I don;t know about you but I love to do easy cooking from my pantry. So, when Whole Foods contacted me to see if I’d like to participate in the $50 pantry challenge with the offer of giving away a $50 gift card to one lucky reader, I loudly said YES.
Included in the challenge were a few foods that aren’t on my vegan diet such as a an of tuna and a few boxes of chicken broth but other than that, all he other foods provide the basis for great meals when paired with fresh produce.
Here are the foods on the list:
- 1 lb black beans
- 1 lb lentils
- 1 lb quinoa
- 2 lbs brown rice
- 3 (32-oz) boxes vegetable broth
- 1 (32-oz) box chicken broth
- 1 lb rolled oats
- 2 cans cannellini beans
- 1 lb orechiette pasta
- 1 lb pasta, your favorite kind
- 1 can black beans
- 1 jar unsweetened applesauce
- 1 (32-oz) box unsweetened soymilk
- 1 (32-oz) box unsweetened almond milk
- 1 (5-oz) can tuna
- 3 (15-oz) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 package no-oil sundried tomatoes
- 1 jar pasta sauce
Here are a few dishes that i have made with the pantry staples:
Pasta with tomato sauce, white beans and greens.
Black bean and sweet potato chili that was served over brown rice
Purple sticky rice pudding made withe the almond milk (I bought the purple sticky rice)
Shane’s Fabulous Lentil Soup which required the addition of onions, potato and carrots
And there’s much more on the horizon as I have hardly made a dent in the ingredients. I see a bean burger with oats, sundried tomato and spices in my future. A big pot of brown rice will also get cooked, with some stashed in the freezer to eat later. If the weather turns cold again, another pot of soup will surely appear.
I will randomly draw a name for the gift card at midnight on February 1st.
To be entered to win, like my Facebook page by clicking here and post a comment below (right here on this blog) with the most creative pantry dish you might make with the vegetarian ingredients listed above. (If you use the tuna or chicken broth, you are automatically disqualified.) Include the list of other ingredients you need to add to complete your dish and list your current favorite pantry meal. I hope that you can think beyond the pasta.
Have fun with this. I love pantry cooking and saving money. Of course I also save energy in the process by using my pressure cooker. Shane’s Fabulous Lentil Soup takes only 6 minutes at pressure and it’s oh so tasty.
Good luck.
steph says
I’d make spicy black bean quinoa with the black beans and quinoa! i’d add cayenne and adobo pepper, and cumin. YUM!
i like on FB
Star says
I cook quinoa in veggie broth as directed. (fluffing it after done)
At the same time the quinoa is cooking I roast red bell peppers, red onions, mushrooms, squash, artichokes, cherry tomatos, sundried tomatos and garlic with grapeseed oil and thyme or rosemary. At about the same time I remove the roasted veggies and toss in with the quinoa. Serve with a swiss chard salad with balsamic vinegar. This is YUMMY!
Already liked your FB a LONG time ago! 🙂 Thanks for the challenge!
Lara Fabans says
I’d almost be tempted to make tuna “meatballs” with beans & oatmeal as the binders in a tomato sauce. Still my daughter loves pasta in marinara, I love tuna and beans and quinoa mixed with salad veggies, etc.
Or blend the beans and serve with cooked pasta as a “cream” sauce…I’d love to play around with all of the ingredients.
bonnie polkinghorn says
This is an awesome recipe from Emiril Lagasse. It is grilled portobello mushrooms with angel hair pasta. Very simple, make a sauce with the diced tomatoes and tons of garlic, include the stems of the mushrooms. Cook the pasta el dente, of course. Cook the mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil only a minute or two per side. Mix the pasta with the tomatoes and garlic and serve with the mushroom on top. Yummy, quick, easy, only a few pantry ingredients.
Jill Nussinow says
Wow, you are a creative bunch in the kitchen. I love hearing about how you use your pantry items and some of you your pressure cookers. Keep it up. I wish that you could all win but you are all winners no matter what.