Need help with ingredients please

ti1980

I am so clueless when it comes to cooking. I am no good when it comes to leftovers of vegetables etc and often end up throwing things away which I hate doing and that is definitely not money saving.

I just bought some spinach and have never cooked anything with spinach before, but I do like it so any easy recipe ideas would be fab, they have to be easy as I could burn water.

Would be very grateful for easy recipe ideas for the following ingredients:

Peppers (red, yellow or orange ones), tomatoes, onions, sweetcorn, courgettes, frozen beef mince, tinned tuna, rice, pasta, mild cheese.

Also what herbs should I invest in as I only have salt, pepper, paprika, milk chilli powder and basil.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

squeaky

Gosh - well, there's a whole set of questions...

To start with - you can make bubble and squeak using spinach instead of cabbage...

Then we have all sorts of tips for leftovers AND a lot of threads about various foods and vegetables in the Cooking Index of the MEGA Index sticky at the top of the Old Style forum.

Some of the websites at the bottom of that section allow you to put in some ingredients and will suggest recipes as well.

We also have our own extensive Recipe Collections and You can find them in our Indexed Collections via my signature any time you see it or...

..you can use the Indexed Collections link in the Blue Bar at the top of every page which looks something like this:-







The beauty of using OS recipes is that you can often ask the Original Poster for help if you get stuck

HTH

ti1980

Excellent, thanks. Thats a great help.

Bargain_Rzl

ti1980 wrote:

Peppers (red, yellow or orange ones), tomatoes, onions, sweetcorn, courgettes, frozen beef mince, tinned tuna, rice, pasta, mild cheese.

With very few additions there are two yummy dishes here.

Buy: garlic and mixed herbs, tinned chopped tomatoes (or passata), tomato puree.

Dish 1
Boil up some water in a large saucepan. Peel and chop onions and garlic, chop peppers and courgettes. In another large pan or wok, fry these in oil for a few minutes over a medium to high heat. Add the mince and stir around for a bit so the mince all has an equal chance to touch the pan. When mince is reasonably browned, add a generous sprinkle of mixed herbs, plus the tinned toms or passata and a good squeeze of tomato puree. Now in your pan full of boiling water, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack. Let the mince/veg simmer while you do this. When all is ready, drain the pasta and serve together, topped with grated cheese.

Dish 2
Cook your rice according to the instructions on the pack. When ready, add the tuna and sweetcorn and plenty of black pepper. Cook through gently to heat the tuna/sweetcorn. This will be just as nice cold (or reheated) the next day.

Nothing you've got really goes with spinach, though fresh baby spinach is lovely on its own as a side salad.

Smiley_Mum

This recipe always goes down well with my kids (and me), very good and pretty cheap to put together.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=564402&postcount=151

Swan_2

this uses quite a few of the ingredients you mention, is very quick & easy, tastes much better than you'd think & looks very pretty

Tuna & Pepper Sauce

1 Tablespoon oil, cold-pressed olive is nicest but not essential
1 medium onion, peeled & sliced
2-3 peppers (any colours, but green & yellow make it look really nice) sliced
1 clove garlic, peeled & finely chopped
14 oz tin tomatoes, crushed
7 oz tin tuna in brine
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt & pepper

using a wide pan/pot, sautee onion & peppers in oil for 5 minutes
add garlic, fry for 1 minute
add tomatoes & their liquid
simmer uncovered for 10 minutes
add tuna & brine, basil, salt & pepper & simmer for 5 minutes
serve with pasta, or rice or olive oil bread

nice with some parmesan sprinkled over it

lily_the_pink

Try roasting the peppers, tomatoes, onion and corgette - chop into fairly big pieces (tomatoes could be done whole or in halves), add some olive oil - stir everything along with some garlic and whatever herbs you have - you could also try adding a little chilli powder then in a medium oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hr.



I would consider the following fairly essential whole black pepper, garlic, oregano, soya sauce, olive oil, chilli powder, ginger - whole or powder

I also think the following make life more interesting in the kitchen Chinese Five spice, garam masala, cumin seeds, balsamic vinegar, sesame seeds, tandoori spice blend

I use the bbc food website when I am looking for inspiration online - http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/ - there is a recipe search as well as an ingredient search facility.

Swan_2

Smiley_Mum wrote:

This recipe always goes down well with my kids (and me), very good and pretty cheap to put together

oops, the one just I posted is similar, took me so long to type it out I didn't see yours there first

ti1980

Thanks to all of you, certainly given me food for thought as it were

Will use the search facility to find something to do with that spinach tomorrow. Will probably get some potatoes cos they go well together don't they?

ti1980

Smiley_Mum or Swan, those recipes are great. I was just wondering if it was possible to freeze them or would you not recommend it? Also I like tomatoes but not really keen on certain sauces as they seem overly tomatoey is there a substitute that I could use to replace the tomatoes?

TIA again.

skintchick

I add spinach to recipes very similar to the ones given above - just rip the leaves into the tomatoey sauce a couple of mins before you want to serve it - yum! Or even just add them as you serve, cos they are lovely raw too.

You can also cook spinach in a pan with a sprinkle of water and some cream - just heat gently till it wilts, add cream, heat a little more and serve on the side with anything you like.