The first hack is practice. (I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you aren't very experienced; otherwise, you would have told us how experienced you ar

The first hack is practice. (I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you aren't very experienced; otherwise, you would have told us how experienced you are.) In this way, cooking is like programming. As with a programming task, a recipe that takes an hour of attention now may take half an hour of your attention next year, and there's no way to enumerate the difference as a handful of tips and tricks. The biggest difference between a beginner and an expert is that the expert executes the fundamentals quickly and sparely while the beginner gets bogged down in uncertainty. "The recipe doesn't specify what kind of oil to use. Does it matter? How big is a pinch of salt? What size and shape am I supposed to cut the asparagus into? The way I'm holding the knife is giving me a blister. The dishwasher is running and all the cup measures are inside -- how do I measure a quarter cup? Do I have to get it exactly right for this recipe? I forgot to buy carrots. Do I have to drive back to the grocery store, or will the recipe be fine without them?" None of the answers to those questions could be called "hacks," but the experienced cook saves a lot of time by knowing the answers right away and proceeding without thinking about them. Luckily, expertise is context-specific, and you can develop narrow yet valuable expertise by making the same recipe several times. You'll become experienced at that recipe quickly. If you've made a recipe six times, you can make it in your sleep. Learn ten recipes and you're set for life, at least for the days when you want cooking to be quick and cheap and predictable. Just because a dish takes you an hour doesn't mean it won't work for you; it only means you're slow because it's your first time making that dish. Repetition is also the key to improvisation. With a little experience, you can browse through the grocery store (or your refrigerator) thinking about how your favorite recipes might accommodate the attractively-priced (or about-to-go-bad) ingredients that are available to you. Of course, you need recipes to get started. Here are two books that have been extremely useful to me. (My bookshelf looks much more interesting and sophisticated than this, but like you, I need healthy, quick, and cheap more often than I need a cultural or historical adventure.) Kimiko Barber's The Chopsticks Diet http://www.amazon.com/Chopsticks-Diet-Japanese-inspired-Recipes-Weight-Loss/dp/1904920985 http://www.amazon.com/Chopsticks-Diet-Japanese-inspired-Reci... This book has the kind of gimmicky title I would normally pass over in a bookstore, but I went looking for Kimiko Barber's books after reading some articles by her in the Financial Times. Fast, simple, probably dumbed-down Japanese cooking. You won't have to adjust the portion sizes. Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven http://www.amazon.com/Mollie-Katzens-Vegetable-Heaven-Uncommon/dp/0786862688/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_11 http://www.amazon.com/Mollie-Katzens-Vegetable-Heaven-Uncomm... Not exciting, but more of my quicky standards come from this book than from any other. If you want particular recipe recommendations, I would say: Bean stews and chili are great for freezing in large quantities. When you freeze food, remember to store it in quantities that are convenient to reheat later. Miso soup is ridiculously easy. Here's a relatively complex variation, still ridiculously easy, that is a complete meal thanks to the addition of soba noodles: http://kitchenoperas.com/2010/01/11/miso-soup-with-soba-noodles-and-greens/ http://kitchenoperas.com/2010/01/11/miso-soup-with-soba-nood... Salads and raw veggies are great. You can skip the bowl and just shovel them into your mouth. They're great for snacking on at the office, especially since packing them just means rinsing, patting dry, and putting them into a Tupperware container. Expand your idea of what's great for snacking: the older you get, the more asparagus and green beans taste like candy. There are a lot of ways to consume wilted, sad-looking greens that you can't afford to throw away: learn them and don't forget them! Miso soup, pasta puttanesca, stir-fries, perhaps anything with a sauce with a strong flavor. If you like kimchi, there's nothing that can brighten a cold lunch or add flavor to a boring dish of rice and lentils better than a few pieces of kimchi! P.S. Final edit, I swear: Sharpen your knives! Using a very sharp knife instead of a very dull one cuts your vegetable prep time in half. The easy way is to take your knives to a professional. The geekier, cheaper, but much more time-consuming alternative is to get a sharpening stone and learn to do it yourself.