I love to cook. And if you follow my stories on Instagram you probably know I cook almost every night for me and my husband. But what you almost never see is me cooking lunch. It’s because I stay at home alone and usually don’t spend much time cooking.
If you’re like me and hate to cook for yourself alone, you’ll understand the utility of this post. Today I’m partnering with Catelli to share 3 recipes that help me on those days I don’t want to cook (but sure as hell, I’m hungry!).
In fact, they’re more hacks than recipes as it’s a matter of using some ingredients we already have at home to create something to eat within minutes.
Canned protein vermicelli
Every time I go to the supermarket I explore the canned protein section. I love to have tuna, sardines and oysters at home for situations like this.
I always select those with some special sauce (not just marinated in salty water) so I can use it as spaghetti sauce. As an example, I “prepared” a lime and pepper tuna spaghetti (sounds fancy, right?) by just adding a canned lime and pepper tuna to the pasta.
It can’t get simpler than that: cook the pasta, drain the pasta and immediately get it back to the pan. Add the tuna (with all the “sauce”) and mix it together. I do like that because the pasta will warm the tuna up and the dish will look like it was made from scratch.
I love doing the same with smoked oysters!
Vegetable Fusilli
This one is as simple as the first one. Just cook the pasta normally, but one minute before it’s done, add 1 cup (for a single serve) of frozen vegetables.
Drain everything together. While it’s being drained, melt 1 Tb of butter on the same pan and get the pasta + vegetables back in. Voilá!
Microwaved Mac & Cheese
Of course, we can’t forget the most classic recipe for eating alone. But it was made in the microwave!
Put 1 cup of raw pasta and 1 cup of water into a bowl. Cook for 4 minutes at a high temperature in your microwave. Stir and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add 1 cup of shredded cheese and 1/2 cup of milk. Cook for 30-40 seconds and it’s done!
These recipes are very simple and have the past as protagonist. That’s why it’s important to prepare them with quality ingredients. I use Catelli Smart, which tastes just like traditional pasta, but offers two times more fibre to my diet. With 32% of our daily recommended fibre intake per 85g serving, it’s a delicious way to incorporate more fibre into my everyday routine.
