Whatcha Got?

Sometimes you have a plan. Sometimes you actually decide on a protein, a starch, and a veggie while planning a meal. Sometimes (ok, a few times) you follow a recipe exactly as you find it.

This is not one of those times.

"Whatcha Got" is the evolution of the broke college student attempting to make dried ramen noodles into something a bit less banal by adding whatever they can scrounge, whether it is a sliced up hot dog, the last egg in the mini fridge, or just a handful of croutons. It is often soup, chili, or something in between. It most definitely sits comfortably under the category of One-Dish Dinners and can feed anywhere from just you to everyone who followed you home from that crazy night that started with karaoke and ended by lurching into the Uber driver's Escalade.

I slapped together a single serve Whatcha Got a few weeks ago.

Step 1: Just open the cupboard and pull out cans. I found red and white kidney beans, a small can of
corn, generic taco sauce, and the usual suspects from the spice rack: garlic, smoked paprika, black pepper, and Himalayan pink salt. So far so good, but really, still missing something.

Step 2: Check the fridge and freezer. Voila! A little ground pork from my last experiment and the last turkey burger in the box. Since it was all going in the same place, I simply started with defrosting the turkey in the microwave, tearing it into bits, and browning it and the pork in a little chili oil in the bottom of the pot.

Step 3: Throw in everything else, making sure not to drain the canned goods too much, and bring up to a boil (don't forget to stir). Drop the heat back to simmer, then go watch some Netflix, pausing occasionally to stir/scrape anything from the bottom of the pot.  Once it's hot, check the taste. Add more spices and crank the heat back up. Once it boils again, it's Whatcha Got...and you can freeze the leftovers for when you really feel lazy.

Aside from how well this works for using up the odds and ends that take up residence in everyone's pantry, I feel like one of the best things about Whatcha Got is how much fun it can be to make with someone else. Grab a few things from your stockpile and show up at a friend's place. They can then find a few things to add in. It feels like you're both practicing to go on an audition for Chopped.

Open up your cupboard, grab that can you never got around to using, and tell me: Whatcha Got?