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Help me turn the contents of my cupboard into delicious food
I really need to use up some of the stuff that's been sitting in my pantry/freezer forever. If you had the following list of ingredients lying around, what would you make? Let's assume I don't want to spend more than $25 in additional groceries.
- dried beans
- dried chickpeas
- brown jasmine rice
- canned diced tomatoes
- frozen broccoli
- frozen cauliflower
Ideas?




chickpea brown rice and broccoli crockpot casserole There we go. This is a recipe I've messed with a couple times... Now it just sort of becomes my what do I have left in the cupboards casserole but hey your ingredients match up pretty well to the original!
OOH. That looks super delicious, actually. Thanks! :D I'll make it and report back.
Chickpeas beans and tomatoes can be used in chili as well!
That might be good! I've never actually made chili from scratch before... Sounds like a good time to try!
So... I tried making a chili... and my beans (which I soaked until the water foamed) STILL won't soften. Not sure what I did wrong... I'm pretty sure I didn't put any salt in, and it's been in the slow cooker for 8+ hours. Sigh. I'm going to figure this out because we just had a rush of cold, rainy weather and I want chili!
How long did you soak them? I recommend over night at least 12 hours.
It was about 15 hours. I found the culprit, though: The canned tomatoes I used had salt in them. I hadn't bothered to check the ingredient list on that brand. Learning experience!
You could also make some sort of stir fry! Maybe add some carrots, seasonings, and an additional protein. Serve with or over the rice.
Not sure if you're still looking for suggestions or if you've cooked all of them, but here's my suggestion. Make a curry. Easiest way to put a bunch of disparate ingredients together.
The only extra ingredients would be curry power and coconut milk or plain yogurt. You could also use garam masala or just plain chili pepper to get some heat.
That's a great idea! I have a ton of curry powder and some berbere, and a whole bunch of plain yogurt and coconut milk. Thanks for the idea!
Well, then I guess the solution is obvious.
One caveat to the recipe is that you will probably want to stir-fry and add the beans/chickpeas separately from the broccoli/cauliflower, since they will likely take different amounts of time to cook. The beans and chickpeas will probably take longer so add them first.
That's a good point! One I've learned via way too many failed recipes and still never remember in time, haha.
Could also make a nice tomato sauce with the chickpeas and beans blended in for protein and serve over the rice or pasta. Doesn't get rid of as many ingredients as I hoped though.
It had not occurred to me until this moment to blend chickpeas into tomato sauce... I'm doing that every time from now on. Such a good idea!
For the chickpeas, spray a foil lined cookie sheet with olive oil cooking spray. Then spread out your fully "soaked overnight" and thoroughly drained chickpeas in a single layer. Spray them with olive oil and sprinkle them with kosher salt. Move the pan back and forth to evenly distribut the salt. Slow roast them in a 250 degree oven 30 to 40 minutes until they are completely dried out. They will look and taste nutty and crunchy and they are addictive! You can store them in a jar, sprinkle them on salads, or just eat them. And next time, buy canned. Then you just drain and rinse. It's easier.
The other beans, soak overnight. Simmer them in 3 cans of diced tomatoes, an onion, several cloves of garlic, a chopped bell pepper, whatever "spicy spices" you like, add one or two can of water and simmer for an hour and add a half box of elbow macaroni ans simmer for another 15 minutes. You will have a delicious minestrone soup. Top it with Parmesan cheese if you have it. And of course, everything tastes better with salt!
Or you can cook the beans with sautéed onions and garlic and a bay leaf, and serve it with, or over the jasmine rice.
Now let's talk about that frozen broccoli and cauliflower. I'm going to hel you get rid of it, but you have to promise to never buy it frozen again,- only fresh. Sautée a large chopped onion and several cloves of sliced or chopped garlic in a little olive oil until soft. In a NutriBullet, blender, food processor, etc, blend three eggs until frothy, about a minute. Add the thawed broccoli or cauliflower, 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 tablespoon baking powder, salt and pepper, a tablespoon of olive oil and the onion garlic mixture. You may have to blend them in separate batches, then mix the batches together in a big bow. Blend them all until super smooth, like pancake batter. Then pour into a greased baking pan, half full because it will rise. Bake at 350 and start checking it in about 20 minutes. Using fresh broccoli or cauliflower takes about 45 minutes, but frozen will take less time. When you lightly press it in the center, it should be firm and not leave an indentation. This is a delicious "company worthy" soufflé. Cut it in squares and serve it with pride.
You can use both the broccoli and cauliflower together if the bags are small.
I hope we got that pantry cleaned out!
Any dietary restrictions we should know about and do you have access to a slow cooker?
No dietary restrictions (though I don't like meat much), and yes, I have a slow cooker!
Hmm ok