Reflecting on this over lunch the other day: simple yet so satisfying meals. - A toasted tomato with bacon (and sometimes lettuce) sandwich with mayonaise and a bit of salt and pepper along with a coffee. Mmmm. Of course it helps if you have good tomatoes and good bacon which isn't always a given today. - Fried baloney with mustard on a kaiser bun. Mmmm. - Sausage on a bun from one of those street vendor carts. Mmmm. Our local vendor is usually parked in front of the Canadian Tire during the summer, and the smell is irresistible. I usually think of this as summer food but years ago I found a sausage vendor open for business during the winter in downtown Toronto. Awesome! - Sloppy Joes. You can make them yourself with ground beef and barbecue sauce or you can buy the Manwich mix in a can. Either way---mmmm. Anyone else?
When I was a young fellow I would spend summers with my grandparents helping on their farm. We would have the big "dinner" about 1 in the afternoon, and then "supper" in the evening. Supper was usually a combination of bread baked that morning with butter, whatever vegetables you picked from the garden, and maybe some leftover meat. Wonderful. In season my wife and I often eat weekend lunches of fresh-baked bread and vegetables out of the garden. The garden is ending now for another year, which is always a bummer. I like a lot of leftovers, but I'm very partial to meatloaf sandwiches on toasted wheat with mustard. I like the leftover better than the dinner it came from. If you like sloppy joes, try making your own sauce, there are plenty of recipes around and usually involve a cheap can of tomato paste/sauce/puree. Much better than pre-made sauce.
I would not consider a sandwich a "meal", but I do like sandwiches. I'm not particularly fond of over-sauced combinations, but I don't mind a well-done panino as an occasional treat. Examples vary from the most simple prosciutto-fontina-mayonese-lettuce toasted sandwich to more exotic variants. I will also confess a weakness for doner kebab on pita bread. Of course, as an Italian, my first definition of "simple meal" is a pasta dish with a simple tomato sauce. Another really simple yet amazing recipe is "cacio e pepe": a dish of spaghetti (but bucatini are best) with melted butter, fresh grated cheese (I prefer pecorino romano for this, but really, any hard cheese will do), and a liberal amount of black pepper.
Well, I just had spaghettios for dinner. But I'm guessing that's not really what you meant, as pretty much any canned or microwaveable food would qualify as incredibly simple yet (sometimes) satisfying. When I was younger I used to make "Michelle Surprise" (my name is Michelle) for my family members and myself. It is just a buttered tortilla folded in half with a slice of melted cheese inside. Sometimes I still have this. I've also grown to like buttered noodles, especially from a chain called Noodles & Company. And I love grilled cheese. Simple yet extremely satisfying! Can you tell I like cheese and butter....
It's funny, I thought about posting something similar to this thread last night after dinner. I made Chilli from scratch, making the recipe up as I went and the end result was amazing and it was really easy to make. My housemate and I had it with brown rice mixed with quinoa and sour cream and cheese. I've got enough left overs for lunch for the next couple of days was pretty good with pasta as well.
I do a great fried egg sandwich. Lightly toasted bread, buttered lightly, Hellman's Mayo and a fried super jumbo egg w/shredded cheddar jack cheese melted over it. 2 of those almost every Saturday morning.
one of my favourites is Welsh Rarebit. And do you know "poor knights"? It's old rolls, cut in halves and soaked in milk, then you cover them in egg and breadcrumbs, fry them and serve them with compote or cinnamon & sugar. Cheap, nourishing and yummy (Also always a favourite with kids) Another favourite and a good way to use up stale toast: Povidldatschkerl, a Bohemian dish that roughly translates as prune-jam-patties: Spread a slice of toast with prune jam, put a second slice of toast on top, cut the stack diagonally, dip each triangle in a thin pankace dough and fry. (If the toast is very dry you can leave it in the pankace dough to soak a little)
Scrambled eggs and fried boiled ham (i don't like bacon). Supersimple but you can really go to town with it if you want (and have the time) with different condiments, some mushrooms cut up in it, diced onions etc
Flour tortilla, store bought pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, and whatever leftovers for toppings. Bake until the cheese is bubbly. Doritos, shredded cheddar, salsa, sliced jalapenos, refried beans if I have them. Microwave for about a minute and a half.
Yum. I use Greek yogurt on pasta, too, and it's really good. Still playing around with the seasoning. My simplest meal is what I call Instant Chili: throw a can of low-sodium black beans and a can of diced tomatoes (both drained) into a microwaveable bowl; season with cayenne pepper, garlic, onion flakes, oregano, etc; nuke for three minutes. Works with chickpeas instead of black beans, too.