easy-summer Dinner Recipe For People Who Say They Can’t Cook

Mare’ Evans Contributing Writer

We’ve all heard our friends, or some family members say, “I hate to cook — or “I’m not good at it,” while others say they just don’t have the time.” I once overheard a young woman boasting while rolling her eyes and circling her head from the neck as she told her girlfriend, “I don’t cook,” like it was a something to be proud of. As she continued to say things that I thought were crazy, I thought, “honey that’s nothing to Be proud of. If nothing else you should know how to cook for yourself.

Any one of these declarations are a problem when you need to feed yourself/family every single day. Maybe life would be simpler or easier if we didn’t have to eat to live, but the reality is that we do. In most households’ women prepare the meals and if she works it can be a grueling chore figuring out what to cook for dinner. It’s no wonder your favorite chain restaurants have meals in the frozen department, to help you with the load on your shoulders.

It starts with organizing, preparing a grocery list of foods that you can cook meals that can be prepared for cooking and freezing them. Next you take them out each morning and thaw in the So must own a crock pot and an air fryer for easy and healthy cooking. After planning your meals to include protein, starches and vegetables, you can select your dominant foods that can be used over in different ways through the week. Like hamburger meat can be prepared as burgers, meatloaf, meat balls for spaghetti, stuffed into colorful bell peppers with rice or seasoned and sprinkled on top of pizza. This sort of thinking will go a long way.

But this is summertime so let’s look at the lighter foods that won’t weigh you down. Salads come to mind if you’re not a daily salad eater. And the easy summer split pea salad is delicious.

If you’re thinking split peas are just for soup?

Stop! Time to dust off the bag of split peas that’s been sitting in your pantry for longer than you care to admit. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with green split peas besides soup, this Summer Split Pea Salad recipe will show you!

Ingredient list

• 2/3 cup green split peas

• 1 ½ cup vegetable broth

• 1/8 tsp MSG (monosodium glutamate), or salt to taste

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved.

• 1 ½ cups sweet corn kernels, fresh, frozen, or canned

• ½ cup red onion, finely diced

• ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped

• ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

• 1 medium lemon zested and juiced.

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

• 2 cloves garlic, minced.

• 1-2 tsp honey or maple syrup

Instructions

1. To cook the green split peas, bring the vegetable broth to a low simmer. Add the split peas and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Sprinkle the MSG onto the cooked split peas and stir to combine, or salt to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool as you finish preparing the other ingredients.

2. As the split peas are simmering, halve the cherry tomatoes, dice the onion, mince the garlic and zest and juice one lemon.

3. Combine the olive oil, mustard, lem- on zest and juice, garlic, and honey or maple syrup in a small jar with a sealing lid. Shake vigorously to combine.

4. Add all the salad ingredients to a large mixing bowl: cooked split peas, cherry tomatoes, corn, red onion, parsley, and basil. Drizzle with the prepared dressing and gently fold together until well mixed. Serve immediately and enjoy, or store in the refrigerator and serve chilled if you prefer.

Serve this with a great burger on a bun or without.

Recipe Notes:

Enjoy leftovers within 3-4 days for best results. To extend the storage life by another day or two, leave the salad undressed until ready to serve.