Hi all. One of the things about moving out has been having to cook for just one (or two if I invite my boyfriend over). I make meal plans to help organise myself for dinner so I don’t have to think about it too much. Most of the time it’s been pretty basic meals – steamed veggies, a carb, a bit of meat. The only thing is, as I’m on the first floor (i.e. not the ground floor), with the communal kitchen below, I have to carry my utensils up and down to cook. There’s a small kitchenette near my room but it doesn’t have a stove, just a microwave.
So last Friday, I couldn’t be stuffed carrying both the steamer pot and the frypan downstairs. I had a think and came up with a meal that just used the frying pan to cook.
Tuna with Fried Veggies
Ingredients:
- Can of tuna – one of the small 95g tins (with the flavours) was enough for me.
- Bit of squash
- 1/3 a long sweet potato (I used a variety that’s white on the outside & purple in the middle)
- 1/3 capsicum
- Couple of handfuls of chickpeas (from one of the regular tins)
- 1 bunch spinach
- Mixed herbs
Utensils:
- Small frying pan
- Potato peeler
- Sharp knife
- Chopping board
- Tongs
- Plate, knife & fork (for serving & eating with)
Method:
- Wash veggies then chop them – you’re aiming for thin slices of the squash, sweet potato (both peeled) and capsicum, while the spinach should be torn up a bit and the stems discarded.
- Drain chickpeas and put into reusable container because you won’t use all of them.
- Lay out spinach on plate – scatter it as you tear it off the stems.
- Turn on stove and heat oil in frying pan, then put in sweet potato – due to the size of my frying pan I did the veggies in batches.
- The sweet potato should be cooked until it is cooked and golden-ish but not too crispy – otherwise you’ll just taste fried starch instead of nice sweet potato!
- Remove sweet potato onto plate with spinach and replace with the squash.
- Cooking the squash is a bit odd – I wasn’t 100% sure what it should taste like which made things interesting! I added more oil and sort-of deep fried it until it was golden and soft but with crisp edges.
- When the squash is cooked, dump it onto the plate with the sweet potato and spinach, then add the capsicum and chickpeas. There should be very little oil in the pan – you’re shallow-frying them. The oil is in fact mostly there for the benefit of the capsicum. Add the mixed herbs over the chickpeas – sprinkle liberally.
- Move the chickpeas and capsicum almost constantly with tongs or something similar – we’re looking for the chickpeas to brown up and for the mixed herbs to be spread around the pan. BE CAREFUL! The heat should be turned right down, as the chickpeas will pop out of the pan otherwise!
- Remove pan from heat once chickpeas are brown and capsicum is cooked. Tip everything onto the plate. Then add the tuna, including the flavouring. Mix up with your fork to stir all flavours through and there you have it.
- Bon apetit!
Now I’ve moved, I’m going to have more of a chance to experiment with things depending on my mood. Expect more recipes!
myzania 