The Two-Minute Meal: Yes, it's tasty, healthy, and inexpensive.

Many commercials are designed by, alas, psychologists and other experts on influence, to manipulate people into believing they’ll be more worthy homemakers if only they spend big on meal-related items:

The kitchen industry wants to you to forget the $400 Whirlpool range and buy the $4,000 Wolf or Viking. They want you to forget the $9.99 Farberware pot and buy the $99 LeCreuset "cookware."

The food industry wants you to forget the one-pound, $2 head of lettuce and buy a bag of “spring mix” that costs twice as much for 1/3 the amount. They want you to forget the $1 box of pasta that’s delicious with just some parmesan and garlic and to spend $4 on 10 ounces of prepared frozen pasta, filled with sodium, fat, and calories.

But you are not inadequate if you choose to be a wise food shopper and cook. You are not inadequate if you rarely create elaborate meals. Indeed, in our busy lives, many of us have better things to do for ourselves and our family than to spend lots of time chopping ingredients around a hot stove.

People don’t believe me when I say I cook many of my meals in under three minutes, often well under, let alone that they’re tasty, healthy and inexpensive. But I do and they are. And they don't require any fancy kitchen tools or equipment.

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I offer instant recipes for some things I often make. I really like their taste, ease, and healthiness. But of course, everyone’s taste is different. I offer these recipes merely as evidence that it’s possible to create good meals incredibly quickly. Perhaps reading them will trigger ideas that will work better for you.

Two-Minute Meals: Tasty, healthy recipes for people with better things to do than sauté.

Slow food, shmo food.

Some people have orgasms over some brand of olive oil.  

Then there's me. I can barely tell a black olive from a green one.

I can rarely tell frou-frou wine from Two Buck Chuck: "A flavorful deluge of rich black currant, hints of cherry and a long finish of sweet mocha and velvety tannins?!" It's all red wine to me. I'd rather have a diet orange soda.

Maybe you too have retarded taste buds. 

Or maybe you can taste the difference but don't care enough to spend time sautéing rather than quick microwaving.

Whether you're cooking for yourself for the first time,  a culinarily challenged bachelor or, like me, would rather eat something good that takes two minutes to prepare than something very good that takes an hour, this post's for you.

Here's a tasty (at least to me,) healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner that each takes just two minutes to prepare. 

Breakfast a la Nemko
In the morning, when my stomach starts to peep, I trudge into the kitchen and:
1. Pour some oatmeal into a paper bowl. (Washing a ceramic bowl would take too much time.)
2. Put it in the microwave for one minute.
3. While it's cooking, take my supplements (fish oil and curcumin,) put an ounce (no you don't need to measure) of frozen blueberries in a small dish, and take a bag of brown sugar and of walnut pieces from the cabinet.
4. Add the blueberries, a level tablespoon of brown sugar, and walnut pieces. Stir. Done. A healthy, filling tasty breakfast in two minutes.

I can hear you saying, "Yeah, breakfast's easy. After all, you're using Minute Oats.  How about lunch and dinner, big shot? 

Lunch a la Nemko
1. For 40 seconds, I microwave two pieces of whole wheat bread that I keep in the freezer.
2. While the bread is heating, I put some mayo in a can of tuna (or salmon) and mix.
3. I eat the tuna/mayo mixture with the bread, tomato slices and a pickle.
4. I have a fruit for dessert.

Dinner a la Nemko
1. I put a frozen chicken breast or piece of salmon in the microwave on high. The average breast takes 12 minutes, a portion of salmon, six.  (Yes, times may vary with your microwave. Mine is 1,100 watts.) Once you've learned to time it right, they come out great--juicy, perfect.
While it's cooking:
2. I put frozen broccoli  and/or string beans on a small plate, covering it with a paper towel. 
3. I make a salad: Wash the lettuce, tear it into pieces, squeeze out the water and put it in a bowl and slice in a tomato. I add blue cheese and vinegar or my favorite dressing: the award-winning Trader Joe's nonfat balsamic vinaigrette. If the chicken or fish aren't ready, I start eating the salad. 
4. When the chicken or salmon is done, I replace it in the microwave with the veggie for two minutes.
5. I season the chicken or salmon and the vegetable with curry powder, garlic powder, soy sauce, and/or parmesan cheese. 
6. I sometimes have a (cheap) glass of wine with dinner.
7. I have a fruit and/or frozen yogurt for dessert.  

And voila, a tasty, healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner, each with just two minutes of prep time!

Dear reader? Do you think this has the makings of a small book, perhaps selling it in bulk to companies that make microwaves. Perhaps they'd want to use the book as a selling tool: "A free copy of Two-Minute Meals" is included with every one of our microwaves."