Cooking With What You Have: Curries from the Pantry

Where have I been lately? Training for this triathlon (coming up in 3 weeks - someone shoot me now), and obsessing over my new pet project, a garden! I have high hopes that my raised bed garden will look something like this.  But have a sneaking suspicion it will end up more like this.

I guess I'm an optimist, because I've been trying to make room in the freezer and pantry for my harvest (although the CSA should keep me well-stocked too).  So I've been cooking with what I have on hand, trying to buy as few new ingredients as possible.  (I have made exceptions for fruits, vegetables and a few herbs like cilantro, which adds great color and flavor to many pantry creations.)

Last week, I made this yellow peas and rice with spicy onion relish, from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  (The naan is from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything--still my favorite cookbook ever, and it now comes in an iPhone app!) Pantry ingredients used here were yellow split peas, white basmati rice, onions and spices.

 

I don't keep a lot of ready-made frozen items around, but I really like the Channa Masala by Tandoor Chef (in the organic freezer section or health food store).  Looking at the ingredients one day I thought, "I can make this."  I decided to try a quick version using canned garbanzo beans and canned tomatoes.

I didn't use a recipe, but started it like a basic curry:

• Heat 1-2 tbsp. oil over medium-high, and add about 2 tbsp each grated ginger and minced garlic. Let the ginger and garlic cook for about a minute. (I keep my ginger peeled in the freezer, then grate it with a microplane grater as needed - it lasts a lot longer, and is easier to grate.)
• Then add 1 diced onion and the spices.  I used about 1 1/2 tsp. turmeric, 1 tsp. cumin and 1/2 tsp. cayenne.  Saute for about 5 minutes, until onions turn translucent.
• Then add 1 can garbanzo beans (drained) and 1 can diced tomatoes (not drained). Or you could add anything you want to "curry" at this point -- just be sure to cook potatoes first, if using those.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, and cook until the flavors come together, about 15-20 minutes. (Just add a little water or broth if the mixture becomes too dry - it should thicken a bit while cooking.)
• Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro (optional) and serve over brown rice.

[Sorry, fixed this after a long bike ride one day, which meant I was REALLY hungry, and didn't manage to get a picture.]  This is also great with pre-cooked diced potatoes, frozen peas and cumin seeds instead of the garbanzo beans and tomatoes; the pea/potato mixture can also double as an excellent samosa filling, if you have leftovers.

Do you have a favorite go-to meal from the pantry or freezer? I'd love some more ideas.