No Food? No Problem

Last night, I had no fresh food to speak of in the house and no shabbat leftovers to tide me over till I was supposed to shop today (which, of course, I didn't get to).

It was 7:30 and I was hungry for dinner. Instead of ringing up my favorite sushi place, I dug through my freezer and fridge and came up with the following delicious concoction, which made enough to serve my husband and I and another serving tonight for dinner.

Manna From the Freezer
3 tbs oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp hawaj

1 half bag of frozen crock pot white beans
1/4 frozen ground dark meat turkey (turkey shwarma in Israel)
1/2 pan leftover roasted vegetables
3-4 tablespoons leftover sauce from crock pot short ribs 

Saute onion in the oil, add garlic after onion is translucent. Add spices and stir until they release their fragrance (Add enough oil to make almost a paste). Add meat and brown. Add the beans, vegetables and sauce and simmer for 20 min.

Serve with polenta, rice or couscous. (I made polenta and it was very yum).

What's that? You don't have all of these exact leftovers in your fridge and freezer? (and why would you, unless you have a spy camera in my kitchen and have been secretly preparing what I make for shabbat). No problem. I think the spices and onion make a great base for a Morrocan style chile. Add any type of ground beef, chicken or turkey. Add canned or cooked beans (I think chickpeas or any type of red or white bean would work fine. Try baked beans, if that's all you have). Any kind of fresh or frozen veg would also work, but you might want to saute them separately to keep them whole and give them a bit of color. Add chopped tomatoes or tomato paste, salt, pepper and maybe a bit of soup mix. Simmer for 30-40 min.

Anyway, I'm very proud of myself for making up such a frugal and yummy dinner from almost nothing.