Shopping List: Totally Flexible Marinated Beans, Creamy Tomato Soup, and What’s in the Pantry Pasta
The Family Plan #22
This is my back-up stash. We rent a small storage unit in the basement of our building. Until recently it held, y’know, mostly junk. But when I started to panic that we’d never leave our home again, I realized I could stow extra shelf-stable food down there. By the time it occurred to me the pickings were mighty slim, hence the odd assortment. So far I haven’t had to raid it, but that day is coming soon. I’m sure I’ll make something exquisite with canned corn and yellow cling peaches.
Meanwhile, I’m going to presume you’re in a similar boat. Next week’s recipes are all as flexible as can be. I can’t promise you’ll be able to cook all five meals, but I’ll eat my hat if you can’t pull of at least a few of them. Heck, the way things are going I may wind up eating my hat anyway.
Here’s the menu:
SUNDAY: Cook a big batch of rice, white or brown.
MONDAY: Marinated Mixed Beans from Epicurious call for beans and herbs, basically any kind. Got no herbs at all? We can make it work with dried. Make a double batch and toss half with half of the rice for a filling salad.
TUESDAY: Creamy Tomato Soup with Cheese Toasties from Bon Appetit uses canned tomatoes, of course. Serve it with carrot or celery sticks, or any other vegetable you have.
WEDNESDAY:
Photo courtesy Epicurious
Marinated Beans on Toast, with garlicky spinach.
THURSDAY: Whaddya Got Fried Rice uses Epicurious’s guidelines and literally anything you can think of that might taste good in fried rice. Got fresh vegetables? Great! Got Frozen? Also great! And you can go nuts with the seasoning, too. Pretty much anything with an Asian accent will work.
Photo courtesy TheKitchn
FRIDAY: What’s in the Pantry Pasta Night from TheKitchn. This one’s cool: It’s a collection of 5 pantry-based pasta recipes, each with no more than 5 ingredients. As long as there’s still pasta in your cupboards, you’re good to go, I’ll bet.
Here’s the “shopping” list.
This’ll help you figure out which recipes you can make. Note that I didn’t include anything for Friday, since you have five recipes to choose from. Take a look!
Produce
2 shallots (M, W)
10 cloves garlic (T, W, Th)
2 large onions (T)
Any kind of onion (Th)
Enough tender herbs to make 1 cup chopped (mint, parsley, cilantro, chives, and/or dill) OR use dried (M, W)
5-6 medium carrots (T)
Tofu, any kind, optional (Th)
Pantry
2 cups white or brown rice (M, Th)
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar (M, W)
1 jarred roasted pepper (M, W)
1 cup olive oil (M, T, W)
4 (15 oz.) cans beans, whatever you’ve got (M, W)
2-3 tablespoons dried herbs, if you don’t have fresh (M)
2 teaspoons Aeppo-style pepper OR gochugaru OR red pepper flakes OR pass hot sauce at the table (M, W)
1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika (T)
1 (28 oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes OR whatever you’ve got (T)
1 (15 oz.) can crushed tomatoes OR diced tomatoes (T)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (T)
Soy sauce (Th)
Whatever Asian seasoning you have (Th)
Dairy
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese (T)
1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt, plus more for serving (T)
4-6 eggs (Th)
Bakery
4 thick-cut slices country bread OR anything you’d like to eat with melted cheese on it (T)
4 more thick-cut slices of bread OR anything you’d like to eat with marinated beans (W)
Freezer Case
Chopped spinach OR kale OR any other vegetable you’d like to eat with marinated beans (W)
1 package mixed vegetables, any kind (Th)
Edamame, optional (Th)
Stay safe, take care of each other, and wash your hands.
See you soon,
Debbie