Pantry chili
Via an article in the Washington Post, I recently found a food blog called The Perfect Pantry. I particularly like the recurring feature called Other People’s Pantries, and intend to submit mine soon.
The process of unpacking our supplies into the new kitchen did make me aware of just how many spices, oils, etc I’ve accumulated. Sometimes it’s because I try a new recipe that requires a new ingredient, but as often it’s because I see something interesting in the Asian grocery and decide to give it a try. Unfortunately, given the constraints on my time, I’m afraid that buying new ingredients is as likely to be a substitute for cooking as an inspiration…
This recipe for Clean the Freezer Chili inspired me to make a batch of chili myself, with the rule that I could only use ingredients that I had on hand. I don’t stock tempe, so I used bulgar cooked in canned crushed tomato as the base. I had an open jar of mole sauce, so that went in. What else? Black beans, ancient sun-dried tomatoes, veggie stock, green peppers, fresh tomatoes, onions, celery. Chili powder, cumin, paprika. I thought the result was just ok — a bit too salty for my taste, but T. liked it, and thought it was surprisingly "meaty" for veggie chili.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:55 am
So glad you got inspired by Mary’s pantry chili — I did, too, and cleaned my freezer last week! No tempeh, but I added some leftover cooked chicken. No mole, but instead had some frozen smoky bean soup. And so it goes — it was great fun, and now I have room for this year’s pesto and slow-roasted tomatoes! Will look forward to sharing your pantry in Other People’s Pantries, too…..
May 13th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Inspired! And wondering how cans of Campbell’s soup that never get used because they “aren’t healthy enough” fit into the recipe, LOL. As a base, I guess?
Hrm, I’ll keep this in mind the next time my kitchen gets too full of randomness.
I have a whole drawer full of spices, oils, etc – and like you, I rarely get time to use them. I was *trying* to start making meals that could sit on a pantry shelf out of dry ingredients every week, but kept losing the recipes due to a lack of organization. I have a place to keep those recipes now, but no time once again!