20 minutes upwards, depending on what and whether I get distracted. Some of our staples are: Risotto marinara
Squash and blue cheese risotto
I use about 3/4 of a cup of a regular pasta sauce from the store, some diced onion, a dash of balsamic, some wine and water as needed.
Throw in some chopped mushrooms or spinach or whatever.
About 35 minutes
Bell peppers stuffed with a Mediterranean pilaf type thing
About a cup of cubed fresh whole squash, seeded and peeled.
Squash is sauteed in wine and stock from paste until it's tender, then mashed
Added to rice with diced onion, more wine, some vege stock from paste and a bit of grated parmesan.
Stir blue cheese through before serving.
About 50 minutes
Burrito bowls
Rice, beans, sundried tomatoes, chopped walnuts, olives, oregano, salt and pepper.
Then it's spooned into halved peppers that roasted while I sauteed
Top with blue cheese crumbles, and baked more until the cheese browns a little.
About 45 minutes
Dum aloo
Puree up some onion with a bit of chipotle in adobo from a jar, some cumin, cilantro, oregano, pepper, salt.
Throw in a pot with canned beans and about a cup of water and a bay leaf, boil until saucy beans happen.
Cook rice, drain, stir in lime juice and olive oil.
Slice up some onion and bell peppers. Sautee them with oregano, salt and pepper until browned.
Make guacamole, thaw some corn, cut up some lettuce and tomato.
About 1hr
Masala
Chop potatoes, par cook and then shallow fry until golden.
Heat oil with ginger paste and ground cinnamon, fennel, chili, clove and cardamom.
Throw in potatoes, coat, stir in coconut milk and some water, stir until thickened.
About 40 minutes.
Lentils
I cheat and use a sauce from the store on whatever veggies I have around.
About 30 minutes.
Ginger and black pepper stirfry
Red lentils cooked in a broth of onion, a fresh tomato, jalapeno, cumin, clove, cilantro, salt, and bay leaf.
Stir in some spinach or shredded kale.
About 20 minutes.
Feel free to ask for more detailed versions of the instructions. Random veggies sauteed until tender
Stirred into a thickened sauce of ginger, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, a little sugar and cracked black pepper.
About 30 minutes.
I loved your ideas, especially the burrito bowls and the lentils with greens. Food in bowls is always the best, don't have to worry too much about how you hog down on it. :D Btw, I am from India and that's not how Dum Aloo is made. You should probably swap in the coconut milk with some natural yogurt instead, and then you could call it that. :) Also I am surprised it has no cumin or coriander powders, that's unusual. The spices you've mentioned are the warmer ones used in little amounts, but cumin and coriander are staples and used more lavishly. :)
I'm gonna try the lentils. I like the taste of them but I never know what to add to them.
Ok, 1 cup of red lentils to about 4 cups of water should give you 3 or 4 meal sized servings. I use powdered cumin/clove and fresh cilantro. I freehand it but go for at least a teaspoon of cumin and a pinches or two of ground clove. Or just use a garam masala mix. Honestly the spices are just a guide, I vary it all the time. Sometimes it has garlic and ginger too. Go with as much onion as you want, I usually use a whole small one. Puree half with the tomato so it adds to the sauce but keep half of it in coarsely chopped or in strips and brown that in some oil, then add the spice powders, stir a minute and then throw in the water, bay leaf, cilantro and lentils. And it's pretty good served with fresh chopped tomato on top too. You can build upon this quite easily too. Your imagination is your limit.