With the wifey traveling less these days, she got fired up to rehash her kitchen creativity and Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredient recipes really got her fired up to get cookin’. Not a big fan of mise en place, or prep work in general, the focus on preparing a handful of ingredients really helped her ease back into full kitchen cooking, as hotel room cooking could be a blog all its own. Her first adventure, Sizzling Seared Scallops, a recipe we discovered while binging Jamie’s Quick and Easy Food series on Hulu. Even with a slight variation, the dish turned out amazingly tasty and clean up was a breeze.

Variation: Pine nuts were subbed for the Black Pudding, since I don’t keep Black Pudding on hand, and we weren’t interested in a scavenger hunt before dinner, the UK delight simply wasn’t available for us to use. Bacon, sausage crumble, or pancetta can also be subbed, if desired.

Find the original recipe here:

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/seafood-recipes/sizzling-seared-scallops/

The second Jamie inspired dinner that got my wife solo in the kitchen, Seared Sesame Tuna, absolutely wowed us with the simple yet explosively delicious use of Miso paste. Smear a bit of Miso on all sides of the tuna steak before rolling in Sesame Seeds, and I swear you will never eat seared tuna any other way!

Only variation, the addition of baby bok choy, but skip it, as it over crowded the pan and the resulting steam prevented the veggies from crisping up, as intended in the original recipe. Otherwise, happy cooking, happy eating, and even happier one pan clean up!

Find the original recipe here:

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/seared-sesame-tuna/

The best part about both these recipes? My wife inspired me to open my heart back up to the joy of creative cooking, which I’ve especially needed these past few months. She stepped out of her comfort zone to help pull me out of my I’ll just have another one of these bulk chicken Ramen packets I bought for the kids that aren’t here anymore funk I’ve been in. She sparked joy back into the embers of my creativity, and we only had one pan to clean up to boot. At the end of day, that’s the kind of love you know is worth fighting for.

Thanks Jamie Oliver, and a special thanks to my wife, who never gives up on my passions no matter how many times I might.