Five-ingredient weeknight dinners (3 real recipes)

Five ingredients each (salt, pepper, oil and water are free). All under 30 minutes.

1. Pasta aglio e olio
Spaghetti + garlic + olive oil + chili flakes + parmesan.

• Boil the pasta. Meanwhile, gently sizzle sliced garlic in lots of olive oil until golden — not brown.
• Toss in chili flakes, then the drained pasta with a splash of pasta water. The starchy water plus oil is the sauce.
• Shower with parmesan. Tastes like a restaurant, costs almost nothing.

2. Sheet-pan sausage and vegetables
Sausage + potatoes + bell pepper + onion + olive oil.

• Chop everything chunky, toss with oil and salt on a sheet pan.
• Roast at 425F for 25 minutes, flipping once. One pan, zero babysitting.

3. Egg fried rice
Day-old rice + eggs + soy sauce + frozen peas + sesame oil.

• Scramble the eggs first and set aside. Fry cold rice in a hot pan until it crackles.
• Add peas, soy sauce, eggs back in. Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil off the heat.
• Cold rice is the secret — fresh rice steams instead of frying.

Master these three and you'll never stare into the fridge in despair again.

Bonus fourth: black bean tacos. Tortillas + canned black beans + onion + cumin + lime. Sauté the onion, add beans and a spoonful of cumin, mash roughly, squeeze lime over it. Warm the tortillas directly over a gas flame for 10 seconds a side. Dinner in 12 minutes.