Imagine the scene: you open your fridge and all you see is a small piece of butter, half an onion, some wilted parsley, what might be a radish, and possibly a tumbleweed rolling by. No shame - everyone's been there. The grocery store closed earlier than you thought, your life is a mess, you keep eating at restaurants and forgetting to shop - whatever the reason, we understand and forgive you.
What to do for dinner though? The following ideas only take very few ingredients that are probably sitting in your pantry or fridge. They're not particularly nutritious, but you can absolutely make them delicious.
1. Pasta is your friend.
If you have butter, make buttered noodles. If you have pesto, pesto pasta. Any tomato product works too (not ketchup, please don't do ketchup). Olive oil and a little cheese, also delicious. However, if all your Italian ingredients are exhausted and you only have soy sauce and sriracha in the fridge, you can throw together a perfectly decent pseudo-stir fry with whatever noodles you have on hand. If you have peanut butter, add a little bit and boom, you've got peanut sauce noodles. If you have sesame oil and any kind of acid (vinegar, lemon, lime, etc), even better. Chop up that half-onion for crunch.
2. Anything preserved will save you.
Olives, capers, pickles, sun-dried tomatoes - all of these salty, briny, oily, delicious ingredients can go a long way. Throw them in a grilled cheese made with bread and whatever dregs of cheese you can salvage. Mix them into some pasta with olive oil, or chop them up to make a sort-of tapenade and dip whatever carb you can find into it.
3. Rice.
Throw together a makeshift risotto with rice, butter, a bouillon cube, and any of the aforementioned preserved items. Parmesan cheese lasts forever in the fridge, and if you've saved the rind, let it simmer in the risotto for flavor. You can also go the fried rice route with any asian sauces you have lying around and that little piece of celery and onion.
4. Breakfast for dinner.
Got eggs? You're good. You can never go wrong with eggs. Make a three-egg scramble with whatever else you have on hand and you'll be all set.
5. Chickpeas, beans, lentils, or tuna.
These canned items often get forgotten, and chances are you have at least one of those four languishing in your pantry. Dress it up with whatever seasonings you can find. It's time to be creative. Luckily, these items are super-filling.