What do you cook that gets rave reviews even though it's stupid-simple?

Everything I cook
I’m not kidding, when I cooked for thanksgiving last week, my SO’s parents could not stop talking about it.

I made this kick ass dinner for an ex. I made homemade chicken cacciatore, bought a delicious wine, the works. All he could talk about was the garlic bread. It was bread, garlic and butter. Baked in an oven. Sheesh

@Les: LOL it’s like when a kid pushes away the toys at Christmas to play with the box…

Butter! Kind of hilariously, last year at Thanksgiving, I didn’t really feel like I was making enough stuff since I was eating with Qingu’s family and he always does all the cooking. So to pass the time and not feel idle, I made butter which is dead simple. Then I flavored it. Which was still dead simple—we’re talking mashing lemon zest, cheese, and rosemary into some soft butter or mashing in some cranberry sauce. Not rocket science. His family was totally awed by the butter choices though and could not stop talking about them!

Oh yes, I made chocolate souffle for an acquaintance’s birthday, and everyone loved it. Easiest thing I ever cooked.

Lasagna.

@Les :: Garlic bread is damn near my favorite food along with burritos, grilled cheese, and macaroni and cheese (blue box).

For simple that people seem to like that I make. I make egg noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese. People seem to really like that.

Pork chops and rice with mushroom gravy. Just make the rice like any other rice. Fry the pork chops in a frying pan. Take Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, mix it with milk (half a can of milk per can of soup, 1 can of soup per 3 pork chops). Dash a little Kitchen Bouquet in with the soup/milk “gravy”, add it to the pork chops in the frying pan, simmer until the gravy is warm. Serve pork chops and gravy with/over rice as desired. Easy to make, undoubtedly bad for you, but surprisingly yummy!

I make a compicated Sish-Kabob, with lots of different ingredients, and everyone raves over my guacamole, which takes 5 minutes and no effort. It’s not fair.

French toast.

My guacamole:
6 ripe avocados smash em up
1 chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped garlic add em
2 chopped tomatoes stir them in
lots of salt

If you like it spicy, add ½ jalipeno, chopped to bits.

Maybe they just like a lot of salt

Stir fry Ramen with fried shrimp and veggies, my friend Greta loves it.

Gourmet popcorn popped in a Presto® Power Pop™ a special microwave popping bowl with melted butter and, again, lots of salt. Pretty simple.

I have this killer recipe for hot & spicy chicken wings. The family LOVES it. Also my 7 layer Mexican dip. They ask for that one.

lasagna

I have a relatively easy marinara sauce that I make that everyone loves.

Ginger snaps are also ridiculously easy and also get rave reviews.

If you like garlic and hummus, you’d like my hummus. Ridiculously easy and tasty.

Also, salsa. I make great (easy) salsa and everyone likes that, too.

And cupcakes. Cupcakes aren’t hard, people!

I think it’s that I cook and make yummy things (that I tend to think of as easy) more than anything else.

@EmpressPixie, you give away your butter? I don’t! I keep it all for myself!

Well, it’s not cooked (but then, neither is guacamole!) , but I take cucumber, peel & slice thin, then marinate it for about ½ hour in a bowl with soy sauce, chili paste, & sesame oil. Yum! @filmfann I like to put a little lime juice in my guacamole, too!

@johnpowell – Well, apparently I make some awesome garlic bread. If you’re ever in Laramie, I’ll make you some. :-)

@Les :: Deal.. I will bring the lemonade.

Broccoli salad—
Bag of fresh broccoli florettes, trimmed to bite size
1 vidalia onion, chopped
Bag Hormel bacon bits (or any real kind, not the fake ones)
Bag dried cherries or cranberries
½ cup toasted walnuts

Night before, mix 1 cup mayonnaise, ½ cup sugar, ½ cup cider vinegar, and let sit in refrigerator overnight. Put broccoli, onions, bacon, walnuts & cherries in a salad bowl, and just before serving, add dressing and toss.

Scrambled Eggs with portebello mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. It’s just stirring the eggs and putting the veggies in a pan with olive oil.

I’m known as someone who makes fairly elaborate food for parties. However, I make this embarrassing dip that people just go nuts over. In fact, I’ll call it Embarrassing Dip from now on because when people ask me how I made it I’m embarrassed to tell them it was made with cans and packages. In other words, it’s straight from the kitchens of Kraft! I put out crudites, but also put out bowls of Frito Scoops and good tortilla chips, but the guys were crowded around it dumping it on their chicken and ribs and salad and bread. Decadent AND chock full of preservatives.

Embarrassing Dip

Warm together:
1 can of chile with beans
(approximately) 4 oz. cream cheese
(about 1 cup) shredded sharp cheddar
1 small can of Herdez salsa (I like the salsa ranchera, but use what you like)
Lots of chopped red onion and chopped cilantro

Heat and stir. It is more than the sum of its parts. Really.

Organic potato salad with raspberry vinaigrette (dijon mustard) and capers. Leave skin on potatoes and use EVOO.

My Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. Simple recipe. 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar, pinch of salt, one 10 ounce bag of fresh cranberries. Dissolve the salt and sugar in the water, add the cranberries, bring to a boil, mash berries with a potato masher once the skins start to crack, simmer for about ten minutes, stir well and let cool. Pop it in the fridge for half an hour, and voila, the best real cranberry sauce you’ve ever tasted. the longer you let it simmer, the thicker the sauce will be.

@filmfann if I am using six avocadoes, then it will need at least two jalapenos to make it spicy enough for me. And lime juice is a MUST for guacamole, as @ccrow mentioned.

I don’t use Lime, lemon, or cilantro. Many others do. I don’t. Mines better.

@evelyns_pet_zebra: I skip the potato masher step and the salt and have a lovely cranberry sauce also.

My meatloaf is stupid easy and gets rave reviews every time. The other is a blackberry cobbler that people think I slaved over.

Krusteaz baking mixes has a mix for raspberry bars that are to die for. No one ever believes they came out of a box.

Pasta with peas -it’s basically that with green onions and a little honey.
Chili is crazy easy.
coffee cake
guacamole
tuna salad
pasta salad
biscottis

I think I’ve answered three different questions with this recipe in the last few days, but here, for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, is my Ridiculously Easy Artichoke Spread:

1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts
1 cup parmesan cheese

Whirl ‘em up together in a food processor until pretty smooth, then zap ‘em in the microwave until the cheese gets warm and gooey. Serve with crackers or toasted pumpernickel bread.

I’m always amazed when I spend hours making stuff for a party, and this is what everyone raves about. It’s so easy!

Chocolate Guinness cake always goes down a storm. Easy to make, very yummy moist cake, and as rich as a butcher’s turd!

I used to always be asked to bring potato salad to potlucks. I don’t know if it was so good or if everything else was so mediocore’

Peel potatoes while still warm.
Marinate in a mixture oy oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and chopped green onions overnight.
Dress very lightly with mayo

Since I gave up cooking, I just bring a deli tray.

@chelsea_steve: You had me right up until the butcher’s turd. lol

Meth.

Crab Cakes. The recipe is amazingly simple, but theyre the greatest crab cakes ever.

Kale sauteed with “butter substitute” (like Smart Balance or similar) and garlic, mushrooms, and almonds.
For desert, a no-bake cheesecake with 1 8oz lite cream cheese, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 8oz tub light whipped topping (like Cool Whip Lite store equivalent) creamed together & put into a chocolate cookie crust. Usually mix in a most of a can of crushed pineapple, very well drained, leaving a bit to top the pie. Refrigerate at least an hour before serving.
Family loves them!!!

@BraveWarrior: Why not use a little good-quality olive oil with the kale? That combo sounds delicious. Do you saute the kale in small pieces until they are limp? I am trying to eat more of the stuff, but somehow, after I buy it, it ages and goes limp in my fridge. Can you send details? TIA.

@gailcalled Sometimes I use a little canola oil or “vegetable oil spread” which is mostly soybean oil. I usually saute the garlic first, then pull off hand-sized pieces of the kale (including the stems), and saute with mushrooms & almonds (sliced or chopped) ‘til the kale is limp and shrunken down. Actually, the last time I made it, hubby bought collard greens instead of kale because it was on sale & it was just as good. I try to make it within 2 days of buying the kale or collard greens before they wilt in the fridge. Hubby & I are trying to eat healthier with more greens and we both like this simple & quick side dish. Let me know if you have any other questions :)

puree
I mean the pre-made, ready potato puree that Maggi or Knorr have (my favourite is Werner’s if I can find it). All you do is mix it with hot water and milk, and add some salt and butter, and stir. It takes less than 5 min to make and everybody tells me how great it is, as if there’s some special secret recipe that I had to follow. All I do is what it says on the pack.

Other foods (like my beef goulash) get raving reviews, but at least those have some sort of skill attached to making them.

I marinate chicken in plain yogurt with garam masala and lemon juice (you can do it for 10 minutes or 10 hours and it still works well) and then throw it on the grill pan. And people tell me it’s as good as they would order in an Indian restaurant..and super easy.