Help!! What Do I Cook?

 Every chef and home chef hits it - the culinary wall. What happens when you run out of ideas for what to cook? Ot when you haven't gone to the store to pick up supplies?Ingenuity helps.

We all have hit that wall.We look into the fridge and think "What am I going to make?" You read about those food writers and chefs who can whip up a hot tasty meal using just polenta, cheese and spices. This does work if you happen to have polenta in your pantry. What happens of you don't? What you can do is sub in rice or a small pasta like orzo or ditalini and cook in any kind of broth. After it's done, toss in some butter and top with cheese for a warm filling lunch or Sinday night supper. Keep a container of either beef, chicken or vegetable broth handy. They're great for cooking up pastas but also for whipping up a quick soup. Add veggies and even leftover chicken or beef and you have a quick minestrone. If you have bread and cheese you have a meal. You can easily grill the combo in the toaster oven or air fryer . Fry it  in butter and you have a croque monsiur without the bechamel sauce. Try to have slices of American or cheddar cheese or a good wedge of Brie or Gruyere in the fridge. These are also great on just plain Saltines too and these make for a light but satisfying lunch too. Add little squares of ham for mini sandwiches.

A loaf of French or Italian bread is a plus. Any of them can be used in a variety of different recipes. One of my new favorites is sliced Italian ro french bread cut in rounds  and slathered with layers of Melt plant based butter, Parma vegan cheese and garlic powder. The rounds are put into the air fryer for five minutes at 370 dgree Farenheit. These crisp, buttery cheesy bites were perfect with a premixed salad that I bought at Stop & Shop.It was a no brainer dinner but it was delicious and filling. I plan on making the rounds again with pasta . In the summer the loaves can be torn up and mixed with tomatoes , onions , olive oil and red wine vinegar for a panzella salad. This is just a great lunch but also a good side with barbecued chicken or beef.Take your leftovers and stuff them inside a loaf of French or Italian and you have a hero. Another multi tasker is the tomato. It can be made into hot or cold recipes. Slice them , top with bread crumbs and saute in a mix of olive oil and butter and you have tomatoes Provencale. Get the bigger tomatoes , scoop out the inside and fill with tuna salad for a refreshing mid day meal. Tomatoes are also perfect in a sandwich with toasted bread and mayonnaise.

Every hoime chef and eve chef has hit that culinary wall. what to do? Climb over it with using some basics creatively.

A Good Old Fashioned Sunday Meal

Is it still possible to carry on with traditional cooking during these times. Yes. You can put a relatively traditional Sunday dinner on the table. It does take planning and smart shopping yet worth it. Nothing is as calming as a proper meal together.

It may be hard to get some main course meats, thanks to meat  processing plants being rife with Coronavirus breakouts .Many poultry plants have closed throughout the US and production is down twenty-five percent throughout all plants that even process beef and pork. Now the best bet is to do what our grandparents and great-grandparents did  - buy locally sourced meat at local farms. If you're wondering where to go , visit the website Eatwild.com and click on your state. The site will give you the names and directions of farms near you where you can get the main course for your Sunday meal. If the farms are too far away, there is always the vegan alternative. Gardein has excellent turkey cutlets that taste like the real thing. The plus comes with a sage infused gravy that's heated and poured over the cutlets later.Beyond Meat has a kind of chopped meat called Beyond Beef that could be fashioned into a Beef Wellington. Add a mushroom gravy to it for extra flavor. Another vegan idea is a plain risotto that can be flavored with anything from chopped veggies, saffron or just butter and Parmesan.

As for sides, these are a little easier to find and cook. Asparagus is a Spring staple right now and it is the perfect accompaniment. You can grill it for a smoky, sweet flavor or just boil it for a few minutes for a fresh green taste. Then there's the sauce . You could do just a simple melted butter with sliced hard boiled eggs and Parmesan cheese on top of the stalks.  A lusher sauce is Hollandaise. This easy to make one is simply a combination of egg yolks or yolk substitute. melted butter, lemon juice and Dijon mustard. It elevates the asparagus to a sophisticated level. If you're into foraging then think about a dish of wild ramps. This is an onion , grown in the wild and has the tangy taste of shallots and garlic combined. They are best grilled with only olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Ramps can be added to risotto for a different kind of side dish.A light dish is a salad made of grilled peppers. Different colored bell peppers can be grilled and dressed with a garlicky balsamic dressing. Another lovely Sunday side dish is tomatoes Provencale, sliced tomatoes topped with breadcrumbs and sauteed in a garlic infused butter and oil sauce.

These times call for tradition and comfort. A Sunday dinner is just that. Create a sit down meal that's a bit more elevated than the average one.

A Sunday Vegetarian Roast

One of the highlights of fall is a sit down Sunday roast dinner.It's a chance for the family to gather and even dress up. The only problem is that some of the family nowadays eschews meat. What to do ? Have a Sunday vegan dinner. Everyone can then come together and still have delicious foods.

Of course the crowning glory of any big meal is the main course. Home chefs relied on ham,  London Broil and chicken to take over however now it has to be a plant based main course. Luckily there is Beyond Meat. This can easily be molded and then roasted into a loaf. The plant based "red meat" can also be molded into skewered pieces , sort of like beef and lamb kabobs. This can be served over a vegetable rice pilaf  for a more Mediterranean spin on Sunday dinner. Mold the crumbles into meat balls for a nice addition to a Sunday pot of pasta. The brand also produces sausages which can  also be used instead of the meatballs or with them. These can also be used in a family sized paella , chock full of different veggies like tomatoes  and peppers.Keep in mind that stuffed acorn squash can be just as filling as any protein dish. Fill with tofu crumbles along with chickpeas and rice. Gardein also has some good vegetarian meat options. Their turkey cutlets come with their own gravy  - which tastes like the real thing. Serve stuffing with it and it's like having the real thing.

As for sides . some may feel cheated that they can't serve mashed potatoes to sop up the gravy. Yet you can serve them and you can have a side of gravy. There are a few gravies out there, such as vegan mushroom that can top a side of mash. You can also make one using vegetable broth and nutritional yeast. Flour and soy sauce give it color and thickness. Onion powder and Dijon mustard are also added in. To make the meal more filling serve noodles or rice. Serve with a sauce of butter and sage to give it more flavor. The Northern Italian dish of risi bisi, rice and green peas is the perfect side with a vegan meat loaf. The two ingredients are cooked in veggie broth for added taste and topped with soy Parmesan cheese. The original recipe calls for the Italian bacon pancetta however you can make an easy vegan coconut one. This is the season for Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. The first is good in a simple butter sauce while the second can be served mashed or fried.Another idea is tomatoes Provencale. It's a tasty dish, perfect for any loaf or with vegan chicken strips. It's tomato slices topped with breadcrumbs, garlic and oregano steamed in an olive oil and butter bath.

Yes, vegetarians and vegans can have a traditional Sunday roast with all the trimmings. Just sub in the main with plant based "meats". It's still the same kind of dinner with family, but with a modern , updated spin.