Food and Cooking

Crispy chickpeas are my go to air fryer snack. Especially lazy since I don't even bother to preheat the fryer...

• 1/2 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp cayene
• pinch salt

1. Drain and rinse chickpeas (no need to dry). Toss with olive oil and spices and dump into fryer basket.
2. Put the basket in your non-preheated fryer. Turn it on, set to around 390°F (200°C), and cook for about 14 minutes total, shaking a couple of times. 
3. Remove and add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted carrots. They come out nicely caramelized and delicious. Toss in your oil of choice, some salt and pepper. Time and temp will depend on your individual air fryer. You can also do chicken wings. I found it best to double fry them and then toss in your sauce of choice. I used this video as a guide and the wings were amazing. I'm counting it as healthy because it wasn't fried. Lazy factor may be a bit low for the wings but not that bad. I hope my linking works right, this is my first comment on kbin, fingers crossed.

For a snack, I really like just heating up some frozen edamame in the microwave. Depending on the portion size, expect maybe 1 min of microwaving; let it cool off for a few mins because they always come out boiling in my experience. Salt em with kosher salt (or regular if you don't have) and squeeze the beans out of the pod in your mouth. Easiest way to get a little bit of veg and protein, hands down.

It's not the laziest, but this one can be prepped and made in the air fryer in <15 mins and it's honestly AMAZING. Could probably be really good with some heated up grilled chicken slices for protein, too. Requires a lot of fresh ingredients so it's more of a rare treat but it's sooooo good.

For a lazy snack, especially in summer when we have fresh tomatoes, my go to recipe is greek salad or as they call it horiatiki.

You can google that for tips, but I can have one done in under 10 min and it can be summed up like this: cut cucumber, tomatoes and bell pepper in big chunks, onions into thin strips, put some olives (I like kalamata) in there, make a dressing for which I use a GOOD extra virgin olive oil (where I can taste the olives!), a vinegar of your choice (i like wine ones) and maybe some lemon juice and/or oregano, and mix it all up. Salt and pepper to taste. In the end, put a big chunk of feta on top (you can cut it put I prefer to just do that as I eat so it doesn‘t disintegrate).

I eat all that with some sort of bread, I like baguette or ciabatta, but anything works really.

Due to being disabled I do most of my cooking in the microwave. I'd love to get an air fryer but I have no counter space for it where I currently live.

I often do actual cooking - you can cook almost anything in the microwave, except most baking and anything that needs to be browned like a hamburger or a pot sticker - but sometimes it's just, feh, let's just do this.

I'll take a packet of the Knorr's "fried rice" (which is rice, thin pasta, freeze dried peas & carrots, and spices) and extend it out. I always use plain olive oil for the fat, and slightly reduce the water it wants if I use frozen vegetables. Then, chop up whatever vegetables you need to get rid of and/or feel like throwing in with the mix, oil, and water into a bigass bowl. I tend to use broccoli, snap peas, string beans, and/or asparagus, but sometimes I'll use a pre-mixed package of "mixed stir fry vegetables." Whatever I've bought that's on sale. If you want to add any kind of meat or tofu, add it in the last 5-6 minutes of cooking time, less if it's pre-cooked. You can also stir in an egg or two at that point if you'd like. You'll get thin threads of egg throughout. I set my microwave to cook the whole thing for about 15 minutes; all the additions makes it need more. Adjust as you need.

One thing I do that's less lazy but more "lasts for a while" is a tuna pasta salad. Boil up half or a whole box of pasta - I use shells or bowties, but any pasta will do. Wrap a head of broccoli in moist paper towels and nuke briefly until it's just starting to soften. Cool it down, then chop it up. Chop up some tomatoes (I usually use 2-4 Romas). Drain 1-2 cans of tuna fish [depending on how much pasta you have. Toss this all together. Pour over it a good vinaigrette. I make my own with red wine vinegar, olive oil, black pepper, garlic powder, and because I use a lot of vinegar, a pinch of sugar or a drop of sucralose, to offset the bitterness. Let it sit for at least an hour, toss again, then consume. The best thing about this recipe is what goes into it is up to you. You can completely change the vegetables. You could use shredded or chopped chicken instead of tuna. Or finely diced extra firm tofu and make it vegan.

The easiest snack of all is popcorn. Don't buy the microwave packets. Buy the raw kernels. Get yourself a silicone popcorn popper for the microwave; they're about $10 online. It's a silicone tub/bowl with measuring markers at the bottom and a lid that goes way down at the start but rises as the kernels pop. Some people put butter in the bottom but I'm afraid it will burn and haven't tried that; I melt and add butter afterwards. Some people claim you can do this with a paper bag, but I've also heard others say the bag can catch on fire. A couple of handfuls of kernels and 2-3 minutes in the microwave and you have a big bowl of fresh popcorn. Yum.

Trim 3 or 4 zucchini, lengthwise, into quarters [sticks].

Mix 1 t each of dried thyme, dried oregano, paprika, and .5 t black pepper into .5 c grated parm.

Place the zucchini sticks, peel side down, onto your wire baking rack. Brush the cut sides of the sticks with olive oil. Sprinkle the parm over, pressing it in a bit as necessary.

Bake @ 350 for 15-20 minutes.

I don't have a recipe for it because my girlfriend always makes them but Brussels sprouts are amazing in the air fryer. If you have a recipe you like you do in the oven try it in the air fryer!

1. Put brussels sprouts, star zucchini (both cut in half) and julienne baby carrots on a tupper with a lid, coat in olive oil, salt and pepper, and shake.
2. Put contents in oven dish and air fry for 10-12 minutes at 250-300°F.
3. While that's going on, cut a red onion in thin slices, some mushrooms, put in the tupper, coat in olive oil, salt and pepper, and shake.
4. Mix in oven dish with the sprouts and zucchini, keep air frying for another 10 minutes.
5. Next up is asparagus, coated in olive oil, etc. mix with everything else, do another 10-12 minutes.
   (on this last stage, sometimes I'll mix in some butter for the asparagus stage)

"Healthy" in big quotations marks. Healthier maybe considering you're reducing the fat content quite a bit...

Anyway. If you microwave sliced salami ob some paper towels you get crispy salami chips.

If you make a bunch of then you should rotate between several plates. Otherwise theyll get unbearably hot.