Let's play with our food

[JoanOH]

The other night I was looking over the contents of my fridge, and was trying to come up with something new for dinner.

Just for fun, I'm going to list what I had for ingredients -- and see what kind of recipe you'all can come up with. Let's make it Induction friendly.

I have all basic Atkins necessities - cream, eggs, bacon, mayo, and a wide variety of spices and condiments. I also have lemon juice and lime juice, and a bottle of capers.

For meat, I have boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

For vegetables I have fresh red and white onions, a head of romaine lettuce, leeks, canned green beans, a package of frozen spinach, a package of frozen red, yellow and green bell peppers, a can of mushrooms, a can of black olives.

For cheeses I have about 4 oz of swiss, 8 oz of cheddar, a can of grated parmesan, and a can of grated parmesan/mozz/asiago mixture.

I also have a container of sour cream, Da Vinci syrups in Hazelnut, Chocolate and Strawberry, and a package of fresh strawberries.

I'm on a tight budget this month so I'm not willing to go to the store for anything else. The recipe only needs to serve 2, but I do like to have leftovers for DH's lunch the next day, when possible.

Using these ingredients, What would you make for dinner? I'll tell you what I ended up making after I read some other suggestions!

Joan J

[not2late]

First Course:
Cesar salad

Main Course:
Chicken breasts stuffed with a spinach-asiago cheese-bacon stuffing.
Leek gratin

Dessert:
Panna cotta in a strawberry pool or
Strawberries Romanov

[JoanOH]

First Course:
Cesar salad

Main Course:
Chicken breasts stuffed with a spinach-asiago cheese-bacon stuffing.
Leek gratin

Dessert:
Panna cotta in a strawberry pool or
Strawberries Romanov

I looked up the Leeks Gratin and am definitely going to try that! I love leeks, but seem to use them mostly in soups. Nice addition to my recipe collection - thanks!

I had to look to see what "panna cotta" was -- and again, I'll be trying that one! The Strawberries Romanov looks good, but think I'll have to save that for the future Haven't gotten back to ice cream yet.

I should also add that I have Italian, Blue Cheese and Ranch dressings - just for those who might still read this!

Joan J

[cmcole]

I guess you're stuck with Caesar for a salad.

If you had tomatoes, and the peppers were raw, I'd suggest Greek.

Soup might be mice, and leftovers would be possible. You could use any of the canned and frozen items (perhaps minus the olives), a bit of the chicken, and sprinkle with the mixed cheese to serve. I'd probably use the leeks as the "onion" flavour in the soup, just for a change and colour (or the red onions).

Being a very "plain" person, I'd just whip the cream (or not) and possibly flavour it with one of the syrups, serving it over the strawberries.

You might, on top of the soup, even make an omelette, chop it up and put it in the soup.

Additionally, you could do a bit of a stir-fry with the omelette chopped as an additional protein.

How about slicing open the chicken breasts and stuffing them with the peppers and spinach and some cheese; wrap them in parchment, and steam or bake them.

Even your basic omelette with any of those veggies would be great - or if you chose the stir-fry route, you could make an omelette and use it as a wrap for the next day.

That's all I can invent - I'm not that talented.

[JoanOH]

All great suggestions! Let me tell you what I ended up with.

I cut the chicken breasts into strips, sprinkled with rosemary, garlic salt, and black pepper, and cooked them in a bit of olive oil.

I thawed the box of frozen spinach in the microwave and pressed out the excess water.

I mixed about 1/3 cup of mayo, 1/3 cup of cream and 3 eggs, then added about 1/2 cup of swiss cheese that I grated. To this, I added the spinach, a bit more Rosemary and garlic, and the black olives (1/2 can, drained).

I PAM-sprayed a 3/4 quart casserole and then put a layer of chicken breast strips. I poured 1/2 of the spinach mixture over it. I then put another layer of chicken strips, and poured the rest of the spinach mixture over it. I sprinkled some of the Asiago grated cheese on top, along with more black pepper.

I baked it at 350 for 20 minutes covered, then another 15 minutes uncovered.

It was DELICIOUS! It made 6 servings -- DH ate two, I ate one, picky-eater DD ate one and I had one leftover for DH to reheat at work the next day.

Joan J

[Heidi3]

I of course would take the chicken peppers and onions curry them my recipe is posted someplace here and as long as you have the spices in your cabinet it is a no brainer you can make enough for tonights dinner and some left over for lunch tomorrow! you did not mention pantry items but if you do not have coconut milk you can use cream!
since we are on induction ...no strawberries but to use them up I would slice them and give them to DH for dessert!

for myself I did not eat dessert on induction...

[cmcole]

Sorry, I missed the Induction Friendly aspect of the task at hand, and included the strawberries.

You could also make cream of spinach soup, a quiche (crustless) or fritatta (guess it's more like a crustless quiche).

Curry is good.

Oriental flair if you have sesame oil.