No-cook dinner

[prosodic]

I guess this is piggybacking off my earlier post.

I was in Grocery Outlet the other day (I love that place more and more each time I visit) and in the freezer case, they had bags of Bertolli tortellini in tomato cream sauce for $2. That's probably about half of what the regular grocery stores charge.

Anyway, I picked some up, thinking it would be good to keep in the freezer for a quick meal (and it can be made in a skillet or microwaved, so bonus!). I was having high hopes for this, and I figured if it was good, I would run to Grocery Outlet and get more to have around for next week, since I likely won't be using the oven at all.

I nuked it. Pour into a casserole dish. Cover. Cook 4 minutes. Stir. Cook 4 minutes. Let sit for 2. Apply to mouth. Couldn't be easier. Garlic bread was baking in the toaster oven in the meantime, and I had peas heating on the stove.

It was disappointing. Perfectly edible, but the sauce was really runny. And I'm not sure I liked it well enough to buy it again. I'm wondering if the sauce would thicken up if it was cooked in the skillet. Or if I added meatballs or something, would that improve it?

Comments

[beaniesue.livejournal.com]

Try cooking it in a skillet - that's the way I made those kind of dishes and I liked them

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm thinking it would be better that way. I just wanted to do it in a way that wouldn't release any heat...on really hot days, I get really hot just using the stovetop, even if I don't use the oven.

[onelargecat.livejournal.com]

why not just cook a couple things ahead of time that are served chilled? various chilled soups? spaghetti with pesto? or whatever. I TOTALLY get not wanting to cook when it's hot and there's no a/c...but I wouldn't want to bother eating hot food at all.

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

I also have to take into consideration Lance's new diet, although I still don't really know that much about it. He hasn't filled me in on the details of what he's allowed to eat (or not), so that may limit the options even more.

I just remembered that little detail. He already makes cooking a challenge because he's so picky (he's not a soup or pesto person, actually). I suppose we'll just have to do our own thing for meals from now on.

[katzies.livejournal.com]

I'd say add some potato starch. The powder might not work if you're not actually boiling it but how about instant mashed potato flakes?

[wisheschick.livejournal.com]

I bet if you had nuked it for another minute or two without the lid the sauce would've thickened.