How to cook simply yet tasty

I don't understand people when they say they 'can't' cook or when they say they don't know how.  Cooking is really incredibly easy once you put in a little bit of time into it.  I'll explain here one simple way to make tasty food that is adaptable to a wide variety of situations, foods, and tastes.

First thing you have to do is get a cast iron skillet.  Now go, I'll wait for you to come back, bring about $20 with ya and get a 10 inch cheap one.

Back?  Fabulous.

Now go to the grocery store and pick up some meat and veggies, I don't really care what kind of meat (fish, chicken, beef, lamb, whatever) and I honestly don't care about your veggies either.  If you like artichokes go get them, they're in season.

Back again?  Great.

Now toss it all in a preheated cast iron with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Set your oven for 400 degrees and roast until done (probably about 30-45 min depending on the meat and veggies.)  It's easy.  Probably took you all over 5 min to prepare, and while you're waiting for it to be done you can be doing other things like exercising, reading, watching glee, whatever.

That's basic, easy, and most importantly its ingrained in our DNA to do it.  This is primal stuff here.  Our ancestors have been doing essentially this since we learned fire plus food equals delicious.

Of course you can jazz it up a bit, maybe you want to marinade the chicken a bit or give your beef a good rub (salt, pepper, paprika makes a great one.)  If you've got a lot of caramelized bits on the bottom, deglaze the pan with some beer, wine, or broth and heat that for a bit on the stove then serve over your meal.