Building an Edible Lexicon

I thought it might be a good idea to work with a base of ten relatively simple meals that rely on ingredients I usually have on hand. I came up with the idea right after graduation, got into a sluggish slump and promptly forgot all of my short term goals. Then I realized that, without really trying, I've already established five.

1. Lemon Yogurt Popsicles:
Recipe from Health Magazine. You can take a lot of liberties with which types of berries and yogurt you use; the possibilities are endless and delicious. These should be eaten within a about a month and a half before the yogurt goes a little strange from freezing.

2. Whole Roasted Chicken:
I tend to only look up the cook time/temp. for a whole chicken of comparable size. First I make small slits in the skin and pack garlic, pepper, salt, rosemary and (old, dried) basil. Then I coat the outside in cooking grade olive oil, lemon juice and more salt & pepper. I then add my own stuffing and surround the base with halved potatoes, apples and oranges. Fruit might sound like a strange combination, sure, but it's nothing but delicious. Any extra stuffing can be added to the base, too.

Stuffing: I've been told that cooking stuffing inside of a chicken is potentially an e. coli hazard...but somehow that's never stopped me. It's so freakin' tasty! To make the stuffing, take toast or old, stale bread and cover it lightly in olive oil, salt, pepper and whatever herbs you have leftover. Cooking it inside the chicken will revive any dryness it has beforehand. Delicious! I usually make extra, just because.

3. Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup:
I love the idea of "using the whole buffalo." And this soup does exactly that by turning the roasted chicken leftovers into a delicious, homemade meal. After seperating the bones you would usually throw away (preferably with some meat on them) and putting some meat scraps aside, fill a crock pot with water and the leftover juices that collected in the bottom of the pan. When brought to a boil, add the bones and let them simmer for an hour or so. Then put it in the fridge, let it cool and remove the fat that congeals on the top. Then simmer it again and add a pinch of salt, a few pinches of sugar, basil, rosemary - and finally, pre-cooked noodles. I don't have a recipe, so this requires a lot of trial and error taste testing. Eat quickly! This won't save for more than a few days, tops. Tastes good with chopped up carrot bits, too.

4. Spicy Halibut With Beans & Rice:
Tilapia, beans and rice provide a very affordable and balanced meal. The recipe is from McCormicks but I'm too lazy to type it verbatim. In essence, cook rice and beans by their package directions - or better yet, a rice & beans combination. Then fry tilapia in cajun spice (or light pepper, as a substitute) and serve over rice, with pepperjack or colby jack melted on top. The rice, cheese and tilapia complement eachother and the cheese covers up any bad/cheap/freezer-burned taste the tilapia might have.

5. Tomato-Garlic Pasta Sauce:
Recipe from the New York Times. Like the lemon yogurt popsicles, you can substitute a variety of ingredients. I've found that you can easily use cheap Parmesan and basil/pesto sauce while still retaining the general flavor. I usually use spinach and roma tomatoes, as those are the cheaper options. This is an easy, fast meal that utilizes ingredients I tend to have at hand. The only drawback is that it should be eaten within the day because the olive oil and vinager tend to wilt the lettuce and tomatoes.

5 1/2. Garlic Herb Spread:
More of a side dish than a meal, this provides a tasty backup for almost any entree. Combine one tub of butter or butter substitute with freshly diced garlic, parsley, shredded basil and rosemary to taste. Spread on bread cold, heat to melt. This easily revives stale, old bread! This is an easy go-to if you make a tub or two of it at a time. Yum yum!

In the future I'm hoping to experiment with more other affordable staples like eggs and potatoes. I'd also like to utilize my crock pot more. But overall I think this is a solid base to work with.