In the second post of her series ‘Send Coffee, Please’, Melina talks about some easy recipes to make when you have little food left in the cupboard.
We’ve all been there, the cupboard is looking painfully bare, and a Lidl trip is looming, but either you cannot be bothered to go (as most of us have experienced recently), or you’re stuck in self-isolation. In such circumstances, it is easy to write-off any cooking and pick up the phone to order a Chinese, but I’m here to give you some super easy recipes that you can make with things left in the cupboard!
The first meal that I always turn to is a Pitta Pizza. Essentially, all this requires is some form of bread – be that a pitta, a frozen panini, or even a bagel – some tomato puree, cheese and whatever else needs to be used up in the fridge! I usually use pepper, onion and some olives if we have any. Spread the puree on the bread, sprinkle the cheese, add your other toppings and pop the pizza in the oven for about ten minutes. Yes, it really is that simple! Super easy and requires very little, the Pitta Pizza is a good backup plan!
A second meal is Stuffed Peppers. It might sound fancy, but all it requires is however many peppers you have, some couscous, and any other vegetables you would like – perhaps some frozen peas or onion. Chop the tops off the peppers and remove all of the seeds, so you are left with empty peppers. Then, pour a drop of olive oil in and put them in the oven for about fifteen minutes to soften them. Whilst they are in the oven, cook some couscous with salt and pepper (I like to add paprika too!) and prep any veggies. Once the peppers are softened, spoon the couscous into them and then pop the lids back on top to complete the meal!
My final cupboard meal is Tuna Bagels which, admittedly, was introduced to me by one of my housemates! For this, you’ll need a bagel, tuna, mayonnaise and cheese (and an onion if you have one). Firstly, toast the bagel and while doing so, mix the tuna with a little mayonnaise (if including onion, dice the onion). Spread the tuna-mayo onto the bagel, sprinkle the chopped onion on top along with some slices of cheese. Put the decorated bagels into the grill until the cheese has melted and there you have it! The beauty of the Tuna Bagel is that it can work for breakfast, lunch or dinner – the perfect fallback! One of my biggest tips is to always keep some bread in the freezer, trust me, you will turn to it!
I hope some of these prove useful and I will sign-off here to head downstairs and cobble something together for lunch using our diminished supplies. Wish me luck and Send Coffee, Please!