What to cook when you’re burnt out as hell
Low and medium-effort ideas for when you’d rather not be making another decision.
Work and life and existing on this planet have got me really burnt out lately.
Busy with meetings and thinking about the next thing on my to-do list. Acting like a person who lives to work (and boy do I hate that). Busy with things I want to do, but also with so many things I don’t want to do. You go a short time without seeing friends and then before you know it, it’s been months. The weather is too hot, the weather is too smokey, the weather is too rainy. I stay inside where it’s safer but I don’t rest because there’s always something I can be doing. I could be answering emails. I could be working on this newsletter. I could be doing laundry.
Then somehow, again, it’s time to figure out what to eat. And when I am burnt out, that’s the last decision I want to make.
I live in a house that has a lot of ingredients but not a whole lot to eat. Almost everything is assembly required, so burnout meals can be a struggle. There’s always eggs or a salad or some variation of a snack plate, but I don’t always want that.
On those days, I’ve found success when I’ve stocked my freezer and pantry with items I can jump off from. It helps ease the burden of making yet another meal decision, or at least makes it less annoying. My freezer now has more pre-cooked foods in addition to the sauces and salsas I make each summer. My pantry has more noodle kits alongside my extensive collection of spices and seasonings. Maybe this feels like common sense to you, but it’s only something I’ve recently come around to.
It might not feel like it, but burnout goes away. But for the in between when you don’t want to figure out what to eat, I hope this framework and these recipes help ease the mental load. Not every meal has to be gourmet, but you don’t have to eat cereal for dinner if you don’t want to.
A bunch of low lift ideas to get you fed:
EGGS!! In taco or burrito form, on toast, in shakshuka
Sheet pan it! Roast vegetables, potatoes, and a protein at 400° for 30-45 minutes
A rotisserie chicken can take you anywhere
A baked potato is a great vessel for anything. Load it up with a bunch of topings
Noodle kits that you can jazz up like mac-n-cheese or Asian noodles like these ones from Fly by Jing
A snack plate featuring seasonal produce (or not!) and some fancy cheese. I like the burrata or the Cremeux de Bourgogne from Murray’s.
Over rice: beans, tuna salad (recipe below), leftover proteins of any kind
In a tortilla: quesadillas, tacos, burritos
With chips: use leftover (or canned) chili for nachos for dinner or combine canned beans and corn, and jarred salsa to make a quick dip
What to stock in the freezer to build from:
Premade things: ravioli, dumplings, eggrolls, meatballs, chicken tenders, sausages
Homemade sauces: garlic-scape pesto, tomato confit, a green sauce, SALSAS from Rick Martinez’s incredible book Salsa Daddy (they freeze great!!)
Tuna rice bowls
Loosely based off Eric Kim’s Tuna Mayo Rice Bowl, I like to add more things to make it more of a tuna salad. I also like to add a variety of different toppings depending on what I have in the fridge and in the pantry. The end result is poke bowl meets spicy tuna roll.
Serves 2-3
1 can of tuna
2+ tablespoons mayonnaise
1+ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1+ teaspoon soy sauce
1 rib of celery, finely chopped (optional)
1 scallion, thinly sliced (optional)
Handful of thinly sliced kale or crunch lettuce (optional)
To serve (pick a few or add a ton!)
Cooked white rice (preferably short- or medium-grain)
Cooked vegetables or a small salad
Avocado slices
Edamame
Spicy: chili garlic sauce, chili crunch
Pickled: pickled ginger, kimchi, quick Asian pickles
Scallions
Sesame seeds
In a small bowl, stir the tuna, mayonnaise, sesame oil, soy sauce, and any extras you’re using to combine. If you’re adding anything other than tuna, you’ll likely need more mayo, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Add a bit more and adjust and taste to your liking.
Serve with rice and any other toppings you want!
