We often can't be bothered to think about cooking during the summer holidays. But with a little imagination even the laziest cook can rustle up something a lot more tempting than a standard ham salad. We asked two of our favourite chefs, Tom Norrington-Davies and Allegra McEvedy, and top New York food writer, Mark Bittman, to come up with a list of quick and easy alternatives. The result was 101 dishes, all of which get you in and out of the kitchen in 10 minutes or less (we're not counting the time it takes to bring water to the boil). These suggestions are not formal recipes; rather, they provide a general outline so that with a few simple ingredients you can turn any idea on this list into a meal for two.
1. Eggs with asparagus
Simmer eggs gently for six minutes, run under cold water until cool, then peel. Serve over steamed asparagus.
2. Herby pasta
Toss a couple of handfuls of fresh chopped herbs with a few tbs of olive oil in a hot pan. Serve over angel-hair pasta (capellini, a very fine spaghetti), diluting the sauce if necessary with pasta cooking water.
3. Scallop ceviche with lime
Cut eight raw scallops into four horizontal slices each. Sprinkle with lime juice, salt and crushed chillies; serve after five minutes.
4. Prawns with white beans
Open a tin of white beans and combine with olive oil, salt, prawns, minced garlic and thyme leaves in a pan. Cook, stirring, until the prawns are done; garnish with more olive oil.
5. Mussels with basil and tomato
Put 1.4 kilos of washed mussels in a deep pan with 250ml white wine, garlic cloves, basil leaves and chopped tomatoes. Steam until mussels open - just a few minutes.
6. Sole on bread
Heat 1 cm of olive oil in a pan. Dip sole fillets in flour and fry until crisp, about 2 minutes a side. Serve on bread with tartare sauce.
7. Clams with garlic
Put a few dozen washed clams in a large, hot frying pan with olive oil. When the clams begin to open, add a tbs or 2 of chopped garlic. When most or all are opened, add some chopped parsley. Serve alone, with bread or over angel-hair pasta.
8. Steak and salad
Pan-fry a steak for three or four minutes on each side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, slice and serve on romaine lettuce, drizzled with olive oil and lemon.
9. Baked mackerel
Smear fresh mackerel fillets with mustard, sprinkle with chopped herbs (fresh tarragon is good), seasoning and breadcrumbs. Bake for eight minutes at 220C/gas 7.
10. Paprika prawns
Warm olive oil in a pan with at least three cloves of sliced garlic. When the garlic colours, add at least a tsp each of cumin and paprika. A minute later, add a dozen or so prawns, salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley.
11. Rhubarb mess
Preheat oven to 180C/gas 4. Sprinkle a tin with caster sugar and cover base with slices of rhubarb, cut about 2 cm thick. Douse the rhubarb with orange juice. Transfer to oven and bake for 10 mins. As the rhubarb cools it will release juices and make a syrup. Beat a tub of cream until just whipped. Break up a packet of meringues into the cream, add a glug of fresh custard and the rhubarb and fold everything together.
12. Chorizo with chickpeas
Put a large tin of unsalted chickpeas with their liquid in a medium saucepan. Add some sherry, along with olive oil, plenty of minced garlic, smoked paprika and chopped Spanish chorizo. Heat through.
13. Mackerel salad
Tear smoked mackerel fillets into pieces. Mix with lettuce, green beans and warm new potatoes. Dress with olive oil and dijon mustard.
14. Pasta with prosciutto
Put a few slices of chopped prosciutto in a pan with olive oil, a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and a bit of butter; after a minute, toss in about 100g breadcrumbs and red chilli flakes to taste. Serve with pasta and chopped parsley.
15. Crab sandwich
Mix cooked crab meat with mayo, Dijon mustard, chives and tarragon. Serve in a sandwich.
16. Panini
Cheese on toast with prosciutto, tomatoes and fresh thyme or basil.
17. Meaty scrambled eggs
Slice or chop some salami or Polish sausage and warm in a little oil; stir in eggs and scramble. Serve with mustard and rye bread.
18. Couscous with sardines
Soak 80g per person of couscous in boiling water, cover until tender; top with sardines, tomatoes, parsley, olive oil and black pepper.
19. Stuffed tacos
Stir-fry 450g of minced meat or fish mixed with chopped onions, cumin or chilli powder. Pile into taco shells with tomato, lettuce, onion, coriander and sour cream.
20. Chinese scrambled eggs
Cook minced garlic in peanut oil until blond; add chopped tomatoes, then, a minute later, beaten eggs, salt and pepper.Scramble with a little soy sauce.
21. Grilled aubergine with cheese
Cut aubergine into half-inch slices. Grill with lots of olive oil, turning once, until tender and browned. Top with crumbled goat or feta cheese and grill for another 20 seconds.
22. Quick tomato sauce
While some pasta cooks, combine 400g chopped tomatoes, a tsp or more minced garlic, olive oil and 20 to 30 basil leaves. Toss with pasta, salt, pepper and parmesan.
23. Posh cheese on toast
Grill one side of a slice of baguette. Cut a log of goats' cheese with rind into rounds, cover the untoasted side with cheese, and grill until browned and bubbling.
24. Lobster with warm potato, shallot and tarragon salad
Slice 200g new potatoes into thinnish discs. Simmer until al dente. Split a cooked lobster lengthways, and make a dressing with 1 tbs red wine vinegar, 2.5 tbs extra-virgin olive oil, 2 diced shallots, tarragon, salt and pepper. Drain the potatoes, and dress. Serve with the lobster and lemon wedge.
25. Tuna wraps
Make flatbread wraps with tuna, warm white beans, a drizzle of olive oil and lettuce and tomato.
26. The New York supper
Bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Serve with tomatoes, watercress or rocket, and sliced red onion or shallot.
27. Bacon bagels
Grill bacon until crisp. Toast 2 bagels, butter, then slather with cream cheese and lots of black pepper, and top with the bacon.
28. Open chicken sandwiches
Dip thinly sliced chicken breasts in flour; cook for 2 minutes each side in hot olive oil. Place on bread with lettuce, tomato and mayo.
29. Chard on toast
Sweat some chard leaves with butter and garlic. Poach two eggs. Serve with the pan juices on buttered, toasted sourdough.
30. Upscale tuna salad
Mix good tinned tuna (packed in olive oil), capers, dill or parsley, lemon juice but no mayo.
31. Sausage and pepper sandwiches
Cut Italian sausage into chunks and brown in a little olive oil; chop onions and peppers and add them to the pan. Cook until sausage is browned and peppers and onions tender. Serve in sandwiches.
32. Egg in a hole, glorified
Tear a hole in a piece of bread and fry in butter. Crack an egg into the hole and allow to cook. Deglaze pan with a little sherry vinegar mixed with water, and more butter; pour over the egg.
33. New Joe's Special
Brown minced meat with crushed garlic and chopped onion. When almost cooked, add chopped spinach and stir until wilted. At the last minute, stir in 2 eggs, grated parmesan, salt and pepper.
34. Fig and prosciutto salad
Chop prosciutto and crisp it in a pan with olive oil; add chopped figs. Serve over greens dressed with oil and vinegar topped with crumbled blue cheese.
35. Cobb-ish salad
Chop bacon and begin to brown; cut boneless chicken into strips and cook with the bacon. Toss romaine, watercress or rocket with chopped tomatoes, avocado, onion and crumbled blue cheese. Add meat. Dress with oil and vinegar.
36. Pesto with anything
Put about 40g basil leaves, a garlic clove, salt, pepper and olive oil as necessary in a blender (pinenuts, walnuts, parmesan are optional). Serve with pasta or on grilled fish or meat.
37. Egg and anchovy mayo with cress
Boil 2 eggs for 6 minutes. Plunge into cold water and peel. Roughly whizz a 50g tin of anchovies (oil and all) with 1 tbs capers, a tbs of white wine vinegar and another of Dijon mustard. Add 350ml of mild olive oil slowly. Chop eggs and fold with mayo. Serve on toast with cress.
38. Fast chilli rellenos
Drain a jar of whole chillies. Make a slit in each and insert a piece of cheese. Dip in flour and fry, slit side up, until cheese melts.
39. Prawns or langoustines with white beans
Combine a tin of white beans with olive oil, salt, langoustines or prawns, minced garlic and thyme leaves in a pan. Cook, stirring, until the is seafood is done; serve with more olive oil.
40. Gazpacho
Mix 450g tomatoes cut into chunks, a cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks, 2 or 3 slices of stale bread torn into pieces, 50ml olive oil, 2 tbs sherry vinegar and a clove of garlic in a blender with 250ml water and a couple of ice cubes. Process until smooth, adding water if necessary. Season, then serve or refrigerate, garnished with anchovies if you like, and a little more olive oil.
41. Quesadilla
Use a mixture of cheeses such as fontina and grated pecorino. Place onto half a large tortilla with some jalapeños, chopped onion or spring onion, chopped tomatoes and grated radish. Fold tortilla over and brown on both sides, until cheese is melted.
42. Chilli and garlic pasta
Sauté 10 whole peeled garlic cloves in olive oil. Meanwhile, grate pecorino, grind lots of black pepper, chop parsley and cook some pasta. Toss all together, along with crushed dried chilli flakes and salt.
43. Fusilli with cherry tomatoes, crème fraiche and rocket
Get some pasta going. Chop 100g cherry tomatoes in half. Roughly tear up a couple of handfuls of rocket and some mint leaves, mix with the toms. Drain pasta then stir in the tomatoes and leaves. Add a couple of splodges of crème fraiche, a squeeze of lemon, some salt and pepper and a glug of olive oil.
44. Nicoise-ish salad
Steam green beans or asparagus. Arrange on a plate with good tinned tuna, hard-boiled eggs, green salad, sliced cucumber and tomato. Dress with oil and vinegar.
45. Fried egg 'saltimbocca'
Lay slices of prosciutto or ham in a buttered pan. Fry eggs on top of ham; top with grated parmesan.
46. Sort-of-sloppy Joes
Soften a handful of chopped mushrooms, a pepper and an onion in some olive oil then add and brown some mince. Add a squirt of tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce and/or Tabasco to taste, season and add a little ketchup if dry. Serve in pittas.
47. Frisée aux lardons
Cook chunks of bacon in a pan. Make six-minute or poached eggs and a frisée salad. Put eggs and bacon on top of salad; deglaze pan with sherry vinegar, pour juices over.
48. Taco salad
Toss together green leaves, chopped tomato, chopped red onion, sliced avocado, a small tin of black beans and kernels from a couple of cobs of sweetcorn. Toss with crumbled tortilla chips and grated cheese. Dress with olive oil, lime and chopped coriander leaves.
49. Raita to the rescue
Mix together natural yoghurt with chopped cucumber, minced onion and cayenne pepper. Grill any fish. Serve with the raita.
50. Bean salad
Mix tinned tuna with white and kidney beans, chopped peppers, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, spinach, parsley, capers and anchovies. Dress with lemon juice and olive oil.
51. Mussels with chorizo
Fry 250g sliced chorizo in olive oil for 2 minutes. Whizz 2 cloves garlic, a chilli, coriander and 2 spring onions. Once chorizo has coloured, stir in half a tin chickpeas and half the whizzed stuff; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add 500g mussels and 2 glasses white wine. Cover and simmer for 3 mins. When mussels are open, turn off heat. Stir in rest of whizzed stuff; season with salt and a squeeze of lemon. Serve with crusty bread.
52. Spicy lamb steaks
Season boneless lamb leg steaks with mild curry powder. Sear on both sides. Serve with greens and lemon wedges.
53. Squid with pasta
Sauté 250g fresh squid rings and tentacles in olive oil with salt, pepper and garlic; add chopped tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes break down. Serve with pasta.
54. Soupy vegetable noodles
Stir-fry slivered peppers, carrots, green beans, beansprouts and finely chopped garlic, ginger and chilli for one minute in vegetable oil. Add spinach or bok choi and lime zest. Splash on some soy, fish sauce, lime juice and about 300ml hot vegetable stock. Add a packet of ready-cooked noodles and heat through. Serve with coriander and chopped toasted peanuts or cashews.
55. Migas with egg
Sauté chopped stale bread with olive oil, mushrooms, onions and spinach. Stir in a couple of eggs.
56. Courgette pasta
Sauté shredded courgette in olive oil, adding garlic and chopped herbs. Serve with pasta.
57. Field mushrooms on toast
Preheat the oven to high. Pack a roasting tray with flat black field mushrooms. Squeeze over juice of a lemon. Dot each with a little butter. Season with salt, pepper and herbs. Sprinkle a little cold water over the mushrooms. Roast for 10 minutes and serve on toast spread with well-seasoned soft cheese.
58. Pasta with crispy prosciutto
Grill a few slices prosciutto until crisp; crumble and toss with parsley, parmesan, olive oil and pasta.
59. Stir fry
Stir-fry onions with chopped broccoli. Add cubed tofu, chicken or prawns, or sliced beef or pork, along with a tbs each minced garlic and ginger. When almost done, add 100ml water, 2 tbs soy sauce and plenty of black pepper. Heat through and serve over fresh Chinese noodles.
60. Rolled sole
Sprinkle sole fillets with chopped parsley, garlic, salt and pepper; roll up, dip in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs and cook in hot olive oil for about three minutes each side. Serve with lemon wedges.
61. The Waldorf
Toast a handful of walnuts in a dry pan. Chop an apple or pear; toss with green leaves, walnuts and dressing made with olive oil, sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard and a shallot. Top, if you like, with crumbled goats' or blue cheese.
62. Pinenut pasta
Put a knob of butter and a handful of pine nuts in a pan. Cook over medium heat until both are brown. Toss with cooked pasta, grated parmesan and black pepper.
63. Hummus and sausage
Grill or sauté some Italian sausage and serve on top of hummus, with lemon wedges.
64. Tomato eggs en cocotte
Put a tbs of cream and a slice of tomato in each of several small ramekins. Top with an egg, then add salt, pepper and grated Parmesan. Bake at 175C/gas 3 until eggs are set. Serve with toast.
65. Pork with white beans
Brown small pork chunks in a pan. Add white beans, garlic, thyme and olive oil. Or add white beans and ketchup.
66. Poached eggs with tomato sauce
Make a fast tomato sauce of olive oil, chopped tomatoes and garlic. Poach eggs in the sauce, then top with parmesan.
67. Mackerel on toast
Buy fresh mackerel fillets. Heat a knob of butter and an equal amount of olive oil in a pan. When the butter is fizzing add the fish, flesh-side down. Fry for 2 minutes then turn. While the fish fries chop a fistful of parsley. Transfer the mackerel to some toast and season with salt, lemon juice and parsley.
68. Crispy pork chops
Dip pork chops in egg, then dredge heavily in panko (Japanese breadcrumbs - buy them at Asian supermarkets, or use ordinary breadcrumbs); brown the chops quickly on both sides. Serve over lettuce, with fresh lemon, or Japanese curry sauce.
69. Chicken livers on toast
Cook 175g chicken livers in butter or oil with garlic; do not overcook. Finish with parsley, lemon juice and coarse salt; serve on toast.
70. Prawns with beetroot
Peel and thinly slice raw beetroot; cook in butter until soft. Take out of pan and quickly cook some prawns in same pan. Deglaze pan with sherry vinegar, adding the sauce to beetroot and prawns. Serve garnished with dill.
71. Prawn cocktail
Poach prawns and plunge into ice water. Serve with cocktail sauce made with 200ml ketchup, one tbs vinegar, three tbs melted butter and lots of horseradish.
72. Southeast Asian steak salad
Pan-fry or grill steak. Slice and serve on a pile of greens with a sauce of one tbs each of nam pla and lime juice, black pepper, a tsp each of sugar and garlic, crushed red chilli flakes and Thai basil.
73. Miso steak
Coat beef fillet steaks with a blend of miso and chilli paste thinned with sake or white wine. Grill for about five minutes.
74. Pasta with fresh tomato
While pasta cooks, cook chopped fresh tomatoes in butter or oil with garlic until tender. Mix and serve with grated parmesan.
75. Salmon (or just about anything else) teriyaki
Sear salmon steaks on both sides for a couple of minutes; remove from pan. Add a splash of water to the pan, a couple of tbs of sake, a little sugar and soy sauce; when mixture is thick, return steaks to pan and turn in sauce until done. Serve hot or warm.
76. Rich vegetable soup
Cook asparagus tips and peeled stalks or most any other green vegetable in about 500ml chicken stock with a little tarragon until tender; reserve a few tips and purée the rest with a little butter (cream or yogurt, too, if you like) adding enough stock to thin the purée. Garnish with the reserved tips. Serve hot or cold.
77. Mushrooms stuffed with scrambled eggs
Brush mushrooms with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill until tender. Briefly sweat chopped onions, then scramble eggs with them. Put the eggs in the mushrooms.
78. Squid salad
Sauté about 200g squid rings and tentacles in olive oil with salt and pepper. Make a sauce of minced garlic, smoked paprika, mayo, lots of lemon juice and fresh parsley. Serve with a lightly dressed salad of chopped cucumber, tomato, lettuce, grated carrot and spring onions.
79. Peppered steak
Press plenty of coarsely ground black pepper onto both sides of fillet steaks. Brown in butter for 2 minutes each side. Remove steaks and add a splash of red wine, chopped shallots and a bit of tarragon to pan. Reduce, then return steaks to pan, turning in the sauce for a minute or 2.
80. Nearly instant mezze
Put hummus on a plate with yoghurt mixed with chopped cucumbers and a bit of garlic, plus tomato, feta, white beans with olive oil and pitta bread.
81. Sardine 'canapés'
Place sardines packed in olive oil on savoury biscuits or crackers, with mustard and Tabasco.
82. Fast crab noodles
Buy a dressed crab. Soak a packet of rice noodles in warm water until semi-soft. Drain. Grate a courgette. Combine with the juice of a lime, a tbs of fish sauce, the crab and a pinch of sugar. Season with dried chilli and coriander leaves. Blanch the noodles in boiling water until fully softened. Drain and toss with crab. Season again (you might want to add more fish sauce).
83. Egg and bacon salad
Make a thin plain omelette with three eggs. Sauté cubes of bacon or pancetta or strips of prosciutto until crisp. Cut up the omelette and use it and the meat to garnish a green salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
84. Spicy sweetcorn
Cook sweetcorn in olive oil with minced jalapeño peppers and chopped onions; toss with coriander leaves, black beans, chopped tomatoes, chopped bell pepper and lime.
85. Prawn salad
Cook prawns slowly (five minutes or so) in a pan to preserve their juices, with plenty of garlic and olive oil, until done; pour over watercress or rocket, add lemon juice, pepper and salt.
86. Sourdough and liver sausage sandwich
Put liverwurst sausage on good sourdough rye with spring onions, tomato and wholegrain mustard.
87. Almost merguez
Make lamb burgers (allow about 100g lean minced lamb per burger) seasoned with cumin, garlic, onion, salt and cayenne. Cook and serve with couscous and green salad, along with harissa.
88. Tuna pasta
Combine tinned tuna in olive oil, halved cherry tomatoes, black olives, mint, lemon zest and red chilli flakes. Serve with pasta.
89. Olive and herb pasta
Pit and chop 125g or more of mixed olives. Combine with olive oil, a little minced garlic, red pepper flakes and chopped basil or parsley. Serve over pasta.
90. Trout and almonds
Serve smoked trout fillets with lightly toasted almonds, shredded fennel, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of lemon.
91. Chilli-miso salmon with steamed greens
Cut 4 bok choi in half lengthways, put in the bottom of a pan and grate a little ginger and garlic on top. Mix a tbs of fresh miso paste with a chopped chilli and smear this over the top of 2 pieces of salmon. Sit fish on greens then scatter on some coriander and chopped spring onion. Pour 150ml water into bottom of the pan, and a splash of soy and fish sauce. Put a lid on and cook on a high heat for 5 mins. Finish with a squeeze of lime. Serve with rice.
92. Stuffed tomatoes
Cut the top off four large tomatoes; scoop out the interiors and mix them with toasted stale baguette or pitta bread, olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs (basil, tarragon, and/or parsley). Stuff into the tomatoes and serve with salad.
93. Thai-style meat
Thinly slice about 600g of steak or boneless chicken; heat peanut oil in a pan, add meat and stir. A minute later, add a tbs minced garlic and some red chilli flakes. Add 30 basil leaves, 50ml water and a tbs or 2 of soy sauce or nam pla (Thai fish sauce). Serve with lime juice and more chilli flakes, over salad.
94. Pan-fried calves liver
Dip 250g calves liver in flour. Sear in olive oil or butter or a combination until crisp on both sides, about one or 2 minutes a side, adding salt and pepper as it cooks; it should be medium-rare. Garnish with parsley and lemon juice.
95. Balsamic pork or lamb
Rub not-too-thick pork or lamb chops with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper plus sage or thyme. Grill for about three minutes a side and drizzle with good balsamic vinegar.
96. Italian sausage with grapes
Cut up Italian sausage into chunks and brown in a little olive oil until just about done. Throw in a lot of seedless grapes and, if you like, a little slivered garlic and chopped rosemary. Cook, stirring, until the grapes are hot. Serve with bread.
97. Veggie burger
Drain and pour a tin of white beans into a food processor with an onion, about 40g rolled oats, a tbs chilli powder, an egg, salt and pepper. Process until mushy, then shape into burgers, adding a little liquid or oats as necessary. Cook in oil about three minutes each side and serve.
98. A Roman pasta classic
Lightly cook lots of slivered garlic in plenty of olive oil, with six or so anchovy fillets and a dried hot chilli or two. Serve with pasta.
99. Spicy steak
Rub steak with curry or chilli powder before grilling, then slice thinly across the grain.
100. Prawns in beer
Cook a kilo or so of prawns, shell on or off, in oil, with lots of chopped garlic. When they turn pink, remove; deglaze the pan with 100ml of beer, along with a dash of Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, rosemary and a lump of butter. Serve with the sauce and bread.
101. Poached eggs with lentils
Cook red lentils in water with a little cumin and chopped bacon until soft. Top with poached egg and a little sherry vinegar.
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· Read more from Tom Norrington Davies and Allegra McEvedy on Word of Mouth.
Tom Norrington Davies' new restaurant Great Queen Street, London W1, is open now and Allegra McEvedy's Colour Cookbook is out now too. She is head chef at the Leon chain of restaurants
