In related news, I'm about to clear out my fridge and make a meal plan and shopping list

[conuly]

Fridge clearing has to come first, because over the past two weeks between the family drama and the heat (omg the heat) nobody has cooked and now we need to clean the fridge.

So, anybody have any cheap-but-tasty recipes they'd like to share? They should be pork-free or at least pork-optional - the friend who needed the plane ticket and a place to stay doesn't eat pork, so we need to be able to prepare her serving without no matter what.

Recipes that are fast to prepare or use the slow cooker are appreciated.

Comments

[cimorene]

This Goan cauliflower caldine & tomato rice can be made with frozen cauliflower, canned tomato, and canned coconut milk (plus spices and onions and lime juice) - it's not the fastest, though, because the tomato rice is a separate dish (although it's still good with plain rice).

My go-to big batch pantry-only dish is curried lentils, made with dry red lentils and served over white rice - it requires some simmering time so you have to hang around and keep stirring the pot, but it's pretty low-effort overall. I couldn't find a link to the source of it, but it's

Curried lentils

1 cup dry lentils
2 Tbsp olive oil
3½ cups water
2 cubes of chicken or vegetable bouillon or equivalent powder (2 tbsp)
1 Tbsp sugar
1-2 tsp yellow curry powder
1-2 tsp garam masala spice mix
½ tsp whole cumin seeds
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp ginger powder
½ tsp cinnamon
salt to taste
handful of raisins, if desired

Coat the inside of a soup pot with oil, heat to med, and add lentils. Stir to coat and roast 2 min.

Add about 2 cups of water and all the seasonings (including the bouillon - the curry spices according to how spicy you like it). Stir regularly to prevent sticking and add water whenever the lentils begin to dry until all the water is added. Repeat until fully cooked. Taste and salt if necessary. You can continue cooking down until the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat, then add raisins.

[conuly]

:)

That sounds great.

Do you soak the raisins first?

[cimorene]

I have only made it with them like twice because my wife hates raisins, actually. But I didn't soak them first - they absorbed liquid from the lentils pretty fast!

[dine]

most of my go-to fast/easy meals use a lot of packaged stuff (classic 60s/70s American pantry staples stuff). probably not always the healthiest, but if you're interested I can send you some one-pot main dishes that feed a crowd

[conuly]

Most packaged stuff is not a staple in our pantry, but I may be able to do a workaround if I think the kids will like it. (I say "kids", Eva is about to be a senior!)

So sure, post away.

here are several that might work without too much adaptation

[dine]

Bulgar
2 lbs sausage (turkey works fine)
1 ¾ c chopped celery
¾ c chopped onion
1 c bulgar wheat
5 c water
2 env dry chicken noodle soup mix (Mrs. Grass / Lipton)

Brown sausage and vegetables; add remaining ingredients and cover. Cook 20-25 min until liquid is absorbed


Meatloaf
1 pt canned tomatoes (drained)
1 ½ lb ground beef (or turkey)
2 ½ tsp dry onion
½ tsp herb blend - or fresh to taste
12 soda crackers (crushed)
2/3 c dry milk
salt & pepper

mix all ingredients well by hand and shape into 9x13 baking pan

Bake at 350 for 1 – 1 ¼ hours


Chicken & Rice
1 box Rice-a-Roni (fried rice flavour)
leftover chicken/turkey meat, shredded, or 1 lg can of chicken
Cheddar cheese

Prepare Rice-a-Roni according to package directions.

After adding water & spice package, include chicken chunks, and simmer until liquid is absorbed

Once rice is firm and all liquid is absorbed, top with shredded cheese and serve once it melts


no clue what this was actually called - our family just called it goop.
Goop
1 lb ground beef (can also use ground turkey)
½ c chopped onions
16 oz can vegetarian baked beans
¼ c ketchup

Brown ground beef & onions; add beans and ketchup

Heat through

Double recipe for larger groups or planned-overs - we normally did, and made it in a soup pot

[melannen]

Most of my basic meals like that are variations of Stuff On Rice, although they also work On Pasta and On Couscous and probably other things.

--cook enough rice to fill everybody up

--add to the rice pot:

--some sauce/flavoring (peanut butter + milk or coconut milk + hot sauce, canned orange/pineapple/fruit cocktail/condensed orange juice + hot sauce, canned condensed soup still condensed, quick homemade white sauce or cheese sauce, raisins + red wine/apple cider vinegar + cloves + brown sugar, garlic + butter, or whatever bottled sauce was on the grocery closeout shelf are favorites)

--some chopped vegetables or fruit (whatever you have that sounds good with the sauce you used)

--some protein source, already cooked (depending on the sauce, peanuts, tuna, tofu, canned chicken, canned beans or chickpeas, cheese, hot dogs are all good.) If you're using raw, cook it through first.

Heat in a covered dish (microwave or stovetop) until the vegetables are steamed. Serve.

[lilysea]

Grilled cheese on bread (made using the griller) with a side salad?

[conuly]

Okay, well now I want to know what else you'd grill cheese on if not bread.

[fred_mouse]

Muffins (english)

[hashiveinu]

Nothing

[lilysea]

I've seen people grill cheese on sliced veges - field mushrooms, sliced zucchini, eggplant etc

[spiffikins]

I just recently made this and it was very tasty -

Chickpea Curry
(Serves 3 - 4)

Ingredients:
* 1 tablespoon of oil (coconut preferred)
* 2 medium sized onions
* 2-3 carrots
* 1 can of diced tomatoes (~400 g / ~14 oz)
* salt, pepper
* 2 tins of chickpeas, drained (~500 g / ~17,5 oz)
* 3 gloves garlic
* 2 teaspoons curry
* 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
* 1/4 teaspoon cumin
* 1 can coconut milk (~400 g / ~14 oz)
* 2 teaspoons flour
* 1 lime


Cut the onions in half rings, peel the carrots and cut them in half slices or small cubes.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions and carrots, fry until the onions are lightly browned.
Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and let the mix simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the drained chickpeas, finely chopped garlic and spices, plus the coconut milk and flour (to thicken the sauce). Let simmer for 10 - 12 minutes, if necessary add salt and pepper (or more of the spices). Press the juice of the lime over the curry to add some freshness.

[spiffikins]

Also - whenever I need to clean out my fridge, I make soup.

I start with some chicken stock/bouillon powder/envelope of chicken noodle soup/soup starter
Slice and dice whatever sad veggies are in the drawer and need using up - toss 'em in
Add a can of beans - whatever I have in the pantry
Can of tomatoes
Check out whatever leftovers are in the fridge - bits of chicken? last couple of spoonfuls of rice? Toss it in!
Add seasonings to taste, let it simmer and tada, food!

[maju]

Easy coconut chicken curry:

Ingredients

3 lbs. boneless chicken

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp chicken stock paste or powder plus 1/4 cup water if using slow cooker, 1/2 cup water if cooking on stove top

3 Tbs. curry powder

1 can coconut milk

2 cups rice, cooked

Recipe doesn't say garlic but definitely add garlic

Instructions

Place chicken, onion, garlic, stock and curry powder in slow cooker.

Cook on high 5-6 hours or low 7-8 hours.

Add coconut milk to slow cooker towards end of cooking time. Stir into sauce.

Serve over cooked rice.

[adrian_turtle]

My favorite cheap, tasty, quick, hot weather recipe is this variation on tuna salad. It's no help for cleaning the fridge, because it's mostly pantry ingredients. You can eat it warm or cold. I think of it as a hot weather recipe because you don't need to turn the oven on or spend much time at the stove.

0.5 or 1 pound pasta (medium shells or ziti or like that. Not spaghetti.)
2 pounds broccoli, cut up and steamed (or microwave some frozen broccoli florets and drain them.)
1 can chickpeas
1 or 2 cans tuna
Combine everything except pasta.

While pasta is cooking, make a thick lemon-tahini salad dressing. Proportions are approximate, and you might want more dressing.
3 tablespoons tahini
4 tablespoons lemon juice (if you squeeze a fresh lemon, grate a little of the zest into the bowl.)
2 tablespoons cold water
half a teaspoon garlic powder (or to taste. Or mince fresh garlic. But I actually prefer the powder in this.)
half a teaspoon salt (or to taste)
dash cayenne (can omit, or add hot sauce at table)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional but tasty. add extra 2 tbsp lemon.)
Mix well, add salt/pepper/garlic/cayenne or more lemon if you like. Then mix in half a cup of the pasta-cooking water when the pasta is almost done.

[hashiveinu]

Super easy refried beans and rice for 2n people

n cans of black or pinto beans
n tomatoes, diced
Minced hot peppers if you like spicy
Chopped cilantro
Crushed red pepper, paprika, cumin
Oil

Combine all the ingredients in a pot or pan and cook on medium-high heat until hot. Mash beans with a potato masher if desired.

Meanwhile, cook n cups of rice according to package directions.

Serve with shredded cheese if desired.

[cellio]

It kind of depends on what's in your fridge that you need to clear out (and pantry). So instead of recipes, some themes:

• Greens can be sauteed in oil (and cook down a lot). I start the oil with some garlic and/or ginger first, and maybe chopped onions, and let that cook down a bit and then throw in the greens and basically stir-fry them -- just takes a few minutes from that point.

• Meat (beef or chicken) with root veggies, onions, peppers, seasonings, and some broth = stew that you can mostly relegate to the slow-cooker. Brown the meat first, and saute the onions and peppers if you're using them, and also garlic if you're using it, and then put everything into a slow-cooker for a long time. For the veggies, aim for consistent "density" -- cut parsnips a little smaller than carrots and carrots smaller than potatoes to account for what would otherwise be different cooking times.

• Chili is basically the same idea but with ground meat (still brown it) and optionally beans instead of cubed meat and root veggies.

• All sorts of miscellaneous veggies can go into a curry or stir-fry over rice. I made a fried rice last night that had onions, carrots, ginger, the end of a bag of frozen peas, basil from the garden, the rice, a couple eggs scrambled in at the end, and a protein (it was tofu). I've also used broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, frozen corn... whatever's on hand. Put the things that need more time to cook in earlier and add other stuff as you go.

• Eggs are versatile. Scramble them with veggies, cook a vegetable hash and then dump fried eggs on top, hard-boil them to eat straight or turn into egg salad... I sometimes cook a can of black beans with onions, tomato, and cumin and then add fried eggs on top.

[pauamma]

https://pauamma.dreamwidth.org/tag/food. All pork-free and Halal, not guaranteed to be Kosher if your friend needs or wants that. (I know the lasagna isn't, but it's not quick either.)

Oh, and perico, since someone mentioned eggs.

[fred_mouse]

If you have oats that need using up, making a quick microwave porridge with water (2 parts water, one part oats, I think; mix, cook for a minute, stir, repeat until gluggy) and then use that as the base of muffins - add egg, extras (for savoury, grated veggies or cheese, nuts, small amounts of left overs; for sweet, fresh, frozen or dried fruit, chocolate chips -- basically, that which is in small quantities and needs to go), sugar if you want it, oil, mix, then flour. In terms of quantities: I used to eyeball this, because I would make it on days when none of the kids were hungry, and so the amount of leftover porridge was enough. An egg and 1/4 cup oil for each 1-2 cups cold porridge, can't tell you on the sugar (because two of my kids disliked things sweet, so I cut it down a lot). Flour can be any type. If you want fluffy muffins and you don't have self-raising flour, then I use 1/2 tsp bicarb and 1 tsp cream of tartar, because we can't have baking powder (gluten).

Another one, if you make one of the lentil recipes others have mentioned in large quantity, is to put that in a casserole dish, make wells in the top for the number of eggs you have, and then put it in the oven until the eggs are cooked to family preference. This one can have lots of tomato/tomato puree added as well.

To use up milk - white sauce takes a litre, fill a casserole dish with whatever vegetables, cover with the white sauce. If you have excess stale bread, make a breadcrumb topping; grated cheese in the topping makes it lovely and crunchy. Vegetables can be padded out with pre-cooked pasta or rice, boiled eggs, probably other things.

And a cheap meat dish - macaroni chicken. Cheap cuts of chicken (we used to use legs, because they were as cheap as wings and less fiddly; allow two legs per person). I use a 10cm deep, roughly 30 * 40cm baking dish for this. Brown the chicken pieces in a frypan, transfer them to the baking dish, wedging them in so they are a single layer. Cover with uncooked macaroni, or other compact pasta. Cover with liquid - we used to use two packets cup-a-soup (usually cream of something) in the water, but I've also done it with good stock, but it doesn't taste quite as rich. Bake in over ~1hour. Keep a watch on the liquid, and stir to make sure all the macaroni gets cooked through.

[siderea]

Siderea's 12.5 serving veggie-chicken curry:

Uses
• 6+ qt slowcooker
• A ladle or a mug or something for serving, plus a serving spoon
• a lot of tupperware or ziplocs for the leftovers

Ingredients
• ~4lbs boneless skinless chicken (thighs preferred, but whatever you got)
• 2 packs Kitchens of India Butter Chicken Curry Paste
• four 15oz cans chickpeas
• two 15oz cans peas (optional – or use any veggies in equiv quantity)
• two 15oz cans sliced potato (optional)
• 1lb sliced mushrooms (optional)
• six Tbsp butter (or any oil you like I guess)

Cook everything on LOW for 8 hours, stir to shred the chicken.

To double the number of servings, serve on rice.

I like to put the chickpeas in the bottom, then the curry paste, then a layer of chicken, then half everything else, then a layer of the rest of the chicken, then the rest of everything.

A spectacularly forgiving recipe, just so long as you have the two curry pastes in there, feel free to switch it up with whatever you have on hand that you think might be nice in a curry.

[miladygrey]

Eggs and rice and mushrooms! Sorry for no measurements, we're at the point of making this by feel/on instinct.

Make a pot of rice as large as you need. Cook the rice according to package directions, in veggie or mushroom stock if you have it for a little more flavor.

Dice 1-2 packs of mushrooms (depends on how much you like mushrooms), sautee in butter or oil with a little garlic powder or a diced onion or shallot.

Fry eggs, one or two per person, leaving the yolks soft. Stir the mushrooms into the rice, put the eggs on top. Voila.

Throw in some microwaved frozen peas or broccoli florets if you want some green.

[archersangel]

i've heard good things about https://dormroomcook.com/

they have categorizes for microwave, no-cook & sandwich recipes, plus others.

[james]

I find chili to be super filling and can be made with basically whatever you have, plus chili seasoning and can be done in a skillet or slow cooker.

I usually use canned chili as a meat source because if we cook meat in our kitchen the entire apartment smells like meat for a couple days and we hate that. But obviously you could brown some ground meat, drain it, then dump it into the slow cooker (or add everything to the skillet and dump the meat back in.) Also you can use plant protein based "meats" or just use beans and leave the meat out. Shredded chicken works just fine as well as ground beef/turkey.

Skillet version:

Once you have your meat browned, start with chopped or sliced onions, brown them, add some chopped garlic. Then dump in meat, beans, chopped tomatoes and peppers and whatever veggie you have on hand that seems good. (Carrots, tomatillos, chopped squash - anything that stands up to long cooking to get soft. Potatoes also work well!) Let it cook until the veggies start to get soft (stab with fork) - time depends on how much food you have dumped in.

Add chili seasoning (I use packets mailed to me from Oklahoma, you can use whatever you prefer.) Lower heat to simmer and let simmer for an hour or so. Optionally add water if it seems like it's getting dry.

Slow cooker version: add everything at once, stir, cook on low for 8 hours.

This is cheap if you use seasonal (farmer's market) veggies or whatever you have on hand. You can also add instant mashed potatoes, frozen hash browns, or flour near the end to thicken it up if desired.