There is a common misconception that Indian food is involved and takes a lot of prep time. Here is my recipe for a weekday palak paneer. Comforting, garlicky and delicious. I use vegetable stock and a tbsp of nooch (nutritional yeast) to give this a huge unmami boost. It tastes like you’ve slaved on the stove for hours.

Prep: Peel 2-4 cloves of garlic, chop a block of paneer into inch sized pieces (that is it!)

Cook: In 1 tbsp of oil, start a jeera tadka (1 tsp of cumin till it sputters, a pinch of asafetida, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1-2 dried red chillies broken into fragment). Wilt one pack of washed spinach (5 oz) and 2-3 cloves of garlic on high heat(1-3 minutes). Blend the spinach and garlic mix with 1 cup of vegetable stock (I use better than bouillon), 1 tbsp of nooch, 1/2tsp of coriander powder and 1/2 tsp of cumin powder.

While that is blending away, in the same pan, add one more tbsp of oil and lightly brown the paneer cubes. Add the gravy back- cook for 10 minutes on a simmer, add a dash of heavy cream, taste for salt and you are done

Serve with rice or roti or tortillas. Also good as a soup if you increase the liquid to 2 cups of vegetable stock.