Minimizing My Pantry: Grains and Pasta

Pasta in my pantry.

In this blog I'm describing a minimalist approach to my pantry regarding grains and pasta.

Grains in my pantry.

When it comes to grains I am pretty much right on.  I have a mixture of brown rice and basmati, arborio (for risotto), and bulghur wheat. Arborio is a high-starch, short-grained rice used for making risotto. Cooking arborio releases its starch, giving risotto its creamy consistency.  About the only time I would use white rice is if I were making rice pudding which I rarely do.  Missing was quinoa which I usually have on hand, so I've added that to my grocery list.

Adding quinoa to my grocery list.

But I have way too much pasta.  Lasagna, spaghetti (a whole wheat and a black bean spaghetti that I've never tried---and I know not why we have it. It must have been a spur of the moment purchase.), manicotti, orzo (2 packages both opened), ziti, pipette, and cannelloni.  I seem to be missing couscous, and I use that a lot. I suppose I used my last box and didn't replace it. 

After these are used I will pare down to spaghetti (whole wheat), orzo, lasagna, and perhaps one small elbow type pasta. Orzo is pasta in the shape of rice and it is one of our favorite pastas.  It's especially nice to add to soups.  And sometimes I will replace the lasagna with manicotti. Pasta is a nice comfort food and can be prepared quickly with any number of sauces (such as Nello's tomato sauce) for a quick meal.

Adding couscous to my grocery list.

I'll be sure to add couscous to my pasta shelf.  If you've never tried couscous here's a recipe for you. It's from The Barefoot Contessa.  Easy to make and makes a delicious side dish.  

Crockpot Chicken with Cashews and Ginger Sauce

 Someone shared this recipe on Facebook so I snagged it right away and made it for supper yesterday.

This recipe is easy and will cook slowly in the crock pot.  Serve over rice with a side salad and your supper is ready. By the way I also have a little video showing the best way to peel fresh ginger. 

Crockpot Cashew Chicken
Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thigh tenders or chicken breast tenders
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup cashews

Directions:
Combine flour and pepper in large Ziploc bag. Add chicken. Shake to coat chicken with flour mixture.
 

Coat chicken with flour and black pepper.

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken about 2 minutes on each side. Place chicken in slow cooker.

Brown chicken on both sides.

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes in small bowl; pour over chicken.
 

Ginger sauce.

Chicken in crock pot covered with sauce.

Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours. Add cashews and stir. Serve over rice. Makes 4-6 servings.

Cook for four hours on low.  ( I stopped at four--not eight.)

If you like sauce and want to have some to pour over the chicken and the rice, double the sauce ingredients.

Chicken with sauce and cashews added just before serving.

In preparing the sauce, I needed ginger, and I wanted it peeled.  Here's the best way to peel ginger.

Isn't that a nice trick?

Ready to eat.

This was yummy!