My Kitchen Shortcut

I need an assistant chef. No, I'm not looking for someone to cook for me. I don't actually mind cooking, it's the prep work that kills me. I hate washing and chopping and dicing and measuring... okay, well, I don't mind measuring, but all that cleaning and prepping and cutting up of ingredients makes me not want to cook. (That's why I don't mind making waffles... little prep work. But don't get me started on the cleanup!) So, any and all who wish to apply for the position of my assistant chef, step right up!

In the meantime, I figured out a clever time saving trick. Many of the foods that I like to cook require a tomato-and-onion base, particularly the Indian and Mexican dishes. As I prefer to cook the foods I like to eat, that means a lot of chopping messy foods. Yuck.

Here's my shortcut: I dice tomatos, onions, and red bell peppers and keep it in a jar in my fridge. Then it's handy for cooking with less prep required. (I got this idea from a good friend of mine who kept his own shortcut item handy: pureed fresh ginger and garlic. Sorry to spill your secret, Primo!)

This tomato-onion-pepper mixture is a great base for salsa (for my homemade burritos), as well as Balti Chicken or Dahl.

Tonight I found out that if I puree this mixture, it also makes a great topping on homemade pizza for a little boy who doesn't always like to eat his veggies. And yes, he gobbled it down and tried to steal my piece!

Here's my simple "recipe":

Dice:
2 large tomatos (or 5 cocktail tomatos)
3-4 green onions (I prefer these for the taste and color, but any onion will do)
1 red bell pepper

To spice it up you can add cilantro or hot peppers. I don't simply because I'm trying to introduce the concept of veggies to The Boy gradually, and once he gets used to certain tastes I'll add others.

**************************

I also spent some time today grating 3 large blocks of cheese (because there was a sale on my favorite brand) for freezing. Ready whenever I need it!

.