Preparing Dinner Tonight

Ah yes, it’s that time of day again, isn’t it? You’ve realized that you have no idea what to make for dinner and have little (no) inspiration. We’ve all been there, and will likely be there a few times this week. It’s hard to keep dinner exciting and interesting day in and day out, but alas, we will try to make a culinary adventure for the grandest meal of them all, only to fall victim to another night of spaghetti and with store-bought pasta sauce and maybe some vegetables. Exciting, isn’t it?

 

But, if you’re like many others, you probably have a pantry full of food that you haven’t touched in a while, a pantry with food that you don’t even know the origin of that you picked up on a whim the last time you were at the grocery store. Individually, these items have little to no significance. They are just obscure items taking up space that will expire in time and find their way in the trash bin.

 

And yet, here we are, it’s dinner time and you don’t know what to make. Today’s the day to get creative and make something with all those extra ingredients you have lying around, and here’s how we’re going to do it. There are some great resources out there like Supercook that will take what you have in your pantry and spit out some recipes that you can try out. It’s a great little tool if you have no inspiration and are looking for a quick and simple fix – just throw in your list and watch it pop out magic. If you aren’t too culinary-inclined, no worries, there’s a broad range of recipes for all skill levels so you’re sure to find something that will work with your cooking skill.

 

Perhaps that isn’t for you. Maybe you’re looking for a little more excitement. It’s hard to find recipes by ingredients, but a quick Google search can often yield some interesting pieces of information to sift through. The only problem with some of these results is that it’s hard to figure out what’s really for you. You’re sure to stumble across a few articles/pages from the Food Network and probably some obscure blogs that will show you what someone made on a boring Wednesday night, but for the most part you’re going to be flying blind here.

 

What you want to look for is recipes that include multiple ingredients that you own and also sound delicious. You’d be surprised how easy it is to make pulled pork with nothing more than a loin roast, a slow cooker and some spices, yet some recipe sites have you running around getting a veritable encyclopedia of ingredients to make a simple dish. Think about what you’re going to be making and if a super-complex ingredient list is really the first thing you need. You’re going to be cooking from little inspiration to begin with and, more than likely, you’re going to be flying blind. Getting everything taken care of in one go with as little work as possible will really make you appreciate your work more.

 

There’s always the possibility that you’re on the other end of this spectrum, however. You might be the type of person who’s gone out, found an ingredient or has an idea for an ingredient that they want to incorporate into their cooking, and wants to see the best ways to use it. In that case, you’re in luck! The same strategies apply to you as everyone else. The nicest part about finding recipes based on ingredients is that the general population is all looking for the same goal: make some delicious food without too much fuss. If you can find a delicious recipe using spaghetti squash then I say go for it – but you’ll be looking specifically for that recipe (I can’t say I’ve picked up many spaghetti squashes on a whim at the grocery store).

 

The classification is simple: the more common the ingredient, the broader the range of recipes. This will also, typically, yield in a wider range of difficulty. Simpler, more common ingredients like potatoes will have millions of recipes that all yield very different results, whereas surf clam only has so many uses before you realize you’re eating the same thing all the time.