasty and quick to prepare.
Something like mustard greens or gai lan[0] can be shredded by hand in a few moments and/or cut up almost as quickly.
Mushrooms (whole if you're in a rush, or sliced -- that only takes a minute or so), tofu (i prefer firm tofu), are also quite nice for such a dish.
And you can grill your meat/fish/poultry and saute your vegetables too.
Fresh fruit is also quite tasty.
I guess my point is that one can make tasty, healthful food quickly and easily, even if you have dietary restrictions.
In fact, those with dietary restrictions are likely better off cooking than eating prepared/pre-processed foods, as you don't have any insight/control over the kitchen/factory in which those foods are prepared.
Not telling you what to do, just sharing my experiences. I hope you find them useful.
The rules of thumb, which I am paraphrasing from secondhand discussions about the book, are as follows:
1. Buy good ingredients.
2. Taste and smell as you go.
3. Herbs and spices are your friends.
4. Don't overcook.
I agree with all of them.
Here's the thing: cooking is a skill, like juggling or programming. Just knowing all the rules (techne) doesn't suffice to actually perform the act. You need to spend some time applying the principles to concrete situations (metis). The good news is that if you follow the above rules, you'll basically never make something inedible.
Another tip I can give you is to get familiar with substitution ingredients. Don't have any sour cream? Yogurt is probably fine.
Now, in direct contradiction with what I've been saying so far, let me share with you one of my favorite recipes that got me through my PhD. Cooking time: 10 mins.
INGREDIENTS:
1. 1 or two whole leeks, depending on how hungry you are
2. Sour cream (or whatever)
3. Bacon (or lardons, if you can find them, but seriously... whatever)
4. White wine (optional, but _really_ makes a difference. Prefer dry wine, but whatever.)
PREP:
1. Cut your leek in 1cm rings. Throw away the dark green part.
COOKING:
1. Cook your bacon until crispy, then crumble it and set it aside.
2. While the bacon is cooking, put some butter in a pan and cook your leeks until they're soft and slightly translucid (kinda like you would cook an onion). Don't sweat it; it's hard to fuck up.
3. Add bacon and sour cream. Stir.
4. Add white wine. Stir until you're happy with the consistency
Boom. Done. Keeps well in the fridge, to boot.
You don't even need a cookbook, just take your time to learn how to use a frying pan and basic boiling in a pot skill.
Eg:
Plain pasta - cheap, extreamly energy dense, soggy if you overcook or don't use enough water (1L/100g dry w.)
Now chop the onion, saute until it's ready, drop the [the timed to cook, it's hard first three times] pasta in it for a 15-30 secs. BAM, a whole different meal.
Now the same, but add a grated carrots. BAM, a whole different meal.
The same but add tomatos OR tomate paste: BAM, whole two new meals.
Now replace pasta with a boiled or fried potatoes: BAM, 8 more meals.
Replace/add frozen vegetables - BAM... well, you know, more meals.
Just learn how to time, not using American anounts of oil and when it is time to get the pan or pot of the heat.
And no, no plastic anything IN the oven.
I really feel for people who are trying to learn; every beginner's cookbook is full of things that require specific ingredients, complicated prep work, or a shit-ton of chopping.
I've toyed around with the idea of writing a cookbook of my own, but _that_ is something I truly do not have time for. Ah well :/