Two Pantry Meals For Dinner In A Flash

If you want to have easy, breezy dinners, learning some pantry meal recipes by heart is essential.  Having a few pre-cooked canned ingredients at hand will save the day when you’re too tired or too time-pressed.  Below is a pair of pantry meals with a seafood theme and some new tastes that are worth exploring.

Greek Shrimp and Rice

Dine in Greek style without fussing too much.  This pantry meal of rice pilaf mix cooked in Mediterranean herbs, canned shrimp and olives will give you a hearty dinner in no time.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 7-oz. package rice pilaf mix
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• ¼ teaspoon dried mint leaves
• 12-oz. can shrimp, drained, with broth reserved
• 1 ½ cups water
• 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
• 2-oz. can chopped kalamata olives
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
 

Directions:

• In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and cook rice pilaf mix, onion and garlic until rice is golden brown.
• Add in the oregano, mint, reserved shrimp broth, water and a packet of seasonings.  Bring to a boil before reducing heat to low and bringing the mixture to a simmer.  Simmer until rice is tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Stir in the drained shrimp, drained tomatoes and olives.  Simmer for 10 minutes until the shrimp is heated through.  Serve sprinkled with cheese.
 

Beans and Pasta in Clam Sauce

Once in a while, detour from common fare by delving into this exotic dish. Here, black beans, clams, gemelli pasta, thyme and Parmesan mix together to tickle your tastebuds. Nobody would believe this took you just 20 minutes.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 13-oz. bottle of clam juice
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup gemelli pasta
• 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 6-oz. can chopped clams, undrained
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
 

Directions:

• Pour the clam juice and water into a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Put in the pasta and cook 2 minutes less than the package instructions.
• Add the beans, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and clams.  Simmer for 3 minutes and serve sprinkled with cheese.