Our medical school's Student Affairs and Wellness Office contacted us and challenged us to create a meal using ingredients found in the student food pantry. The student food pantry provides a supply of various free meals and ingredients to students who face food insecurity and are in need of assistance. This program is our school's way of taking measures to ensure the safety of their students, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak. When we were contacted about this challenge, we were beyond excited. We went to explore the food pantry and found an abundance of canned foods. However, there is a negative connotation with canned foods, suggesting these foods are low in quality and contain poor flavor. We are excited to show you how to prepare and elevate these foods to create an amazing dish! The following are the ingredients we found in the student food pantry which are incorporating into our dish: Canned whole corn, green beans, and sliced carrots, a jar of peanut butter, angel hair pasta, and chicken broth.
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
INGREDIENTS:
Pantry Ingredients
½ cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1½ cup Canned Green Beans
1½ cup Canned Sliced Carrots, julienned
1½ cup Canned Corn
1½ cup Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth (½ for the peanut sauce and 1 cup for the vegetables and chicken)
12 oz of uncooked Angel Hair Pasta
Grocery Ingredients
¼ cup Lemon Juice
¼ cup Reduced-Sodium Soy Sauce
4 tsp Sriracha Chili Sauce
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb chicken breast, cubed
1 garlic clove, minced
½ White Onion, julienned
Optional
4 Roma Tomatoes, cubed
4 Green Onions, chopped
½ cup Unsalted Peanuts, finely chopped
1 bundle Cilantro, finely chopped
RECIPE:
Peanut Sauce
Whisk together the peanut butter, chicken broth, Sriracha, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice together. Should look like the picture below
Noodles, Vegetable and Protein
Cook the angel hair according to package directions; drain
In a large skillet, cook garlic and onions on medium heat until the onions are translucent.
Add chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes or until halfway cooked.
Add the canned corn, carrots and green beans along with the Roma tomatoes and 1 cup of chicken broth.
Allow the canned vegetables to soak and cook in the chicken broth for 4 minutes.
Drain excess liquid.
Add peanut sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer, uncovered for 3-5 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
Add spaghetti and mix until the peanut sauce evenly coats the noodles.
Garnish with peanuts, cilantro, green onions and black pepper.
CONCLUSION:
We really enjoyed completing this pantry challenge. It was fun coming up with a creative and delicious recipe from the ingredients in the student food pantry. The peanut sauce really pairs perfectly with the canned vegetables and chicken. It infused the dish with so much flavor while masking the "preservative" taste that is usually present in canned foods. Another technique we did to get rid of this taste was to rinse the canned vegetables upon opening and letting them soak and cook in chicken broth. My other classmates who tried this dish couldn't even tell that we used canned vegetables for this dish! This is a super affordable recipe that can feed a lot of mouths. The number of aprons we will give this dish is...
