Recipes for an empty(ish) fridge
A follow up to my clean-out-the-fridge newsletter!
I wrote my last newsletter before a trip to Italy, when I felt like I had to clean every fresh thing out of my fridge. I was glad I did (and I came back to a couple jars of homemade mango chutney too, which was the best part!).
Then I came back. It was a Monday, I didn’t have time throughout the week to go to the grocery store or farmers’ market, and I had purposefully gotten rid of anything of interest in my fridge. I felt uninspired and hungry, staring at a fridge with only some cheese, butter, and a couple potatoes.
But sometimes, a lack of inspiration can lead to the best innovation of all! I ended up throwing things together with what I had left, and made a series of videos on Instagram about “what to cook when you don’t know what to cook.” Surprisingly, they turned into my best-performing posts—apparently, and maybe unsurprisingly, a lot of people are in the same kitchen situation as me.
So here are some of those recipes! The philosophy behind them is the same as that of a pantry pasta—I turned to my pantry and freezer more often than my fridge, only using two or three star ingredients to make something worthwhile.
Last week reminded me that as much as I love using fresh produce when I can find it, it really only takes two ingredients to get inspired in the kitchen. For me, the excitement of cooking comes from getting to be creative and intentional. On one level, cooking is about feeding yourself. On another level, it’s about creating; creating something you can enjoy outside of your work and your routine; creating something that makes a couple hours of your life feel special; and creating something you can look forward to, and something you can remember. (As Julia Child’s chef instructor at the Cordon Bleu said, “You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made. Even after you eat it, it stays with you—always.”)
There’s an aspect of necessity to cooking. But after that, the amount of effort, and ultimately love, that you put in, is up to you! There is always something to cook. You just have to let yourself find it.
Below, I’ve put some of my what-to-cook-when-you-don’t-know-what-to-cook recipes, along with some of the other new recipes on my site. Hopefully they inspire you to spend some time on yourself in the kitchen this week, no matter how full your fridge is!
Lastly, a postnote—I’m really excited to say that I’ve finally crossed 100 subscribers to this newsletter!! I don’t say this to toot my own horn, but just to say that I’m so grateful for every single one of you! Getting to write about cooking and food has become a new joy of mine, and the fact that people have signed up to get this joy delivered straight to their email inboxes is mind-blowing. I’m going to use this milestone to (try and) be more consistent, and I hope you’ll tell me what you like, and don’t like, and what you want to see more of! So most of all, thank you!!
Below you’ll find some of the new recipes on my site! As always, you can find them in the Recipe Archive tab as well. Happy cooking-for-one!!
Frozen parotta pizza with vodka sauce
Time: 30 mins | Difficulty: 1/5 | Yield: 2 small pizzas
This might be the easiest no-recipe-recipe there is—so easy, I debated whether it was worth writing a recipe for this site. But I think it is worth it! This recipe a template for you—I don’t expect that everyone has frozen parottas in their freezer (though, I highly recommend it) but you might have some frozen naan or some tortillas lying around. I used jarred vodka sauce here, which was stellar, but you can use any jarred tomato sauce you have on hand! (Or even leftover butter chicken sauce!!) Just make sure to add ample mozzarella on top, and some herbs and olive oil to bring it all together. After that, these pizzas are a blank slate—use up any sausage, pepperoni, spinach, onions, or anything else you have in your fridge!
Ingredients:
2 frozen parottas (or frozen naan, roti, or other round, flat bread)
Mini mozzarella balls
Vodka sauce (or tomato sauce)
Parmesan
Olive oil
Chili flakes, pepper, oregano
Method:
Heat up the frozen parottas on a pan on the stove. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil and pre-heat the oven to 300°.
Spread the sauce on the warmed parottas. Slice the cheese so you have a bunch of flat rounds, then spread them along the top of the parottas. Add the chili flakes, pepper, and oregano, then drizzle lightly with olive oil.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melty and starting to bubble.
Add parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil at the end!
Fried mozzarella balls and tomato soup
Time: 30 mins | Difficulty: 2/5 | Recommendation: Weeknight dinner
Let me first say, this is not an original recipe for tomato soup. This is, however, a description of a great way to make canned Campbell’s tomato soup! We all know grilled cheese and tomato soup go together like…well, grilled cheese and tomato soup. But try putting the cheese in the soup itself (mozzarella surrounded with breadcrumbs and shallow fried), and you may never go back!
Ingredients:
1 can of Campbell’s condensed soup (or another similar brand of canned soup)
1/2 a can of milk
Herbes de Provence
Mozzarella balls
1 egg
Panko breadcrumbs
Flour
Vegetable oil
Method:
Get three small bowls: in one, whisk the egg, then add the flour to another and the breadcrumbs to the third.
Dip the mozzarella balls in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs, and place on a plate. Freeze them while you make the soup.
Add the soup can to a pot, then add 1/2 can of water and 1/2 can of milk. Stir and heat very slowly (if it looks like it’s separating, don’t worry, just keep stirring and it should go away!). Then add salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence.
Pour about 1/2 an inch of oil in a skillet, and heat. When it’s super hot (a breadcrumb should immediately sizzle when you drop it in), add the mozzarella balls about four at a time, frying and flipping until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.
Plop the mozz balls on top of the soup, and enjoy!!
Chaat Tofu Tacos with Goat Cheese and Fruit Slaw
Time: 30 mins | Difficulty: 1/5 | Yield: 2 tacos
Did you know that putting chaat masala on tofu creates a beautiful explosion of crispy flavor in your mouth?? Well you’ve heard it here first. Put chaat masala on your tofu! This recipe came about when I imagined combining my peaches and tomatoes in a chopped fruit slaw, and couldn’t figure out what to pair it with. Then I remembered the frozen tofu in my fridge! It’s way faster to defrost tofu than chicken, so that’s what happened, and I’m glad it did! This slaw would work with any fruits you have (I think yellow peaches would actually be better here than my white) but I recommend something crunchy, and something juicy, and definitely the red onions. Combine that with the zesty tofu, creamy goat cheese, and fluffy frozen parotta, and you’ve got a real winner of a lunch!!
Ingredients:
For the slaw:
1 peach (white or yellow)
A handful of grape tomatoes
1/2 a cucumber
1/4 red onion
A hunk of ginger
Basil
Lemon juice
Fruit vinegar (I used mango vinegar) or rice vinegar
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Chili flakes
2 slabs of tofu, preferably thawed from frozen
About 1/4 tsp of cornstarch
Olive oil, about a tablespoon
Chaat masala (I’m a fan of this brand)
Basil goat cheese (or just goat cheese)
2 frozen parottas (I’m a fan of this brand—if you don’t have any, you can use any other frozen bread, or a tortilla)
Method:
Make the slaw: Chop the peaches, tomatoes, and cucumbers into small cubes. Chop the onion as finely as possible. Mince the ginger and slice the basil. Combine everything in a bowl and add the vinegar and olive oil to taste, then add salt, pepper, chili flakes, and just a dash of sugar.
Make the tofu: Make sure as much moisture as possible is out of the tofu, then cut the slabs into triangles.
Add the cornstarch to the tofu and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper.
Heat the olive oil in a pan. When it’s hot enough, add the tofu. Don’t flip it until the first side is nicely golden brown! When it is, brown the other side as well, adding more olive oil if needed.
When the tofu is done, turn off the heat, and add two big sprinkles of chaat masala. Toss the pan to coat the tofu. Transfer to a little bowl.
Wipe out the pan, and warm up the parottas.
Assemble the tacos: Spread a generous amount of goat cheese on one side of each parotta. Add the tofu in the middle. Then add the fruit slaw on top. And enjoy!!
Peanut noodles with soy-marinated ground beef
Time: 30 mins | Difficulty: 1/5 | Yield: 1 serving + some beef & noodle leftovers
These peanut noodles are a big go-to in my kitchen. I usually keep individually wrapped packages of ground beef and chicken in my freezer, so that I can defrost them at will and there’s less pressure when I’m making meat for one person. So this is a great way to use that ground beef in a stress-free, reliable meal! I topped it with cucumbers and scallions, because that’s what I had in my fridge—you can add anything you have on top, like crushed peanuts, bok choi, thinly sliced veggies like carrots or peppers…the noodles themselves are a great base for a lot of creativity!
Ingredients:
For the beef:
1/2 lb ground beef
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Rice vinegar
Pepper
Olive oil
For the sauce:
Peanut butter
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Honey
Ginger powder
Coriander powder
Chili flakes
Ramen or curly noodles
1/2 a cucumber
Scallions
Method:
Set the water to boil, and boil the noodles when ready. When the noodles are done, make sure not to discard any of the water!
Thinly slice the cucumber into little sticks, and slice the scallions on a diagonal. Add a touch of salt to the cucumber if desired.
Place the ground beef in a bowl, and add the soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. Toss lightly to combine.
Add a touch of olive oil to a pan and heat. Add in the ground beef and sauté until nicely browned.
While the beef is cooking, make the sauce: To a bowl, add the peanut butter, then soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and spices to a bowl. Add in a ladleful of the noodle water. Whisk until smooth, and add more of the noodle water if needed.
Drop the cooked noodles straight into the sauce bowl, and toss to combine. Add the ground beef on top, then the scallions and cucumber!
Peach and ginger turnovers
Time: 45 mins | Difficulty: 2/5 | Yield: 4 turnovers
Have a lot of ripe summer peaches, and don’t know what to do with them?? Stuff them in some puff pastry and make some breakfast turnovers!! These are so flaky and delicious, and come together really easily. You could add anything you want to complement the peaches—I also added little currant berries to the inside, which are optional but add a great splash of flavor if you have them. Also, they will probably explode in the oven, but don’t worry! Just embrace the explosions!!
Ingredients:
2 white peaches
About a half-inch nub of ginger
Champagne currants (optional)
An egg (for the egg wash)
1 puff pastry sheet
1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch
A pinch of sugar
Method:
Thaw the puff pastry and roll it out onto a sheet pan lined with baking parchment.
Chop the peaches into small chunks, and add to a bowl. Chop the ginger and add it to the peaches, along with the currants. Add the cornstarch and sugar and stir to combine.
Pre-heat oven to 400°.
Slice out four large circles from the puff pastry. Drop a heaping spoon of the fruit into the center of each pastry circle.
Whisk the egg, then brush it along the edges of the pastry circles. Fold them in half, pinch the edges together, then crimp them as best you can. Brush the turnovers with the rest of the egg.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through!