It’s one of those long days, and your stomach growls as you scan your fridge. It seems overwhelming and a little stressful to cook, especially on the fly. So you order in. Again.

My job is to help ease your way into regularly making stress-free dinners. The payoff is big, because cooking from scratch is always more economical and healthier than takeout — and it can be almost as easy.

Wash and cut any vegetables for the coming week

Wherever you do your shopping, the drill is the same: Wash all the salad and other greens (spinach, kale, chard, etc.), spin dry, roll them into clean dish towels and store them (with the towel) in plastic or produce bags in the fridge.

They’ll last at least a week, so you can turn them into salads with dressings you have on hand. The hardy greens can go into a skillet with garlic, ginger and chili for a quick cook, adding chopped chicken or tofu to make a stir-fry. Simply season to taste with soy sauce and sesame oil.

For simple cooking, wash, cut and store any sturdy vegetables (asparagus, carrots, squash, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, radishes, turnips). Even alliums like scallions, leeks and onions will last in the fridge, sliced or diced, for three or four days. Just avoid pre-chopping avocados, potatoes, eggplant or tomatoes; they don’t hold up as well.

Stock up on cooked rice

Whether you use a rice cooker or a pot on the stove, keeping white or brown rice in the fridge is the secret to speedy meals (tuna mayo rice bowl, anyone?). Rice that’s a few days old works even better in stir-fries than fresh cooked, getting nice and crisp.

Prepare a pot of beans

Beans cooked from scratch are less expensive and often taste a lot better than canned, especially when seasoned with garlic, avocado or bay leaves and herbs, as in frijols de olla. Then savor them with the rice you also made.

Have a library of sauces at hand

Assemble a sauce library (to which I’d add an annex for dressings and easy marinades). Then, borrow from it all week to use on your rice, beans, salads and other easy meals.

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Frijoles de Olla (Homestyle Black Beans)

By Rick A. Martínez

Total time: 2 hours, 35 minutes

Yield: 3 quarts

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked through
  • ¼ medium white onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 dried or fresh avocado or bay leaves
  • 3 fresh epazote sprigs or a combination of parsley, oregano and mint sprigs
  • Fine sea salt
STEPS
  1. In a large pot, combine the beans, onion, garlic, avocado leaves, epazote, 4 teaspoons salt and 16 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook at a slow simmer, uncovered, skimming and stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, 1½ to 3½ hours. Check the beans every hour to see if they need more water; the beans should always be covered by water. The cooking time will depend on how old the beans are; freshly dried beans can fully cook in 1½ hours.
  2. Remove and discard the herbs. Taste and season the beans with more salt if desired. The beans and their cooking liquid can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Or, make them up to 3 months ahead and freeze in an airtight container.

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Tuna Mayo Rice Bowl

By Eric Kim

Total time: 5 minutes

Servings: 1

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 (5-ounce) can tuna (preferably any variety stored in oil), well drained
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • ½ teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 cup cooked white rice (preferably short- or medium-grain)
  • Toasted white or black sesame seeds, furikake or chopped scallions, for topping (optional)
STEPS
  1. In a small bowl, stir the tuna, mayonnaise, sesame oil and soy sauce to combine.
  2. Add the white rice to a bowl and spoon the tuna mixture on top. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds, furikake or scallions, if using.

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Blistered Tomato Dressing

By Yewande Komolafe

Total time: 20 minutes

Yield: About 2 cups

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 pound tomatoes (about 3 medium) or 2 pints cherry tomatoes
  • 1 shallot, peeled and minced
  • 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, plus more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal), plus more to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
STEPS
  1. Heat a broiler to high. Place the tomatoes on a sheet pan and broil until the skin is charred and peeling, about 6 minutes. Flip and char the other sides until the tomatoes are soft and begin to release some of their moisture, about 5 minutes. If using cherry tomatoes, blister without turning until the tomatoes char, collapse and release their moisture, about 10 minutes.
  2. When the whole tomatoes are cool enough to handle, transfer them to a board and coarsely chop. (Skip this step if you used cherry tomatoes.) Transfer the tomatoes with their juices to a medium bowl. Add the shallot, sherry vinegar, red pepper flakes, if using, and the salt and pepper. Stir in the olive oil. Taste and add more vinegar and salt if necessary.
  3. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Serve as a dressing over cooked leafy greens, green salads, grain salads, roasted or grilled vegetables, meat and fish.
This story was originally published at nytimes.com. Read it here.