In our hectic life we hardly get any time to cook something good for us. Steal time smartly by stuffing your refrigerator with smart foods. Smart food cuts mess in your kitchen and will help you in preparing delicious food in minutes.

By: Surabhi Yadav Updated Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:26 AM (IST)

A little foresight while shopping can make your kitchen full of items that can be easily turned into yummy finger licking meal. Check out some smart foods for intelligent cooking.

Bag of frozen peas title="Frozen peas" alt="Frozen peas" src="https://img.inextlive.com/inext/inext/Inext_p_lfoo_3smart_food.jpg" width=296 height=425>
Always stuff a bag of peas in your freezer. They can be added with potato and onion to eggs for making delicious Spanish omelette. They can be added with other veggies if you are in a mood of thick hot soup. Rich in proteins frozen peas are nutritious as no nutrients are lost because they are frozen so quickly after being picked.

Herbs pep up the flavour
Freeze-dried herbs and spices are quick smart foods that are infinitely better than those dried versions that might have in your store. Fresh herbs really pep up the flavours of a meal but it’s impossible to have every variety on hand unless you grow your own or pass a market every day. Look out for all the staple green herbs as well as jars of ready to use ginger, garlic and chilies.

Smart passata
With a jar or carton of passata (sieve tomatoes) you are never at a loss for a base for a hearty sauce for pasta or meatballs or as the sauce for scrummy home-made pizza toppings. If you’re stuck for pre-dinner drinks, passata is a quick smart food to the rescue. Add it to vodka with Worcestershire sauce and celery salt and hey presto – the perfect Bloody Mary.

Creamy cheesy mascarpone
This simple melty soft cheese is one of the highly versatile quick smart foods you should always have on hand. You can make a great tasting Mac and cheese in minutes by simply stirring it into cooked macaroni with grated cheddar. Mash with hot-smoked salmon or mackerel for an instant pate. Rustle up a cheesecake, pep up a soup with a dollop and for accompanying any sweet dish, and just mix with some (vanilla) sugar.

title="Chilly paste" alt="Chilly paste" src="https://img.inextlive.com/inext/inext//Inext_p_lfoo_4smart_food.jpg" width=311 height=252>Curry Paste
Making fresh curries from scratch is time consuming. It undoubtedly tastes terrific but as it is extremely time-consuming you always change your mind and some other alternative. Curry pastes cover every possible Asian cuisine and flavour. Even better if you’ve got some pre-cooked chicken you can always cook it into delicious recipe with this paste.


Tinned oily fish
Tinned food are  not only healthy and nutritious but they can be used to top baked potato or toast, used in salads and on pizzas and they also fill sandwiches or add flavour to pasta. Definitely go for tuna, sardines and anchovies.

Posted By: Surabhi Yadav

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