5 Uncomplicated Dinners for When You're Too Tired to Think

I'm a chef, but I'm also a busy working mom. I know how to make classic dishes by the traditional method, but after years of working, I figured out a better way of cooking that doesn’t take more time than it needs to. Because who wants to do 40 minutes of prep work or purchase 20-plus ingredients at the grocery store? Below, you'll find five delicious and deliciously-easy dinner recipes that call for ingredients you probably already have on hand. They come from my new cookbook, UNCOMPLICATED: Taking the Stress Out of Home Cooking, and I hope they will get you excited about cooking and take the headache out of homemade.

I never gave fried rice the time of day until I discovered world-famous French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s version. Chef Vongerichten shallow-fries ginger, garlic, leeks and other ingredients separately before carefully combining everything in one bowl. It is exceptionally delicious ... and a little too complicated for my everyday life. Since we often have leftover rice, either from a previous supper or a Thai delivery, I simplified Jean-Georges’s concept and came up with this shortcut. Now this is a fast weeknight one-pot