A great staple meal is a grilled chicken. It can be paired with so many other things and is surprisingly easy to make well.
You can keep some frozen chicken breasts in your freezer to make a cheap meal available at any time. This also works with raw chicken too, so whatever you have available.
Grab a pan with a lid or you can also use a lid slightly smaller than the pan. It's important to use a combination that allows you to have a lid with a seal. This helps cook the chicken thoroughly while making sure it doesn't dry out.
Then drizzle some olive oil onto the center of the pan. This is to keep the chicken from sticking to the pan and also adds a little healthy fat and flavour.
Then you just set the chicken on the oil. I also drizzle just a little olive oil on the top of the chicken. This helps keep the seasoning on and a little oil for when you flip it. Don't go excessive on the oil though.
Speaking of seasoning, this is also very simple. Just a little bit of salt and pepper, and the part that really makes it good, rosemary. Sprinkle a little bit of rosemary on there and it takes the chicken to the next notch.
After you dress your chicken, put that lid we talked about on. Turn the stove onto medium heat and don't pick up the lid. The seal really is what keeps the chicken from drying out, so the less you lift it, the better. Just let it cook for a few minutes. You'll probably hear the sizzling and see some steam. Basically just listen and trust your gut, but try not to lift the lid more than once. When the first side is cooked really well, flip it and replace the lid.
You know it's done when the center is cooked thoroughly. I cut into the center just a little bit before taking it off the skillet. As long as it's not pink you'll be ok. If you see pink, it's not done and you could get sick by eating it.
While you chould keep to the code for cooking the chicken, the seasonings are more like guidelines.