Some weeks you shop with good intentions and the herbs are slime by Wednesday. This list is for the weeks when you can’t predict what’s coming. Almost all of it keeps for weeks, nothing spoils if you skip a night, and it makes five dinners for two with no second trip. At my store it came to about $60, not counting oil, salt and soy sauce, which I’m assuming you have.
Shelves
- 2 pounds long-grain white rice
- 1 pound small pasta, such as ditalini or small shells
- 2 cans chickpeas and 1 can black beans, 15 ounces each
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 small jar Thai red curry paste, which keeps for months in the fridge once opened
Fridge
- 1 dozen eggs, good for 3 to 5 weeks
- 1 package flour tortillas
- 1 (8-ounce) block cheddar. A block lasts much longer than a bag of shredded.
- 1 small green cabbage, which keeps 3 weeks or more wrapped in the crisper
- 1 pound carrots
- 2 lemons
Freezer
- 1 bag frozen peas
- 1 box frozen chopped spinach
- 1 bag frozen dumplings, for the night you can’t do anything else
Somewhere cool and dark
- 3 pounds yellow onions and a head of garlic
- 3 pounds potatoes, kept away from the onions. Each makes the other spoil faster.
Five dinners, in any order
- Pasta with chickpeas. Cook a chopped onion and 3 sliced garlic cloves in 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat for 6 minutes. Add half the crushed tomatoes, 1 can chickpeas (drained), 4 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer 10 minutes, then add 1 1/2 cups pasta and cook, stirring often, until it’s tender and the pot is thick like a stew, about 12 minutes. Finish with lemon juice and black pepper.
- Black bean quesadillas with slaw. Mash the black beans with a pinch of salt and some hot sauce. Spread on tortillas, add grated cheddar, fold and cook 3 minutes a side in a dry skillet. On the side, toss 2 cups shredded cabbage and a grated carrot with lemon juice, a spoonful of oil and salt.
- Red curry. Fry 2 tablespoons curry paste in 1 tablespoon oil for a minute. Add the coconut milk, 1/2 cup water, 2 potatoes cut into 3/4-inch cubes and 2 sliced carrots. Simmer 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender, then add the second can of chickpeas and 1 cup frozen peas for 3 minutes. Season with soy sauce and lemon juice and serve over rice.
- Potato and cabbage hash. Cut 1 1/2 pounds potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes and cook them in 3 tablespoons oil in a covered skillet over medium heat for 10 minutes. Uncover, add a sliced onion and 3 cups shredded cabbage, and cook 10 to 12 minutes more, stirring now and then, until browned. Make four hollows, crack in 4 eggs, cover and cook until the whites set, 4 to 5 minutes. Grate cheddar over the top.
- Eggs in tomato sauce. Simmer the rest of the crushed tomatoes with 2 sliced garlic cloves, half the box of spinach (no need to thaw it) and 1/2 teaspoon salt for 10 minutes. Make four hollows, crack in 4 eggs, cover and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still soft. Eat it with warm tortillas.
The dumplings are your backup. Pan-fry them by the package directions, about 8 minutes, and eat them with soy sauce and whatever hot sauce you have. If the week goes well and you never need them, they’ll wait for the next one.
You’ll end the week with some rice, some cabbage and four eggs left over. That’s on purpose. Next week’s list gets shorter.