A Perfect Example

Last night's dinner was a perfect example of what I preach in these blogs about having the right staples on hand and you can make anything. If you don't know what I'm talking about, scroll back to the first few blog entries and you'll see, especially the one called "What to have inna house".

I was at Lisa's last night, and instead of ordering out, I decided to root through her cabinets and fridge to see if I could come up with dinner. Now, Lisa does not have the best stocked kitchen. Before she met me, her idea of dinner was a bowl of Reese's Puffs. (and probably still is when we are not together.) This is what I found in the kitchen:

A box of thin spaghetti
A jar of artichoke hearts
A can of diced tomatoes
A jar of Italian spice blend
A bottle of good olive oil
A bottle of lemon infused balsamic vinegar
A container of mixed olives
A container of shredded Asiago cheese
Most of a rotisserie chicken

And here's what I made:
I boiled the pasta. While that was cooking, I heated some of the olive oil in a skillet and added the artichoke hearts, then some of the chicken that I had shredded up. (boy, I wish I had had some garlic)
I added the tomatoes, some olives and some of the spice blend, the balsamic and a little ground pepper. I tossed the cooked pasta in, plated it and then drizzled a little more oil on top and finished with a sprinkle of cheese. I wish I had thought to snap a picture before we destroyed it, but we went out on her little porch, and had a great, light, CHEAP dinner with a nice bottle of wine. You'll just have to imagine what it looked like.

So.....do you get the point? All that yum came out of just a few staple items that she had hanging around. And trust me, most of you have many more of those suggested staples in your own pantries. So start getting creative, my friends. And then add your creations (with pictures) to the Facebook page connected to this blog.

Time to go. I need to take Lisa to Trader Joe's and fill  up that kitchen!
Bye now.