Oh no! There is no food in the house!

This recipe won't work if by "no food in the house" you mean "only ketchup and baking soda in the house," but the ingredients are still pretty basic. Odds are you'll have enough of them on hand to make it work. Pretty much all of the ingredients except for the potatoes and oil are optional, though the extra ingredients are pretty tasty. The lesson to be gleaned from this recipe is that many different things can be successfully fried with potatoes, so don't be afraid to experiment.

Pantry Potato Thing

You will need:

• 1-2 potatoes sliced thinly. (Number depends on size of potatoes and level of hunger)
  
• 1 small onion, halved and sliced thinly (if you like onions)
• 1 grated clove of garlic
  
• 1 egg
• Chopped spinach or kale. If using frozen, thaw and squeeze out the extra water first.
• Olive oil (about 1-2 tablespoons. Enough to sautee.)
• Rosemary or other herb of choice*, fresh or dried (about a teaspoon).
• Salt and Pepper
• Chopped spinach or kale if you want. If using frozen, thaw and squeeze out the extra water first.

*Parsley and/or basil would add a nice Italian touch. Cumin, cilantro/coriander, and chili flakes would make very successful Mexi-tatoes. Your call.

Directions:

Heat oil in a medium to large skillet over medium high heat. You want the oil to be hot, but you don't want it to smoke or catch on fire. (Beth did this once. Haha.)
Add the onions, garlic, and a bit of salt and fry until the onions get tender and translucent. (You could also add chili flakes to the oil at this stage if you're using them).
Add the potatoes. Put them in a relatively even layer--doesn't have to be perfect. You could also add chopped greens now, if you're using them.
Add salt, pepper, and herbs and fry the potatoes until tender. Stir/flip them around every few minutes so that they cook evenly. This should take something like 10 minutes, depending on how small you cut the potatoes. When in doubt, just taste one. If it's crunchy, cook it longer.
Once the potatoes are cooked, crack the egg into the skillet and scramble away.

Eat.

Super Simple Pear Dessert

Pears are in season here and I love them. I love them so much that I decided to sautee them in butter and love them even more.

This recipe doesn't call for any sweetener, because the pears are sweet enough on their own. They'll carmelize nicely as you sautee them too.

You will need:

• Pears. However many you want, thinly sliced and cored. You could peel them, but I'm just about always too lazy to do that, and it hasn't killed me yet.
• Butter. A tablespoon or two.
• A dash of cinnamon.
• An optional dash of vanilla extract or bean. A dash is slightly larger than a smidgen.

Directions:

Melt butter in a large-ish skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add thinly sliced pears, cinnamon, and vanilla if using. Sautee for 10-15 minutes, shaking or flipping the pears periodically. Continue until the pears are slightly browned and slightly soft. Or really brown and really soft if that's your style.

Eat. Add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if you like.

Lentil Curry

Or, what I made for dinner last night and will be eating for a week. Always a good model for students and/or lazy people.

Curry powder can be a bit expensive, but it's worth having on hand. One container of it will last your for a long time anyway. Meijer has a "Simply Organic" brand of spices that is typically cheaper than all of the rest and just as good.


You'll need:

• 1-2 Tbsp of butter for sauteeing
• 1 cup dried lentils or chickpeas that have been soaked in water and a smidgen of vinegar of lemon juice for 8-12 hours (AKA overnight). You could also use a can (about 14 oz.) of chickpeas.
• 1 can (about 14 oz.) of coconut cream or coconut milk, shaken. Check the Asian food aisle for this.
• Enough water, chicken stock or a combination thereof to cover and cook the lentils. I'm guess this is 2-4 cups. Start with 2 cups of your chosen liquid and just add more if you need to.
• 1-2 TBSP curry powder (to taste)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste. More salt than pepper. Salt to balance the sweet coconut.
• 2 tsp or so of turmeric (optional, but tasty)
• Cooked riceto serve

Optional but tasty ingredients:

• Fresh or frozen chopped spinach. A whole packet of frozen, fresh to taste.
• 1 onion, quartered. Quarters sliced thinly.
• 2 carrots sliced thinly

Directions:

In a large-ish pot, melt butter over med-high heat. Add onion, carrots, and a bit of salt and pepper. Continue sauteeing until onions soften a bit and turn translucent. The carrots should soften a little bit too, depending on how thinly they were sliced. Omit this step if you don't want any onions or carrots.

[Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions, if you haven't already.]

Add liquids, legumes, curry powder, turmeric, chili flakes, salt and pepper to the onion-carrot-butter pot. You could add spinach now or closer to the end of the cooking time. Either way is fine. Bring everything to a boil and then lower it to a high simmer (think medium heat. More than little baby bubbles, but less than violent boiling) Continue to simmer for 20-30 minutes, until lentils or canned chickpeas are tender.

If you're using dried chickpeas, it could take up to an hour. I haven't tried it this way, but be aware that most dried legumes come with a longer cooking time.


EAT. This would be good with mildly fruity yogurt smoothies, especially if you make it really spicy. It would also be good with toasted pita bread (as are most things).