Lentils/Beans
I always have either pre-cooked beans or lentils on standby in the fridge, and occasionally both. Lentils only take about 20 minutes to cook so you don't have to be super careful about running low on them, but beans need to soak overnight and then boil for an extended period of time the next day. The good news is that you can freeze beans once they're cooked and once they're in little baggies in the freezer they're pretty much as handy as a can of beans, while still being better for you, cheeper, and better tasting than canned.
Beans and Lentils taste great mixed into spinach, made into hummus/bean spread, and eaten on their own with or without extra flavoring (depending on how much of a rush you're in).
Lentils at the ready.
"Butter Beans": Dry, cooked and ready to eat, and frozen.
Just about every recipe seems to start with sauteeing onions in a pan first. I prefer to skip this step and just add a spoonful of pre-caramelized inions to the pan and get crackin' on the rest of the recipe. Plus, doing a big batch of onions allows you to use WAY less oil and cook them at a lower temp to avoid burning yet still promote browning. It also means that you can buy a big bag of onions without worying that they will go bad before you use them up. These also freeze down really well so you can keep a litte in your fridge and then retireve the next portion when you start to run low.
Like I said, using these is a great way to save time cooking without altering the recipe in any way. They're also great as a condiment in and of themselves. Frozen peas with caramelized onion and sauteed mushrooms is one of my favorite foods!
The onions cook down to about half the weight and size of the raw onion. A one kilo bag of onions makes about 3 of those little mini baggies worth. I stuck one in the fridge to use right away, and two in the freezer to pull out when the first bag runs out.
Pretty much exactly what I said for onions, but insert "mushrooms" wherever you see "onion". BTW, white button mushrooms are my new best friend for everyday cooking--10 kroner for 400 grams!
I bought a ton (more like 1.5 likos) of mushrooms at the grocery store and did a huge sauteeing marathon. Whitecaps for everyday use, and some portobellos too.
Roasted Garlic
I don't always have this on hand, but when you have to buy four heads of garlic at a time, it's the best way to use it up and store it before it starts to sprout on you. Pre-roasted garlic is an easy way to add mild (milder than raw or quick sauteed garlic anyway) garlic flavor to just about anything and it freezes well.
First, cut off the tops. This makes it easier to get the garlic out afterwards.
Wrap the heads up in tin foil, and bake at 350F for an hour or so. I saved one harlic bulb to use fresh, and roasted the other three.
When they come out they look like this--the top will be dark brown or black, and the insides will be really mushy.
Squeeze the bottom of the bulb and the mushy garlic cloves come right out.
Put them in a little jar or plastic bag and store them in the fridge or freezer for later use. :)
