Slim Pickings

To avoid trips to the grocery, I’ve been using whatever is on hand to prepare meals, but the pickings are getting pretty slim. That means some creative thinking has to come into play.

For last night’s dinner, here’s what was available. Hmmm, what to do with sweet potatoes, spinach, onion and black beans?

The hubby likes corned beef hash so using that as inspiration the potatoes were cubed and cooked in a small amount of water. When they were softened and the liquid gone, I added some olive oil to the skillet and sautéed the potatoes with chopped onion. Then were added the black beans, drained and rinsed, and the spinach. For seasoning, I used Kosher salt, chipotle chili powder and cumin. I guess the black beans led to the choice of seasonings.

The combined ingredients were cooked until the spinach wilted and the beans heated through which only took a few minutes.

Though the finished product had considerable color, it didn’t look too appetizing once it was on the plate. I put the plates in the warming drawer and quickly poached a couple of eggs. With those and some Colby Jack cheese grated on top, the dish was immediately improved. Served with a cornbread muffin, dinner made with slim pickings was quite satisfactory and the hubby said he wouldn’t mind having it again. Amazing what necessity allows to happen!