30 Low-effort, High-reward Recipes
To the surprise of absolutely no one at all, my identical twin Alexandra and I — aren’t we adorable! — have quite a few things in common. We share the obvious things, of course: a birthday (January 27th!), the same eye color (hazel!) and DNA (a borderline creepy 100% match). Our teeth, according to our childhood dentist, are mirror images, and we were known to lose our baby teeth on the same day on more than one occasion. We are both hopeless when it comes to Math and nearly failed Computer Science 101 in college, love foreign languages to an undeniably nerdy extent (ahh, the subjunctive!), excel in creative writing, adore classical ballet, and have both settled in Italy, among many other things.
But identical twins aren’t always exactly identical, you know. There are the little differences: I’m half an inch taller, for example; I’m a morning person while Allie hates nothing more than the sound of her alarm; I’m big on punctuality, while Allie has a different perception of time all together. Fun fact: our fingerprints are different, even if we are identical twins. But that’s nothing compared to the difference, Difference with a capital “d,”" even. Ehem:
My identical twin doesn’t cook. Or bake. She actually very much dislikes both activities.
Now — this major divide in our twinness may be entirely my fault. You see, having a twin sister who loves to cook, bake, and even make her own pasta from scratch doesn’t exactly inspire the other one from learning to cook, as in: there’s really no need.
Or is there?! New year, new revelations, new resolutions, and recently, Allie has decided that while she won’t necessarily start to love cooking or baking, she will learn, because feeding oneself (and well) is an important and necessary skill, blogger twin or not. My twin’s culinary education has thus begun, one where we start with low-effort, high reward recipes — a baked pasta, roasted veggies, simple sauces — and build from there, one recipe, one skill, and lots of patience at a time.
So! This week’s compilation is dedicated to my sister Alexandra, a list of approachable recipes for a beginner making their first tentative steps in the kitchen, recipes that require only a handful of ingredients, a few steps, and a little time, covering breakfast through dessert. Not a kitchen novice? These recipes are still for you, for those days when you are running low on energy, or time, or both. Read on!
For the rest of the blog’s compilations, click here!
Best Blueberry Muffins
These fluffy, lightly lemon-y Blueberry Muffins are packed to the brim with blueberries – making for jammy, sweet-tart splendor – and are excellent warm out of the oven to accompany your morning coffee. They also come together with minimal effort (just a little measuring and whisking!) Click here for the recipe!
Buttermilk Pancakes
Ahh pancakes! Perhaps the quintessential American breakfast, there's nothing quite like a tall stack of these beauties drizzled with butter and maple syrup to start a Sunday morning. If you’re new to cooking/want an elaborate breakfast with little effort, this is your go to recipe. Click here for the recipe!
Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
The epitome of easy recipes -- just a little stirring and mashing, and you're all set! – this banana bread is fragrant and tender and studded with chunks of melt-y dark chocolate. It is especially good served warm and would be nice with a dusting of powdered sugar, if you want to make things a little fancier. Click here for the recipe!
Homemade Granola Bars
These granola bars are packed with sweet dates and oats and almonds that keep you full, tinged with salty peanut butter and sweet honey, with a soft and chewy texture (save the pleasant crunchiness from the almonds). They take minimal effort to make and are made with only five (!!!) ingredients Click here for the recipe!
Avocado Basil Dip
Made with creamy avocado, tangy yogurt, spicy garlic, tart lemon, and herb-y basil, this dip is kind of a cross between guacamole and pesto. It is arguably nutritious and beyond easy to make -- just a matter of putting everything into a food processor and pressing the "On" button. Click here for the recipe.
ONE-PAN FARRO
This one-pan farro asks very little of you: just throw onions, farro, tomato, and garlic into a pot and leave the whole thing to cook for half an hour, after which you'll have a spot on, perfectly seasoned, one-pot dinner. Click here for the recipe.
Easiest Veggie Burgers
The white beans here offer the ever-sought after protein vegetarians seek, their mild flavor livened up with sharpness from the vinegar and sweetness from the carrots. Thanks to eggs and breadcrumbs, these do not fall apart during cooking -- a common pitfall of the veggie burger! Click here for the recipe.
Roasted TOMATO BASIL SOUP
This soup is packed with flavor, thanks to slow roasted tomatoes, a good dose of basil, garlic, and lots of simmering on the stove. It is filling and satisfying, not to mention cozy and perfect for cold Winter days. It is even better the day after, and is also a good with a little freshly grated Parmesan on top. Click here for the recipe!
Pasta with Brie, Tomatoes, Basil
This is a recipe that my mom has been making for years now, inspired by a recipe published in the Silver Palate Cookbook. The olive oil, brie, and tomatoes combine to make a fantastic no cook sauce, and the longer you let the ingredients marinate, the better the sauce becomes. Click here for the recipe.
Tagliatelle Gorgonzola e Noci
Really: does it get any better than pasta tossed in a super luxurious cheese sauce with a hint of warming sage and toasty garlic and crunchy, buttery walnuts to boot?! The sauce comes together incredibly quickly, meaning you only have to wait for the pasta to boil. Click here for the recipe!
Tomato, Butter, Onion Sauce
A sauce where there are no celery or onions to chop, no bay leaves or herbs to buy, or wine to uncork. Nope: made with just three ingredients, this sauce is the true definition of "less is more," and in this case, so very much more. Click here for the recipe.
Spaghetti with Cherry Tomato Sauce
This a no frills recipe -- there is no cream, no guanciale or pancetta, no bechamel, no ravioli or stuffed pasta in sight. Instead, we have just the basics: olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and spaghetti, perhaps the simplest cut of pasta. Click here for the recipe.
Cotolette di pollo
Cotolette (cutlets) are common in Italy, a quick, homey secondo that can be made with chicken, pork, veal, or even turkey. We were never disappointed when we came home to my mom frying up a batch of these, and to this day I still find them to be a cozy, nostalgic sort of dish. Click here for the recipe.
Chicken with Plums
One of my favorite chicken dishes — warm, toasty allspice and fragrant thyme play well with licorice-y fennel seeds and sweet onions, all complemented by a lots of caramelized, tart sweet plums. Click here for the recipe.
Peperoni ripieni
The bell peppers here collapse with a little time in the oven, becoming juicy and sweet and a little charred around the edges, proving they are so very much more than just vehicle for the reminiscent-of-delicious-meatball filling. Click here for the recipe!
Salmon with Mustard Rosemary Glaze
This dish is extremely simple to make – just a matter of stirring together the glaze ingredients and baking the salmon in the oven –and is a bit lighter and more nutritious as far as dinners go, if you’re looking to maintain any New Year resolutions. Click here for the recipe.
Salmon with Strawberry Avocado Salsa
Roasted salmon with a not-so-traditional salsa, made with sweet strawberries, sharp onion, creamy avocado, and tangy lime, all of it rounded out with a little honey and basil. Every bite is different, and the whole thing takes minimal time and effort to put together. Click here for the recipe.
Insalata di
tonno e fagioli
A tuna and bean salad that is light and refreshing and lemon-y, filling enough for dinner, and good for you, too, which gives it extra brownie points (again: New Years Resolutions!) It is one of the quickest and easiest recipes I know and one that I turn to again and again. Click here for the recipe.
Scarola e fagioli
With only four ingredients, scarola e fagioli may not seem like much, but it would be a mistake to underestimate it. Here we have slow-cooked greens turned silky once cooked in olive oil, all the while taking on the spicy flavor of the hot pepper, balanced nicely by the mildness of the white beans. Click here for the recipe.
Banoffee Pie
Hailing from the UK, Banoffee Pie -- consisting of a crisp cookie crust, a layer of gooey toffee, sliced bananas, and a generous swoosh of freshly whipped cream -- is one of my very favorite desserts. It is the epitome of simple and quick, requiring no baking and minimal effort. Click here for the recipe.
Brownie Pie
The very first recipe I ever baked on my own (translation: this is an easy, beginner level recipe with top notch results). This rich chocolate-y pie is perfect served warm with a scoop of ice cream or some fresh sweetened whipped cream. Click here for the recipe.
PEANUT BUTTER PIE
One of the first recipes ever posted on the blog (hence the not so great photo!) this peanut butter pie requires no baking — just blend together the filling ingredients, pour them in to the crust chocolate crumb crust, and put the whole thing in the fridge. Click here for the recipe.
White Chocolate Blueberry Cake
A quick and easy cake with a dense, moist texture, a sweet vanilla flavor, and lots of juicy blueberries, their bright vibrant flavor waking up the mild white chocolate in a match-made-in-heaven sort of way. Click here for the recipe.
Lemon, Ricotta, Olive Oil Cake
Another stellar recipe from Rachel Roddy, this is a one-bowl cake that requires just a little measuring and mixing, making for a fluffy, airy, and intensely lemon-y cake that is perfect with a dusting of powdered sugar. It is very versatile, delicious at breakfast, for snack, or for dessert. Click here for the recipe.
Nutella Swirl Cake
A good starter cake if you’re a new baker, one that requires no frosting or glaze thanks to the Nutella which self-frosts the whole (fluffy, yellow, buttery) thing. This is a cake made on repeat when in college and living in Bologna, another highly nostalgic recipe. Click here for the recipe.
Blondies
A buttery brown sugar bar cookie studded with chocolate chips, the blondie is the lesser known but equally delicious cousin of the brownie. They take only a few minutes to throw together, and growing up, there was nothing nicer than coming home after a long day at school to find my mom taking a pan of these out of the oven as an after school treat. Click here for the recipe.
Fudge Brownies
The best brownies I have ever baked or eaten — a batch of these is a pure hit of chocolate, fudge-y and rich and dark, everything you would ever possibly want in a brownie and more. This is hands down one of the recipes I make most from the blog. Click here for the recipe.
Mascarpone & Nutella with Raspberries
If you can find two bowls, plug in an electric mixer, and spoon ingredients into a serving dish, you can make this dessert. It takes only a few minutes to prepare and requires no baking, cooling, frosting, or batches, and best of all, looks super fancy and luxurious for something so simple. Click here for the recipe.
Salted Brown Butter Krispy Treats
The butter here is cooked until browned and toasty, giving the usually straight-forward krispy Treat a bit of complexity. The addition of a generous pinch of salt counters the sweetness of the marshmallows and plays off the brown butter nicely, elevating them from childhood bake-sale treat to truly special sweet. Click here for the recipe.
Pistachio semifreddo
This pistachio semifreddo is divine, off-the-charts good, one of my new favorite dessert recipes. It tastes just like a pistachio and is even dotted with bits of pistachio which give the dessert a little crunch and texture. Best of all, it takes no time at all to whip up — make it in advance and leave it in the freezer til you’re ready to serve. Click here for the recipe.