Refrigerator Supper
What, you say? No, I didn’t eat my refrigerator for dinner. I’m talking about those days when you get home from work, you’re cooking for one, and therefore you don’t feel much like cooking. Thoughts of grabbing a burrito race through your head. “Oh! The corner place has pizza by the slice!” But then you see all of the stuff you purchased last weekend at the grocery store, and you know you should just use what you have. Now what? Hmmmm, I see corn tortillas but no salsa. There are a few stray veggies you have to eat before they go bad, a carton of eggs, Trader Joe’s Eggplant Hummus (a constant presence)……..”Mmmm, a sandwich would be great” but alas, no lunchmeat! Not even a can of TUNA in the pantry (yes, even Tuna Toast runs out of tuna)!
You start hearing echoes of your mom’s voice….”Don’t stand there with the refrigerator open!!!” and you know you have to make a decision. Upon inspection of the freezer, I find a bag of Trader Joe’s Grilled Chicken Strips. “Ok, that could be the meat in my sandwich.” Right next to them lie a few honey-wheat hamburger buns that J must have bought and tossed in the freezer. A peek into my pantry resulted in a can of cannellini beans, and I actually started to feel inspired. I can do this, I think to myself as my cat Cory is just hoping there’s a can of cat food in there somewhere.
After a few minutes, I had dinner- a chicken and hummus sandwich on a whole wheat bun, a side of Kashi crackers w/ hummus (hey, I like hummus ok?) and a salad of greens, roasted beets, cannellini beans and shaved parmesan. Before you wonder where I had time to roast beets, I’ll let you in on one of the best newish products at Trader Joe’s- baby steamed beets. Vacuum packed, perfectly round, sweet and tender beets found in the fresh veggie aisle. They’re awesome, and turn your everyday salad into something special. If you haven’t tried them, I insist you do. They were formerly “Melissa’s” brand, but TJ’s often buys the product and makes it their own, as in this case and with the steamed lentils, another fantastic product.
I sat down with my sandwich/salad meal, turned on channel 13 to watch repeats of That 70′s Show and enjoyed. Definitely better than takeout!
