last minute dinner ideas?

Like when you forget to take out meat to defrost, or you are too busy to prepare an elaborate dinner. My wife is very, very picky, so we can't just make some grilled cheese sandwiches and heat up a can of Campbell's soup or Nissin Ramen Noodles (which is what I made a lot of as a bachelor). And she doesn't like any type of TV dinners, frozen pizza, etc..

Sometimes, we will make some scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast and have that for dinner in situations like this. Or I will heat up some beans, grate some cheese, and fry some tortillas for quick burritos, but she dislikes these "quick" burritos.

I don't have specific recipes at the moment, but here is something that you can do. A quick dinner can be completely prepared in advance and kept until needed. Also, part of meals can be prepared and stored so that all you have to do is combine them and other ingredients into a dish. Some planning goes a long way.

stir fry frozen veg, jarred Curry paste, canned coconut milk, rice, chopsticks. skip the curry, throw in some chopped kale & some various squashes and you have my standard lazy meal. Another good quick meal I like is eggplant slices pan fried with spinach salad, tomato slices and olives

Black bean and corn quesadillas

Drain a can of corn, and rinse the black goo out of a can of black beans. Dump both in a skillet over medium heat, and add the spices of your choice. I usually throw in some cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, etc. Once the beans become tender (about 5 minutes) take the skillet off the burner. Wipe one side of a tortilla with canola oil, and lightly salt it with sea salt. Lay tortilla oil side down in a skillet, put some pepperjack cheese on top, and add the beans and corn. Fold it in half, and brown the tortilla on each side. I can't really take credit for this, as I believe someone posted it in the B&B cookbook, but it's quick and easy. You can also add onions, peppers, chicken, etc. depending on what you've got laying around.

A quick meal that I made a lot in college was poor man's chicken and noodles. Dump some ramen noodles in a pot with some chicken broth and a can of the canned chicken breast. Let this simmer until the noodles soften up. DO NOT add the seasoning that comes with the ramen bricks, just throw it out and use the noodles. Whip up some quick instant potatoes and you've got a 10 minute meal.

Other ideas:
French toast
Omellettes
Toasted PB&J (butter the outside of the bread like you would a grilled cheese and sprinkle with a little cinnamon and sugar)
Your favorite boxed mac n cheese - add a can of tuna and a can of peas
Take the breakfast up a notch and make bacon and egg or ham, egg, and cheese bagels
Spaghetti with canned sauce and garlic bread (take any bread or buns you have, butter them and add a little garlic powder and cheese. put in the oven for 5 minutes)

Home made pizza is good. Buy fresh pizza base and put your own ingredients on it. I like doing an upmarket seafood one with prawns, scallops and lots of garlic. Quick, easy and really tasty.

Pesto pasta is also good. Boil some penne pasta, when cooked, stir through some good pesto from a jar. Throw in some pitted olives and shredded salami and just let the heat of the pasta warm the other ingredients through a little before service.

Its hard to answer this question without knowing how well stocked your pantry is or what you usually have in your fridge.

So basically, here are some good meatless ideas.

Salads are a no brainer - I like variations of the salad nicoise basically, any combination of lettuce and some are all of the above - olives, a fish (anchovies, sardines or good tuna packed in oil - you should have one or more of these in your pantry at all times!), blanched or steamed beans or asparagus, some sliced of boiled potato, hard cooked egg - basically whatever you want. I serve mine with a simple homemade dressing (usually made of some vinegar, good extra virgin olive oil, some dijon mustard, a touch of honey, some sea salt, pepper and ground herbs).

Vegies, crackers and dips - if I'm feeling lazy, I'll whip up some hummus and or guacamole and we'll just do a picnic on the couch with some crackers and cut up veggies.

Pasta - if you keep some good dry pasta in the house, you can easily whip up a quick meal - we often keep some sauce in the freezer or have a decent jar of ready made. Or if you have canned tomatoes, you can whip up something from scratch in minutes - saute some onions and garlic in olive oil, add your tomatoes (crushed, diced or pureed), simmer for a few minutes and season to taste. A nice touch is to swirl in a bit of good olive oil just before serving and then garnish with some parmesan (another good pantry staple). You can add sauteed mushrooms, swirl in a bit of cream or condensed milk.

Gourmet pasta and cheese sauce - take the pasta and sauce it with a homemade cheese sauce - take a basic white sauce (flour, butter milk) and melt some cheese into it after it thickens - use whatever you have on hand (great way to use up bits and pieces of cheese). You can add diced ham, peas, etc. Especially good on gnocchi!

Ploughman's Lunch - basically British antipasto - a selection of cheese, crackers, pickles, boiled eggs, sliced vegetables, chutneys, etc. - not fancy but fun.

Frittatas are easy - basically an open-faced omelett that you start on the stove top and finish under the broiler - limited only by your imagination.

Soups - if you have a can/box of decent chicken stock, you can easily whip up a ton of soups - add some onions and veggies (mixed frozen or canned work just fine in a pinch) and or pasta or rice and you're done. Also a great base for a pureed sweet potato or squash soup. Basically, if you have chicken stock on hand, your soup options are limited only by your imagination.

If you keep some dumplings in your freezer, wonton soup is only 5 minutes away if you have chicken stock on hand.

Sandwiches - tuna melts, egg salad (try it with a touch of curry if you like curry), toasted or grilled sandwiches with fancy condiments (roasted red pepper, avocado, sliced tomatoes, etc).

If you like Indian food, dahl and rice are easy, tasty and healthy.

I could go on, but without knowing your preferences, its sort of shooting in the dark. The secret to emergency meals is a properly stocked pantry/fridge - good things to have include:

Canned anchovies, sardines and tuna (chunk, not flake);
Canned/Tetra pack chicken stock
Eggs
Canned tomatoes
Canned beans
Good selection of herbs and spices
Good extra virgin olive oil
Cheese
Condiments (dijon mustard, chutneys, whatever your heart fancies)
Onions
Garlic
Frozen or canned/jarred veggies (peas in particular, green beans are also more useful than you might think) also, if you like the salad nicoise idea, then some quality canned/jarred asparagus or french beans are nice to have on hand. Jarred roasted red peppers can add zip to salads and sandwiches.
Soy sauce
Quality dried pasta (not whatever you can find for $0.99 at the grocery store - something decent (but you don't need to spend a ton) - there are also lots of great whole wheat/spelt etc. pastas out there - but they do have a stronger flavour.

I'm sure there are a ton of other things that could go on the list, but you get the point - your emergency meal options increase dramatically when you have more stuff in your pantry/fridge.

My last minute meal is always pasta, I make sure I always have garlic and onions on hand and fry them up in some olive oil. I add some herbs to the pan, a splash of red wine (again i keep a bottle by the stove for cooking) and some plain sauce from the fridge. Add parm or feta and it's a meal fit to please SWMBO.

DFrancis said:

My last minute meal is always pasta, I make sure I always have garlic and onions on hand and fry them up in some olive oil. I add some herbs to the pan, a splash of red wine (again i keep a bottle by the stove for cooking) and some plain sauce from the fridge. Add parm or feta and it's a meal fit to please SWMBO.

Click to expand...

Same here, only we go real easy. Boil some pasta, drain, add some tuna and jar cheese or white sauce and warm it all together on the stove. Not the greatest but sure does beat a handful of hungry!

The main thing for me at such times is to start cooking right away. If I sit down . . . all is lost. Get the rice started or get the water boiling for pasta. You can half the oven time of cooking a baked potato with the micro wave.

I always try to have veg on hand in the form of mushrooms, onions, and peppers. I also always have frozen chicken breasts. I have Thai, teriyaki, curry, garlic black bean, Frank's hot, and other sauces in the fridge. Stir fry on rice or with pasta. Quickly thinly fried chicken with Frank's on a bun with peppers mushrooms and onions. Stir fry with eggs . . . omelette or fretatta.

At least one night a week is a repeat of something I cooked on the weekend. A bit of re-heated roast beef with a microwave cheat baked potato and some veg from a bag of frozen corn or green beans. Better than what I'd get at fast food chains for sure.

You know . . . if you keep carrots in your veg drawer they last a long time and it takes something like 4 mins to peel and chop them . . . throw them in a pot . . . probably ready 20 mins later . . and they keep for a couple of months at least.

Ok I'll stop now.

Saute a lb or so of frozen burger add a little water and put a lid on it if its 90 lean don't bother draining it.add a 1/2 large onion finely diced maybe some peppers heck a little celery if you like other options include olives canned or frozen corn put some fresh or granulated garlic. cook this until everything is melded nicely 10 minutes at most,add two cups long grain rice 3 3/4 cups water which can be replaced w chx stock salt pepper to taste add a can of tomato sauce small one (5 ounces) maybe a little smoked paprika or whatever you like, bring to a boil then simmer 20 minutes,at 15 minute in add some chopped cilantro (a bunch will do) finish cooking .Serve by itself or with some beans ( black, pintos).Quite hardy really
This can be done w any type of rice vary recipe based on WOH

Op's wife won't eat a grilled cheese sandwich? This is the first report I've ever heard of a female on the planet that refuses to eat grilled cheese.

Salads and pasta are good quickies, and another good one is thinly sliced pork tenderloin or breakfast steak cooked on the stovetop, Minute Rice or microwaved baked potatoes, and a canned vegetable such as green beans. A fine meal that can be whipped up in a blink.

Our go to quick meals -

Winston bagles (from the famous SIU street vendor on the strip) - Plain bagel toasted - cream cheese on one side, butter the other. All sliced apple, bacon bits, raisins and a sprinkle of cinnamon - (and/or whatever else you want).

Veggie Linquine - 1 pack linguine, 3 or 4 cloves garlic, olive oil, optional red pepper flakes, chicken broth, half a lemon, veggie of choice (broccoli is our preferred choice) and parmesean.

While boiling the pasta, saute the garlic, add pepper flakes if desired. Add chicken broth to the garlic once it's about done. Throw the veggies in the pasta water when there's about 4-5 min left. Grate the zest from 1/2 a lemon, then squeeze the juice. Drain pasta, combine with broth/garlic. Top with lemon zest and juice + parmesean. - YUM

Any kind of stir fry is quick and easy with frozen vegies.

Our favorite quick dinner is chicken quesadillas. I cook up a bunch of chicken in the pressure cooker, and freeze it in individual portions. We can just pull some out, thaw it, and throw it between some tortillas with some cheese, maybe some beans, jalapeños, etc.

You don't have to use a pressure cooker of course, but I can do 5 or 6 chicken breasts at a time, and they are pull apart tender in 15 min.s

quick white clam sauce for pasta:

saute some garlic in olive oil
add a can of chopped or minced clams (with the juice)
maybe some basil or a spoonful of pesto if you have it
grated cheese, pepper

It takes longer to boil the pasta than to make the sauce

man now I'm hungry