this is my entire stance on the "american food is bad" discourse summed up
Listen man, its a work week, you just got done your shift at the dollar store, youre in a rural area and the local waffle house is a 35 minute drive away and driving from the waffle house back home will be another 45 minutes, so what youre gonna do is youre gonna pick these four bad boys up from the dry goods aisle, drive home, cook some Carolina long grain rice with a little bouillon cube stirred into the cooking water, and in a separate skillet, youre gonna add a tsp of veggie oil or if youre lucky some butter and cook down some of that garlic. Then add a little extra oil and if you have spinach or any hearty greens, youre gonna throw them in your skillet with some salt and cook them down, if not thats okay. But youre also gonna transfer your rice from the pot into the skillet with your garlic (and veggies if youre lucky) and stirfry that rice for a minute or so. The bouillon cube didnt quite season your rice to your liking, so youre gonna throw a little extra pinch of salt. Perfect. Then youre gonna turn off the flame and add parmesan to taste. You take a look in your fridge and you see that you have a little parsley left from the last time you were able to clock out early enough to stop in at the local Food Lion and its still in good condition. Youre gonna wash that parsley, dry it, give it a quick chop, and finish your fake risotto with it and a couple splashes of lemon juice.
You have some rice left over so you know whats for dinner tomorrow night and you can sleep soundly. Country girls make fucking do.
Peer reviewing bcs prev knocks it outta the fucking park.
Also here's some things to do with the above ingredients. Boil some pasta (long noodles like spaghetti is best but use what you've got.) Save about a half cup of pasta water. Saute a big spoon of garlic in some olive oil over medium low to medium heat. Just a minute or two. Don't let it get brown. Toss in your pasta, hit it with a squirt of lemon juice and a couple hefty shakes of cheese. Toss to coat. Dribble in just a little water. Like a tablespoon or two at a time. Toss. You don't want it watery, but you do want a little bit of sauce. Keep tossing and then taste. If it needs salt, add it, but honestly I'd just add more shakey cheez. If you have access to a can of tomato sauce, or canned crushed tomatoes, you could add those after the garlic and cook for 15-20 minutes... then proceed as above. Easy tomato pasta sauce! Take a pound or two of chicken thighs, cut them into bite size pieces and put them in a plastic bag with a teaspoon of salt, a few teaspoons of olive oil, a big scoop of garlic, and about 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Marinate for an hour or two at least. 4-6 is best. (you could put this together in the morning before work and cook it for dinner.) Toss into a pan with a little more olive oil and cook until no more pink shows when you cut open a piece. Serve hot with shakey cheez. Also if you want to, you could combine with the above pasta dish... just cook your sauce in the same pan. Careful not to burn your brown bits. Both of these are made better with the addition of red pepper flakes, black pepper, and Italian seasoning if you've got it. Lastly... get some canned salmon. Mix two cans with a big scoop of garlic, an egg, a teaspoon of salt, a couple spoons of shakey cheez and a teaspoon of lemon. (if you've got some breadcrumbs, add about a quarter of a cup). Make patties and fry them in a little olive oil. Spritz on some more lemon. Eat as is or on a bun as a sammich.
