At some point before we moved, I finally had the time to read through my backlog of cooking magazines. I made a short list of recipes that I actually had all of the ingredients for, and that would thus be good to make to use up things in my freezer and pantry.
The recipe for Stovetop Fideos was a good contender. I'd never heard of fideos, but it's a kind of toasted pasta or pasta dish in Spanish or Mexican cuisine. This vegetarian recipe was very easy to make and doesn't take any special ingredients (unless you wanted to use the cheese that the recipe calls for - I made mine vegan). This recipe was just toasted pasta, cooked in broth with standard supermarket frozen vegetables.
The fideos cooked up quickly. I sauteed plain refined-wheat angel hair pasta (the recipe calls for whole wheat), broken into small pieces in olive oil and transferred it to a plate. Next, I sauteed onion, (thawed) green beans, and garlic for a few minutes, and added thawed corn, a can of tomatoes, and oregano (Mexican since I had it). I added bouillon and the pasta, brought the dish to a boil, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, perhaps less.
I enjoyed this recipe more than I expected to. Pasta with vegetables doesn't sound very exciting, but this was simple and nourishing. It felt healthy, and it felt like comfort food. I enjoyed it as leftovers the next day. I'm not sure if toasting the pasta really added anything to the dish - I may have to try making it without toasting the pasta first to see how that turns out. This was a great way to use up some odds and ends, and was pretty fast and simple to make. I'll definitely give it another shot.
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