When "what to make" turns out good....and cheap!!!

So, I was looking through the fridge last night, with no clue as to what the heck I was going to make for dinner....other than the fact that we had a bag of cheese ravioli in the freezer (and not much else). We usually have a game plan of some sort, but tonight just wasn't that night. Our big grocery shopping trip isn't until the weekend, so I had to go "Chopped" on tonight's meal, so to speak.

And, in all honesty, it came out pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.....

Not bad, right..? Ok, maybe Scott Conant would have some words for me, but he doesn't eat dinner at our house, or....at least not yet!!!! (insert sinister laugh)

What you see is...  1 bag frozen ravioli

                              1 box frozen spinach

                              1 chopped medium yellow onion

                              8-10 chopped garlic cloves

                              Butter

                              Extra Virgin Olive Oil

                              Salt and Pepper

                              dried Oregano

                              grated Parm Cheese

That's it, and it's all stuff we had kicking around the house, no shopping required, quick and very low cost.

All I did was saute the onions and garlic in a large frying pan with some butter for a few minutes, then I  added some dried oregano, salt and pepper and cooked it until you could get the aromatics from the garlic and oregano. Then, I cut the frozen spinach brick into 4 pieces and threw it right in the pan, reduced my heat and covered it. Meanwhile, I dropped the ravioli into a pot of salted boiling water, for about 5 minutes or so, just until they floated.  Once the spinach broke up and was cooked, I added the ravioli, drizzled some Extra Virgin olive oil over it and some grated parm. A little more pepper and I gave it all a good toss, covered it and let it sit off the heat for a few minutes to come together. The bread on the side is a toasted piece of a little whole grain boule we got at the store for like two bucks.

Not only did it feed my wife and I each  a good portion of dinner, there are leftovers to take to work, it just keeps getting better!!!! To hell with Powerball....ok, just kidding.

Anyway, we just wanted to share this, because not everybody has a gourmet pantry and fridge full of foie gras and prosciutto...as much as I would love that...mmmm. Sometimes you have to work with what you have, and the result can be surprisingly good.

This is one direction we hope to go here, but there is so much more to come.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and have a great day!

H & J