"Emergency" cooking
Posted by Catski on Aug 17, 2007 · Member since Jun 2007 · 1431 posts
I just had a great time inventing something with what my parents had kicking around the house. Getting them to buy any amount of fruit and veg is a mission. Here's what I'm eating:
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of white beans
1 pack of noodles
1 small onion
1/2 a red pepper
a clove of garlic
a big spoonful of sesame seeds
salt, pepper and mixed herbs
I just ate half of it in about ten minutes, and may just have to go back and finish it off. Bad me.
What have you guys made lately with whatever was to hand? You know, the kind of cooking where you throw in anything you think might vaguely work together? Did you make it again another time?
We occasionally make "clean out the fridge" soup. It happens when we notice we have half a pepper, two potatoes, a parsnip, 5 baby carrots... and they all should meet a fate soon.
haha I think that is how i usually cook, heres a good one: quinoa with a bag of frozen mixed veggies, black beans, mrs dash & hot sauce, maybe some nut yeast if you have it.
quinoa with a bag of frozen mixed veggies
Oh wow. My wife did that one last week. She used a veggie boullion cube and a little garlic powder. Cool!
I'm in the midst of doing this right now. I have a bad habit of always buying pantry and frozen goods when they are on sale. I also need room in the freezer to put up fresh veggies now that they are in season. Right now I'm devoting a couple of weeks to cleaning things out. Soup is always a good option as is any good grain and veggie mix.
I have never been big on spending money on clothes but I love shopping for food. I will spend days deciding if I should spend 30 bucks on a pair of cool pants but wont blink about spending the same amount on a bottle of balsamic or some fancy finishing salt.
Last night was mixed frozen veg curry and tonight is ginger peanut soup :)
I usually make a pasta soup. Fry some onions, garlic in a little oil,add a can of crushed tomatoes, add some cooked ziti to it and then some spices like oregano, basil, salt, parsely.
Around here, it's Getting-Rid-Of-Last-Week's-Produce-In-Order-To-Make-Room-For-New-Stuff-From-The-Farmer's-Market day on Wednesdays. ;)
I did that last night. I bought a ton of new veggies, and realized I bought what I already had. So I made Vegan Shabu shabu (A Japanese soup ... look it up. It's yummy with tofu). I cut up the old peppers, bok choy, green onion and whatever else I had, and dropped it in the broth. Then I dropped in cubed tofu and I had rice on the side, and wasabi/soy dip for the veggies. OMG!!!! It was soooooo good.
I also do the, as my mom calls it, Kitchen-sink soup. She used to use anything that was getting old. From chicken or beef to veggies to rice (cooked). I make a vegan version when I have old veggies. I just throw cut up veggies in a pot with veggie broth, and presto. Easy dinner.
haha I think that is how i usually cook,
Me too! Most of my stirfries and the recipes I submit are the results of my opening cupboard and fridge, taking out what looks interesting, and finding somehow to put them together in a pleasing fashion!
Our veg and fruit are very seasonal...there IS out of season fruit and veg in some places, but very pricey and very tasteless. So there's no point in my "making a list" to shop for it until I actually GET there and see what they've got! For example no mushrooms have been available at my local veg shop for about 2 mos. "Not in season" I'm told. Not exactly but they are more expensive so my (lazy) greengrocer doesn't bother with them unless you special order...and by telling you "not in season" he doesn't have to bother.
So I get creative...and share the results here.