The Anatomy of a Half-Assed Healthy Meal
August 22, 2009 | (3)
As you can probably see by the frequency of my posts, I’ve been quite busy the past two weeks. In between all of the extra hours at work and travel I have had little time to grocery shop, nevermind cooking. I give you exhibit A:
Surprise! I cook in a closet with a dorm 'fridge.
That is a SAD picture. Just look at my empty little ‘fridge! There’s no way I could create a meal with those offerings, right? Not really. When I find the ‘fridge empty I can always head to the cupboard, which I know will be stocked. That’s the key to cooking on the fly: a well stocked pantry. I won’t claim that what emerges from the pot is the most gourmet of meals, but sometimes I just need a quick healthy meal that doesn’t require a trip to the store.
Here’s how it usually plays out:
The Base: A pasta or grain of some sort. Pastas, rices, and grains can keep for several months in a cool dry place. I always have several options on hand. Tonight, I’m going for the whole wheat rotini pasta. Once it was cooked and drained I added…
The Veg: Here’s where canned soups and veggies are a busy gal’s best friend. Stick to low sodium soups and you can get quite a bit of nutrition for very little work. My other staple is a couple kinds of frozen veggies. I usually have spinach, broccoli and peas in the freezer at all times. I can grab a cup or so and add to a one-pot meal for a quick vitamin dose. For this concoction I reached for the spinach and some canned tomato soup.
Half-assed meal, half-assed photography
The Protein: No meat here, just dried or canned beans or lentils. When I’m traveling a lot I don’t keep meat around, so for these quickie meals I turn to legumes for the protein. Lentils go well with the flavors I picked out, so I cooked up a half cup and added them to the cooked pasta and veggies.
Tha Flavah: Cured olives, parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar, pressed garlic, canned broths and spices can liven up what appears to be a rather dull meal. I had some parmesan in the back of the fridge, so I topped the pasta with a little and sprinkled on some Italian seasoning.
Those olive chips are TAY-STEE
Et Voila! Dinner from nothing. I say from nothing, but actually it takes a little planning in advance for these situations. I keep an eye on my stocks of the staples I mentioned above, and when they get low I pick them up from the store during my usual grocery run.
These half-assed meals are typically one-pot, which makes preparing and cleaning up much easier. This particular meal took me about 25 minutes to prepare. Much of the time was hands off, giving me a chance to do other chores like laundry. Multitasking FTW!
Ingredients: frozen spinach, lentils, meatless, Parmesan, tomato soup, whole wheat pasta
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drmiggy Says:
