Pantry Staples Inspire Meals

You've probably heard of the phrase "cook from your pantry." Cooking from your pantry involves taking items you already have on hand and using them to create dishes you can serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner. See below for some examples:

Roasted Red Sweet Peppers

Try using roasted red sweet peppers as a savory topping for cold meat sandwiches or broiled chicken. To roast peppers, place them on top of a gas flame or under a broiler. Turn the peppers occasionally, and roast until the skins are completely charred and blackened. Place the peppers in a paper or plastic bag or wrap them in a covering of paper towels and let them stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Carefully rub off the skin, halve the peppers, remove the seeds, and cut the peppers into strips to use as sandwich or meat toppings.

Bottled Marinade

Add flavor to skinless, boneless chicken breasts with bottled marinades. Simply marinate the chicken overnight in whatever flavor of marinade you prefer. Drain the chicken well, then cook it in a skillet in 2 to 3 tablespoons of hot olive oil over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until the meat is no longer pink. Top the chicken breasts with roasted red sweet pepper strips and a generous sprinkling of finely grated Parmesan cheese. Cover the skillet, and continue cooking for 2 to 3 more minutes or until the peppers are heated through. Serve the chicken over rice combined with fresh (or canned) diced tomatoes.

Bottled Chutney

Lend an exotic twist to pound cake with this dessert sauce. Just spoon some bottled fruit chutney over slices of cake for a quick dessert topping (it may be necessary to thin the chutney with a few teaspoons of water or fruit juice).