Charlie and I were hungry, so I made this quick meal.
MY QUICK MEAL
I boiled some shells (pasta shells, smart alek!). While they were cooking, I heated some garlic-infused olive oil and fried some mushrooms, then tossed in some chopped fresh baby spinach. We had some salsa dip left over (salsa plus cream cheese), so I stirred that in and added the cooked, drained pasta.
MAN, it was good! And quick? It took about 20 minutes, tops. Even if we hadn’t had the leftover dip, I could have made some within the same time frame. Even if we hadn’t had the ingredients for that, I have some homemade pesto in the freezer that I could have used instead. Even if I didn’t have that, I had some canned tomatoes. I had lots of stuff I could have used instead. It’s, you know, pasta and stuff!
So the next time you’re looking for a quick meal, remember: as long as you have some pasta and some leftovers, you’re in business!
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character is in a hurry. Why?
MA
Jane
February 19, 2014 at 10:07amGood project. Sounds like you’ve been rooting aroiund in MY fridge.
Marian Allen
February 19, 2014 at 4:17pmHeh! Seems like our culinary tastes were compatible back in the days in the dear old dorm. 🙂
kent
February 20, 2014 at 2:36pmI think cooking can be quite a creative endeavor. Whether it’s when you’re putting together odds & ends (leftovers, etc) for an quick & easy meal or when you have a whole lot of ingredients and can, without any recipes or cookbooks, whip up a delicious dinner – pasta is one staple which can be mixed with many ingredients, sauces, etc. Another is stir-fry meals: chop up a couple breasts of chicken into bite size pieces and then cook the chicken in olive oil, but before doing that, chop up red & yellow (or orange) bell peppers, scallions, shallots, garlic, tomato(es), onion, celery if you like and whatever else comes to mind. Then, just as the chicken is 1/2 way cooked, throw in the chopped up vegetables, etc. and add spices like oregano, basil, curry powder, maybe a dash of paprika, black pepper, salt, tarragon (?) or any other seasoning that you like and stir it all up and, in not too long of a time you’ll have a delicious, unique dish all ready to eat. But the fun of it is in preparing it-the chopping of the vegetables, the dicing of the meat, the picking out of seasonings and so on. Whatever it is that you’re cooking or baking, it can be refined to an artform. Even the way it is served on a plate is a way to express yourself – placement of things, texture, color and so on. There’s a lot to experiment with and have fun doing so.
Marian Allen
February 20, 2014 at 4:46pmYou’re so right, Kent! Sounds like you cook the way I do. 🙂 I like to toast the spices along with the onions and garlic, though, and get that all fragrant and soft before adding the vegetables I’m going to keep crisp/tender. You’re making me hungry! lol
Shelly
January 23, 2016 at 5:12pmStirring in the leftover salsa cream cheese was such a great idea! I love that stuff! The pasta looks wonderful.
Marian Allen
January 23, 2016 at 6:48pmI subscribe to the “waste not, want not” school of cooking. Tonight I made egg rolls out of leftover salad.