Dinner Dash: Bailing Out Dinner – Essential Ingredients for Meals in a Hurry
What to do when you need to cook a meal with minimal ingredients
Here’s the situation: you’re done work for the day – you are pretty darn tired. Something goes wrong with your plans, and you find out last minute you have to make a home-cooked dinner from scratch.
To make matters worse, your pantry is pretty bare – with no time to buy groceries. Don’t panic. In MOMeo’s new feature column, here are some simple recipes that use common food staples in any barely-stocked kitchen.
An extra hint; here are some power ingredients we always recommend having on standby:
Rice. It doesn’t matter what kind, but the best value is one of the giant bags they keep near the supermarket floor.
Soup stock. Add this to almost everything in place of water, to thin out sauces, and make risotto.
Dried pasta. The simplest and easiest thing to make in a hurry is hot pasta salad with some kind of savory salad dressing as the sauce. Try roasted red pepper or balsamic vinaigrette.
Frozen vegetables. We can’t survive on starch alone, no matter how much you may want to. These can be added to almost anything, from stir-fries to soups.
Spice rack. Whether simple or expansive, why even have a kitchen if you don’t have a spice rack?
Garlic. It goes in everything!
Fried Rice
4 cups pre-cooked rice
1 cup frozen vegetables
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp allspice
1tsp garlic or garlic powder
1. Heat oil in a wok or sauté pan.
2. If using fresh garlic, add it now. If not, skip this step.
3. Add the frozen vegetables and heat until tender but not fully cooked.
4. Add the rice and stir well.
5. Mix in the soy sauce, allspice, and if using it, the garlic powder. You may find you prefer to add more soy sauce, so feel free to add more to taste.
This is an incredibly easy, fast, and versatile dish. You can add anything else that you may have on hand, like frozen chicken breasts, frozen shrimp, and of course, fresh veggies like green or white onions, bell peppers or celery.
Oven Roasted Chicken Breast with Ginger-Mint Peas
4 frozen chicken breasts
1 lemon, juiced
4 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
2 tsp (4 g) dried thyme
2 tsp (4 g) dried rosemary
2 tsp (4 g) dried sage salt and pepper to taste
1. Run cold water over chicken breasts until thawed.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C)
3. Place all ingredients, including the chicken, in a bowl and mix well.
4. Transfer chicken to a greased baking sheet, skin side down. Place in oven.
5. Cooking time may vary, but 20 minutes should be about right. Be sure to check doneness before serving. While chicken is in the oven, move on to the peas.
Ginger-Mint Peas
2 cups (420 g) frozen peas
1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
1 tsp (2 g) grated ginger
3-4 fresh mint leaves, (or 1 bag of mint tea, string removed)
1. In a wok or no-stick skillet, heat the oil and add the ginger.
2. Add the frozen peas and stir frequently until all peas are just a little soft.
3. Add all of the mint leaves (or the mint tea bag, if using) and stir until peas are fully cooked.
4. Serve with chicken, fish or even pork, or as a speedy snack on its own.
Yields dinner for four. Total cooking time; approximately 30 minutes.
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MOMeo Kitchen: Thanksgiving Extras
MOMeo Kitchen
You most likely already know what you’re serving as a main course for your Thanksgiving dinner. Depending on your household, it’s likely ham or turkey (or – Heaven help us -Turducken.)
But it’s not a meal until you add some fabulous side dishes. Sometimes unique supporting characters can steal the show. These four dishes are quick and easy to make, and use ingredients you’re likely to have on hand. After all, MOMeo time is precious.
Creamy, Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes can be as standard and boring as toast, but it doesn’t have to be that way. To make truly sophisticated mashed potatoes, incorporate cheese(s) chosen for creaminess and taste. Brie, goat cheese or smoked gouda all work well in this recipe; use any of these, or all three. Make sure you remove the rind.
8 cups (2L) cubed peeled russet potatoes
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup (125 mL) hot milk
1/4 cup (50 mL) butter
1/2 tsp (2 mL) thyme, dry or fresh
1/4 tsp (1 mL) nutmeg
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) cayenne pepper
8 oz (250 g) cheese, shredded cubed or crumbled
1. Cook potatoes and garlic in boiling salted water until tender; drain.
2. Add all other ingredients except for the cheese. Mash with a potato masher until smooth (using a food processor or blender will almost certainly give you a wallpaper paste consistency, so mashing by hand is always best).
3. Stir in desired cheese until almost melted.
Serves 8.
Baked Sweet Potato and Peaches
A daring combination that really works, this side dish is a perfect sweet accompaniment to the usual savoury Thanksgiving fare. Fresh peaches could be used instead of canned, but peeling and working around their big pits can be time-consuming, and you want to focus your attention on that turkey in the oven…
2 lbs (.9 kg) sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled, & cut into thick pieces
1 can peach slices, well drained
1/3 cup (79 mL)broken cashews
1/2 cup (125 mL) brown sugar 3 tbsp (44 mL) butter or oil
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt 1/4 tsp (1mL) ginger
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine brown sugar, cashews, salt and ginger in a bowl
In a baking dish layer half the sweet potatoes, half the peach slices and half the brown sugar mixture. Repeat then dot with butter or oil to keep moist
Bake covered in the oven for 30 minutes
Uncover, and bake for another 10 minutes to caramelize
Serves 6 to 8.
Curried Pumpkin and Wild Mushroom Soup
The first Thanksgiving was a feast to celebrate the harvest – fruit, vegetables, game…and fungus? Fall is a great time to find wild and exciting mushrooms like morels, chanterelles, porcinis, or even lobsters. If all you can find is dried mushrooms, make sure you soak them first. And if just want to stick to plain old white mushrooms, well that’s OK too.
4 cups (1 L) pumpkin, pureed
4 cups (1 L) chicken or vegetable stock
3 cups (750 mL) whipping cream
¾ lb (375 g) mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 ½ cup (375 mL) onions, chopped
3 tbsp (45 mL) butter
3 tbsp (45 mL) brown sugar
3 tbsp (45 mL) all purpose flour
1 ½ tbsp (20 mL) curry powder
½ tsp (2 mL) nutmeg
In a large saucepan over medium heat sauté mushrooms and onions in butter until onions are translucent
Add flour and curry powder and blend, stirring for 5 minutes
Add stock, pumpkin, brown sugar and nutmeg, stirring until blended
Transfer to food processor or blender and puree until smooth
Add cream and return to saucepan
Reheat until hot enough to serve
Serves 8 to 10
Green Beans and Asparagus with Cranberries
This is another simple-but-wow dish that won’t command a lot of time, but will delight your diners. It’s a classic case of ingredients making the dish – there’s no sauce to disguise the flavor – and fresh vegetables need no such adornment anyway.
1/2 lb (227 g) fresh green beans, trimmed and sliced
½ lb (227 g) asparagus, trimmed
1 ¼cup (295 mL) cranberries
1/4 tsp (1.23 mL) salt
3 tbsp (45 mL) vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp (30 mL) fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp (15 mL) marjoram
salt and pepper to taste
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add 1/4 teaspoon of salt
Add the beans and asparagus and cook for 3 to 4 minutes
Remove and rinse under cold water.
Heat oil in a pan and add the veggies. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
Allow to cook for another 5 minutes.
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