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

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!

Frou Frou Franks and Beans

The beans will serve 3-4, and you can make as many hot dogs as mouths that want ‘em
Total time: 10 minutes
Cost per serving: $3-4

1 can white beans (cannellini they are sometimes called)
1 can chunky tomato soup
1 cup frozen spinach
1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar

low-fat, all-natural hot dogs
whole wheat hot dog buns
roasted corn and poblano salsa from Whole Foods, or pico de gallo
Lemonaise (I love this stuff. You can get it at Whole Foods or just use regular mayo or even mustard.)

1. Drain and rinse the beans under running water and put in a pot. Add the tomato soup and the spinach and heat over med-high heat.
2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray with a little no-stick spray. Cut the hot dogs lengthwise down the center, but not all the way through. Flatten them out and place cut side down on the skillet. Heat for a few minutes.
3. While the dogs are cooking, open the buns and scoop out some of the bread on one side, like the picture shows. It will look like a boat. Fill the boat with salsa or pico de gallo. By removing some of the bread you can cram more salsa into the sandwich. Scrap a thin layer of lemonaise on the other side.
   
4. Flip the dogs over and let heat through on the other side. Turn the heat off the beans and add the balsamic vinegar. I like mine tangy so I go for 2 tsp, but you can add one first and see if you want more.
5. Put the dogs in the buns and serve with the beans and a peach for desert.

How’s that for fancy franks and beans? That salsa really makes the dog. It’s spicy and cumin scented and just delicious. If you don’t want to use the salsa or pico that’s cool, my feelings won’t be hurt. You just won’t know what you’re missing

This is a weekend meal for me, mostly because it takes about 30 minutes to prepare. The salmon burgers a little on the expensive side, but they are one of my favorite convenience foods at Whole Foods. Plus, salmon is just so darn good for you. I realized when planning for this dinner that I was gonna dirty up quite a few pots, so I made one pot do double boil duty. Check out the deets below.

Double Boil Pasta Madness!!

Total time: 30 minutes
Cost per serving: about $8 (those salmon burgers aren’t cheap, but they are delicious!)

1/2 cup green lentils
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium sized white onion
2 large garlic cloves
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen spinach
2 cups whole wheat pasta (I like to mix shapes like shells and rotini, but if you want to be all boring then just go for one type)
cooking spray
4 salmon burgers from Whole Foods, any flavor
a few handfuls of fresh spinach
a few spoonfuls of pico de gallo
salad dressing of choice

1. Fill a large pot with waaaaaay more water than you think you need to boil the lentils. Put the lentils in the pot and bring to a righteous boil. Low the heat and let the pot simmer. Now pay attention here, we’re gonna do some math, HOORAY! Lentils need about 25 minutes to get cooked through. Some people like ‘em way mushier, but I prefer then to hold their shape so 25 minutes is max for me. Look at the pasta package and see how long it will take to cook it al dente. Subtract that from 25 and that is how long you will let the lentils boil before you add the pasta. Por ejemplo:

   25 minutes for lentils – 13 minutes for pasta = 12 minutes the lentils boil before you add the pasta to the water

   Make sense? This way you only use one pot for both.

2. While the lentils are boil pre-pasta, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium sized SAUCE PAN. Not a skillet or a fry pan, but a sauce pan that can hold a few cups of liquid. Chop the onion and mince the garlic and add it to the oil. Stir for a few minutes until the onion gets a little translucent and the garlic is fragrant. Dump the entire contents of the canned tomatoes into the pot. Don’t drain them, you want the juice. Let that heat to a simmer, then add the frozen spinach and stir until the spinach is, uh, not frozen. Set the sauce on low heat on the back burner and cover.
3. By now you can probably dump the pasta into the simmering lentils and crank up the heat again just until it boils, then lower back to a simmer. Keep an eye on the time, because there is no sin less forgivable than overcooked pasta.
4. While the pasta cooks, heat a pan over medium heat and spray the pan with cooking spray. Add the salmon burgers to the skillet and cook about 6-7 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, make the spinach salad by tossing the spinach, pico de gallo and dressing in a bowl. This is DOUBLE SPINACH MADNESS, too!
5. When the pasta is done cooking drain the entire pot in a strainer and return the pasta/lentils to the big pot. Add the sauce to the pasta/lentils and stir to combine. Serve along side the salmon burgers and the salad.

When I make something a little more complicated like this, I try to think ahead to how I can reuse pots and pans, like for the pasta and lentils and then again for the sauce. I don’t have a dishwasher so this saves me time when I clean up, too.

Omelet on a Pita and Tomato Soup

Total time: 15-20 minutes
Total cost per serving: I didn’t calculate exactly, but I’d be surprised if more than $4-5

2 eggs
1 can of chunky tomato soup (Whole foods makes a tasty one)
1 clove garlic
Italian seasoning
1 whole wheat pita
Olive oil
1/3 cup chopped frozen spinach (eyeball it)
about 1 oz feta cheese
grapes

1. If using an oven (I use a toaster oven) pre-heat to 375 degrees. Hard boil the eggs about 10 minutes. While they are boiling, dump the soup into a pot and squish the garlic clove into the pot with a garlic press. If you don’t have a garlic press then just mince it and add it to the soup. Sprinkle in Italian seasoning to taste. Heat through on med-low heat.
2. Nuke the spinach for 45 seconds. Drizzle a little olive oil on the pita and spread it around with your fingers. Don’t be shy, olive oil is supposed to be good for your skin Squeeze out some of the water from the spinach and spread it around on the pita. Sprinkle the feta on top of the spinach and place in a toaster oven (or a regular oven). Bake at 375-400 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese starts to melt a little and the edges of the pita brown.
3. Cool the eggs under cold running water and peel. Mash them up in a bowl with a fork and sprinkle about half on your cooked pita. Cut the pita and serve along side half the the soup with the grapes for dessert.

The cool thing about this “recipe” is that you can serve two by adding another pita and some more spinach and feta, or you can repeat tomorrow night in even less time because the eggs are ready to go.

In case you haven’t noticed, I love chopped frozen spinach. All the work is done for you and there is no worry of the spinach going bad before you can eat it all. I live alone, so bagged fresh spinach often gets all nasty before I can eat the whole bag. In this recipe in particular the chopped frozen spinach works really well, almost like a spinach spread. Is that gross? It sounds a little gross, but it’s really good, I promise! Of course you could use fresh spinach in this recipe, too. I’d tear it up and sprinkle it on the pita with the cheese and put it right into the oven.