I broke my toe in a yoga class.
I was trying to do my first headstand since I carried a lunch box that had my name and class written on it. I kicked up, flailed my legs in momentary excitement then fell down with most of my weight landing on my big toe.
The girl next to me looked down her nose at how much of a thud I made and went back to trying to bind her leg behind her head.
I finished the class, felt tough and went looking in my kitchen for dinner and an ice pack.
Luckily, I found them both in the same place. Frozen peas, what would we ever do without you?
So tonight; this is what’s on the table at ours.
Spicy pea soup
This is my fail safe dinner party starter, before barbecued fish with Asian flavours and dessert of chilled tinned lychees with good vanilla ice cream.
All I need to get my hands on is natural yogurt, frozen peas, stock and a jar of green curry paste. Of course I could make the curry paste myself, but this time, the yoga class won. Next time I might think again.
.
I plonk a tablespoon of green curry paste per person into a saucepan. I heat it up and add a cup of frozen peas per person. I stir and then add half a cup of stock per person. I keep it on the heat until it’s as warm as a grown up’s bath and then I use a stick blender to whizz it until it’s really smooth. If I had a proper blender then I’d put it in that, and I’d be pretty careful, because as I’ve learned the hard way, hot liquids whizzing at high speed can sting.
The end result might look like Kermit the Frog’s choice of foundation, but the curry paste gives the peas a good kick. It’s easy to turn the volume up or down on the spice. If it’s a bit lame I add more curry paste. If it’s too spicy then some extra yogurt will turn it down.
In summer I sometimes serve it cold in little glasses with a pumpkin seeds for crunch and a few coriander leaves floating like little lily pads.
Meanwhile the second pack of peas from the freezer is affixed to my foot. And I’m rethinking my exercise of choice.
Victoria (Tori) Haschka is a Sydney born food travel writer. Her blog www.eat-tori.com follows her efforts in feeding The Hungry One (the husband) and their quest to find the best places to eat, drink and be merry. You can follow Tori on Twitter here
What is your failsafe fall back position? What do you cook when you are short on time or inspiration and you just want something that you know will work?
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I have quite a few standby “Ah poo! I forgot to get the meat out of the freezer” or “Had a rough day with the kids” meals.
- Savoury parcels: Cut a Square of Puff pastry into quarters. Put a little pile of with whatever you have and some cheese on a square then put the other square on top, seal the edges with a fork, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with paprika (or crushed up plain smiths chips, if I’m feeling a bit evil). Bake until puffed and golden. You can fill them with ham and mustard, left over chicken and relish, turkey and cranberry sauce, left over roast pork (or pork chop) and apple sauce with swiss cheese (oh my!), savoury mince, even left over bolognaise with some parmesan is really really tasty.
- Brinner (or BReakfast for dINNER): Bacon eggs, mushrooms, grilled tomato, and french toast or pancakes.
- What I call “Ramen +”: Roughly chop whater veges you’ve got or grab some frozen vege, toss in any left over meat (Rissoles are particularly good), either stirfry in a pan with a little garlic (If I can be bothered) or zap in the microwave. Add to the prepared noodles – you can use the flavouring sachet or some Kajup manis and some sweet chilli sauce. Ramen plus is also a standby for work – grated carrot, frozen peas and corn and a ramen cup. Tada! Lunch!
kate-kateskitchen.blogspot.com
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Oh, I know. There’s a little work, but it is ahhhmazing.
1 litre Chicken Stock (4 cups – 34 ounces)
300g dried macaroni or penne pasta (10.5 oz – 0.66 pound)
2 tbsp oil
500g skinless chicken breast fillet, thinly sliced (1.1 pounds)
200g button mushrooms, sliced (0.4 pound)
2 tbsp plain flour
2 cups shredded tasty cheese
Preheat oven to 220°C.
Reserve 1 cup of stock. Pour remaining stock into a large saucepan & bring to the boil. Add pasta, partially cover, and cook for 7 mins or as directed on pack. Do not drain. Remove from heat.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes until golden brown. Add to pasta.
Heat remaining oil in the frying pan, add mushrooms, cook until softened. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, over medium heat for 1 min. Add reserved stock, stirring continuously, until just thickened. Stir through pasta mixture with 1 cup of cheese. Spoon into an ovenproof dish. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 20 mins or until golden.
It is the best food ever.
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Coles have frozen fish fillets, get home, put in warm water to thaw while oven heats up to 200. Put fish on foil, drizzle with olive oil, add some chilli flakes, garlic and salt and pepper, and special touch is master foods tomato relish… Wrap and bake for 15 while the frozen veggies are in the microwave. Bang, all done whilst I am showering and getting into pajamas!
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Pasta with cheese. Delicious! If I’m lucky throw in some tuna, or tomato, or any kind of sauce.
Actually a great one is making white sauce with butter/milk/flour in a saucepan until its thick and having that with pasta and then whatever else is on hand with in peas/tinned corn/tuna etc.
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When I just can’t be bothered there are two meals I ‘create’:
Big can of tuna, mixed with brown rice, packet of chicken noodle soup and frozen veggies – it’s actually really delicious and great with a squeeze of lemon!
OR
What I call ‘stock pot’ basically you put some stock and water in a saucepan and add whatever you can find in the fridge (veggies, noodles, prawn (frozen is best), chicken ect)…
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Grab a few tortillas (2 per person), some baby spinach, and some mozarella cheese.Put cheese & baby spinach between two tortillas then place flat in fry pan til cheese is melted! YUM!
Another fav of mine …. it sounds weird but I love it. Start with a packet of 2 min noodles. Cook the noodles. Add some tinned corn kernels, salmon and mozarella. Give the noodles a really good mix and add S&P to taste. The mozarella melts as you stir! So yum. I created that when pregnant.
Another easy meal/lunch: 5 bean mix, corn kernels, salmon, diced tomato, diced avocado. Mix it all up. YUM!
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Hi Tori
First things first: Don’t ever kick up in to headstand. Kick away to your hearts content into handstand, but learn how to get into headstand properly if you want to save your neck (literally)!
Secondly, soup is always my #1 Last-Chance meal. As the mother of two young children and the busy owner of a small business (yoga studios, as it happens), my soups are a little less glam than yours. It’s a case of “Bottom of the Crisper Soup”. Or, this week, “Carrots are $1 per KG at Coles Soup”. Here’s one I made earlier….. http://adoreyoga01.bloomkit.com.au/_blog/Adore_Yoga_Blog
Good luck with your toe and I hope you find a fabulous yoga teacher who’ll show you the pain-free way to headstand!
Nik x
http://www.facebook.com/adoreyogamosman
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This is my Monday fail safe – takes no more than 20 minutes and is seriously tasty, Red Chicken Curry
http://eatmeetswest.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/the-perils-of-being-a-grown-up/
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i normally just make a poached egg on toast. There is always bread and there are always eggs!
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Ummm. I don’t really have a fall back since I usually know in the morning what I am preparing that evening. I only shop once a fortnight – if it’s just hubby and I it’s a little more relaxed. Any more than hubby and I for more than a week and I’ve already planned the menu for the fortnight.
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Since Uni, I’ve developed a kind of backup. In times of pressing need, tiredness or surprise group catering, my vegetarian burritos save the day.
1 can of chick peas; 1 can of four bean mix; 1 can bean of your choice; large can of diced tomatoes; powdered taco mix; zuccini; mushrooms; 1 medium size tomato chopped; 1 carrot grated.
Cook beans for seven minutes in large fry pan; add vegetables, combine, cook; add diced tomatoes and taco mix. Let simmer for five minutes.
Grated cheese to top. Tortilla.
Easy, cheap meal.
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Sounds delish! Love love love vego meals.
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It really is and very economical. Especially if you have plans for a cheeky leftovers dinner the following night!
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Love taste.com for those nights. When i only have a couple of ingredients in the house – i type them in and usually find something semi decent!
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I fry up some garlic, chopped mushrooms, broccoli and vegetarian “chicken” pieces from the asian supermarket. Add japanese noodles, splash of soy, stock powder and water to make a bit of a sauce. Throw in some bean shoots and a bunch of chinese veg until wilted. Sorted. Yum!!
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Cheese on toast and an apple cut into eighths.
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Another easy dinner – keep tortillas in the cupboard plus refried beans. Spread however many tortillas you need with the beans, sprinkle with a bit of cheese and shake tabasco to taste on each one. Top with another tortilla and cook in a frying pan – no oil needed. Flip and toast on other side. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or plain yoghurt and some avocado. Delicious! If you have a bit more time you can saute some veggies to include like zucchini, mushroom and capsicum. Really nice.
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husband is away this week – might do this one as a quick little meal for daughter and me. Thanks!
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Oh my gosh – Yum!!!
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We have baked eggs quite often, especially on a Sunday night. Turn oven on to 180, melt a bit of butter into however many ramekins you need, take out of oven and break two or three eggs into each ramekin. Sprinkle some crushed garlic, chopped fresh thyme if you have it and some salt and pepper and put back in oven until cooked to your liking. We like it a bit runny and dip bits of baguette in it, or just toast. So easy and good for you!
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Sounds yum! Will be having that!
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I just bought Donna Hay simple dinners and I see what we have got and almost always find an amazing recipe I can make in there. The other night we had hardly anything but I did have rice and eggs and I made asian ginger rice with a fried egg and chilli. Its such a handy book.
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Mine looks like your Tori…..but is different!!!
Making it tonight as well!
http://phoodie.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/phriday-pheast-9-broccoli-and-leek-soup/
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Potato Gems with store-bought chilli & lime aioli
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Bacon pasta with either a cream or a red sauce depending on the mood & ingredients at hand. It only takes 15-20min.
Bacon, mushrooms, zucchini, onion, garlic – cook til tender.
Cream sauce – some chicken stock, low fat cream either some mixed spices or a tblsp on grainy mustard.
Red sauce – tin of tomato, tblsp tomato paste, veggie, stock, Italian herbs
Serve with gnocchi or spirals with Parmesan & cracked pepper. Garlic sourdough.
My step children love it & it’s full of veggies.
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Gnocchi + jar of basil pesto + cherry tomatoes = delish dinner within minutes
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yummmm!
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My emergency standby meal for one is half a packet of frozen stirfry vegies, tossed in a wok with a flavoured tin of tuna and some sweet chili sauce. I add any dried herbs or herbs in a tube if I have them, and a squeeze of lime juice from a bottle. Serve with rice from one of those little pottles that takes 40 secs to heat in the microwave.
Mini pizzas – I keep pottles of pizza sauce in the fridge. Spread on wholemeal pita breads and add cheese and other favourite toppings that you have on standby (e.g onion, shaved ham, salami, tomato, capsicum, pinenuts, canned pineapple pieces). Great for using up leftover vegies or meats from the week’s sandwiches and is also good when you and the others in your family have different tastes, you can make your own.
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crumbed prawns and green salad (you can get a box of 500g frozen crumbed prawns at Woolies {their Brand} for a bit over $10)
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My fail safe meal is a quick puff pastry mushroom tart with salad. It probably takes about 20 minutes to make and it’s really tasty.
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Oooh, we love mushrooms – any chance of a recipe?
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My fail safe dinner is tuna pasta. I just cook one can of tuna in a saucepan, add some cream and then some tomato passata sauce. It is ready in the time the pasta is cooking and is yummy!
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Awesome – I never know what do to with peas!
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Vegetarian toad-in-the-hole
The preparation time is about 10 minutes and the cooking time 30 minutes. Best of all my family love it. While it’s cooking I toss together a salad
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oooh how do you make it please??
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I work from home and can’t stand sandwiches for lunch (they get so boring). So I’ve come up with this nifty, easy lunch that be made from cupboard/freezer items regularly. It has changed my world!
- Put a 1/4 cup couscous in a bowl with a 1/4 cup boiling water, cover with foil and leave it.
- Get another bowl and put about a cup of frozen vegies in (this is the only time I use frozen veggies, and I just get the small mix which has green beans, corn, and peas in it) – zap that in the microwave for 2 mins
- Fork up the couscous, add vegies, add a can of salmon, squeeze over lemon juice and drizzle with oil.
- S & P and voila!
It rocks.
(if REALLY hungry i add a small can of kidney beans to it)
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i LOVE couscous. soo easy to prepare. i use the same method as you, except i put hot vegetable stock instead of boiling water and let the couscous soak it up.
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Coles $5 Asian salad mixed with a lime, mashed avocado , chopped garlic plus extras like grated carrot, raw zuchini noodles, baby spinach, rocket, raw corn cut off a cob and raw cashews walnuts or sunflower seeds. Plus the included lime dressing and crunchy noodles. Delish… have to admit having this for dinner every night!
Not cooking eg eating raw saves so much time.
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I cut up 2 potatoes into small cubes and steam with 3/4 cup of frozen vegies. When the potatoes are softened, i put the vegies in a frying pan with a rasher of bacon (diced), a small eschalot (sliced), some minced garlic and a bit of butter. fry it all up. Enjoy having turned vegies into something unhealthy…
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Maccas?
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Baked beans! Woot!
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Spag Bol- sauce from a jar. None of this fresh stuff if I’m in a hurry.
Baked beans with multigrain toast – surprisingly healthy.
Roast chicken and salad in a bag – when I’m truly in a hurry.
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Saute some garlic and an onion, and depending on what else is in the fridge, maybe a chopped up carrot and mushrooms, when they’re almost cooked, add a couple of eggs and cook until the eggs are cooked. Add salt and sauce of your choice. Vegie eggs!
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Thats my instant lunch/meal too!! Delish
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Chilli con Carne – the ingredients are pantry staples – beans, tin tomatoes, bottle of chilli. i always have mince in the freezer and onions in the cupboard. I could cook this on crutches once.
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What sort of chilli do you use?
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That smart rice stuff, the brown one, comes in a pouch, put it in the microwave for 90 seconds, add a can of tuna, and a little bit of soy sauce, bam! job done! I have it for lunch most days
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In an emergency like that? Eggs. Stress-free cooking; boiled or scrambled eggs with hot buttered toast. Bliss
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Spaghetti (or whatever dried pasta is in the pantry) with garlic (fresh of course!), chilli (dried or fresh, whatever’s at hand) anchovy, good olive oil, grind of pepper, shavings of good parmesan cheese and fresh parsley (if I have some). Quick, simple and very satisfying. Even better when there’s a bottle of wine!
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This is my go-to dinner as well! Even better with olives. I might actually whip it up this evening…
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You guys are making me hungry~ I love anchovies and olives so much.
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We drive over to my mums house! I sadly did not inherit her cooking skills but luckily she is always happy to add two places to the table at short notice. And she ALWAYS has something delicious cooking!
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mum’s are the best!
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My boyfriend plays sport 2 nights a week… these nights coincide with the nights I visit my grandmother for dinner
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Thats lovely, a win-win for you and your grandmother
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Good old Spag Bol. Can make it in my sleep and have it ready and on the table within 30 minutes. Not to mention two huge bonuses. It’s packed full of veges AND I never get a complaint.
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Ouch – yoga is a lot more dangerous than people think. The pea soup sounds great – I’m going to try it.
Hope your toe feels better soon.
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Mine fail safe meals are veggie sausages and mash with veg and gravy, split pea dhal and rice and spag bol!
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Wow, I hope not all together!
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Spinach pie – I usually have frozen spinach and puff pastry in the freezer, and if I’m lucky, fetta cheese in the fridge. I add mushrooms and other vegies that I have in the fridge..easy peasy.
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What do you use to “bulk up” the filling though? Do you use some egg? I like the sound of that
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Yes, I use a couple of eggs.
Olive oil in pan, pan fry onions and garlic, add any vegies, add defrosted or fresh spinach. Cool. Add beaten eggs, fetta, pine nuts. That’s the filling.
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That sounds yum!
As for dinner-party failsafes, roast, roast and more roast. So good for entertaining. You set and forget and it never fails.
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surprisingly few people cook roasts anymore, so when you serve one to guests they think it’s really special. And it’s so easy.
We try to have a roast every second Sunday, when the kids are home.
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I love curry. So does husband. So I keep a lot of jars of Pataks and green curry paste/coconut milk in the pantry. I prefer to do the curry from scratch (including the paste), but we can have curry in the time it takes to cook rice – faster than driving to takeaway!
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That soup sounds delicious…I always have trouble remembering which peas have been an ice pack before though!
My go-to meal at the moment is fish and salad because I can make the latter while the former is cooking
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I buy minted fozen peas for the ice pack – never will eat those by mistake!
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that’s really smart!
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Frozen peas are an awesome ice pack, as they fit into all those knobbly bits that feet have. I broke my foot + sprained my ankle years ago; I was annoyed that Mum kept cooking my icepack.
As for food in that situation, I’d dial a pizza. Second choice would be what’s known at our place as “curry in a box” – those pre-prepared curries that you get in the fridge section or Asian food shelves in the supermarket – and some rice in the rice cooker.
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Yummo, I want to make this soup. We eat a lot of soups in winter. So quick and easy.
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I was more focused on making sure frozen peas and green curry paste are on my shopping list. I am such a star, that I already have stock powder. Also doing the pita chips on the side!
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What’s the lunch box with your name and class written on it got to do with anything? Confused…
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Seriously? She is saying she hasn’t tried to do a headstand since she was in school.
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Meaning the last time Victoria did a headstand was when she was a kid at school.
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It took me a few reads before I understood as well!
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