Covering food items and dishes at night

Q:

1. What is the correct Islamic ruling regarding washing and covering of dishes at night?

2. Should all the dishes be essentially washed before sleeping? Or Is it sufficient to cover the unwashed dishes? Or can they be left uncovered?

3. Should the washed dishes be covered too?

4. Should the fruits/vegetables be covered?

5. Do the food items like boiled milk inside shelves having net door need to covered?

Reciting a surah or aayaat equivalent to a surah in Salaah

Q: I believe that in a book I read titled, Laws of salah, written by Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qadari Razavi (Dawat-e-Islami) it said on the hundred and fifth page these following words:-

'After you finish surah Fatihah, utter amin in a low volume and then recite either three short ayahs or one long ayah that is equivalent to three short ayahs or any surah such as surah Ikhlas.'

I had a query based on the last line of this paragraph. When it quotes, 'or any surah,' do you think that this is implying that after surah Fatihah has been recited you can recite another surah, or is it suggesting that after surah fatihah you can recite an ayah that is equivalent to another surah, or do you think that it can be referring to both?