Kind of a "Ratatouille"

Welcome to my blog, Bob C., I remember you from the time when we were novice rver's, had a 5-wheel and used your satellite antenna to get our internet!
Hope you enjoy my rambling about our dinners!


With only 4 more weeks to go I keep myself from stocking up the pantry. The idea is : what we don't have in there we need not to haul home. Today I used up the rest of my Quinoa seeds.

boiling quinoa

With the fridge nearly empty, there was not much choice.
Some vegetables, a piece of cold grilled chicken, a piece of cold roast beef, but it was enough to make it into ratatouille-like meal.

And the cooking time: only 15 minutes!

Mixed vegetables with quinoa

Nothing leftover here. Now we really need to go shopping tomorrow!
Otherwise it's down to bread and water :))

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cup water or broth

1 large carrot, chopped
1 celery, chopped, 1 cup
1 small green squash, copped, 1 cup
1 onion, minced, 1/2 cop
1 leaf of kale (had a bunch of them in the freezer)
1 leaf of bok choy (same thing, from the freezer)
1 slice of grilled chicken breast, cubed 1/3 cup
1 piece roast beef, cubed, 1 cup
1 tblsp oil
1 slice of bacon, in bits (optional)
salt
pepper
leftover roast beef gravy, 3/4 cup
1/2 cup of cheddar, cubed

Directions:
Bring Quinoa to a boil and simmer until all fluid is gone and the quinoa all fluffy.

Sautée bacon and onions in oil and add the vegetables for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add meat and gravy and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Just before serving add the cheese.

Bea's Special-Mango-Mix

Hubby came home from shopping and dropped a mango fruit on the counter top.

Mango

He asked me: Can you make something with that?

Well, what would you like? I asked.

MANGO CREME! 

And what about dinner?
I had in mind to do something with the cold, grilled chicken breast we had in the fridge and, I found a recipe for mango-pineapple salsa.

As usual I DID NOT have all the ingredients at hand and had to make my own version.

Chicken in mango-pineapple salsa on rice

Dessert:
Mango creme, would you know how to make that - I didn't.
But I found something here that worked as an inspiration. Though, I used only half of the fruit and didn't cook the mango.

Mango,heavy whipping cream and pineapple

Result :))

During the course of the meal I just heard this noise: 

"MMHH, good, mmm. That was real good - mmmh.  Heavenly food! 

See: You can do it, even if you don't have all the ingredients required. Just take what is there and make the best out of it.

Here is the original recipe for the salsa.

Ingredients: my alterations are shown in brackets

1/2 pineapple, cored, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rings (used 2 pineapple rings from a can, cut in small bits)
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and chopped
(used only 1/2 mango)
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
(used 1/2 small green squash)
1/2 red onion, chopped
(brown onion, a small wedge)
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
(2 fresh basil leafs)
3 tablespoons olive oil
(1 tsp coconut oil)
1 tablespoon peeled, minced fresh ginger
(1/2 tsp dried ginger)
1 jalapeno, or to taste, chopped
(some of my own sun dried tomatoes in olive oil)
1 to 2 limes, juiced
(1/2 cup of orange juice)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
(1 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes)
(sugar to taste)
(3 slices of boneless chicken breast, grilled, in slices)

Side dish: (1 cup of rice, water), boiled separately

Directions:
Sautée the onions and add chopped vegetables. Sautée a minute more before adding the fruit pieces. Season and simmer until the rice (side dish) is boiled. Add chicken stripes for about 5 minutes to warm up in the salsa.