Some of the best dishes are separated, sitting in your pantry and refrigerator, longing for you to put them together, and so delicious its silly….and the crazy thing is, we think we have to go out and buy something because we didn’t take the time to get creative.

Last night I had to make a quick dish for a birthday party. It was a BBQ party so I wanted to contribute something vegan to mix things up. There was a problem, or so I thought.

It was definitely time to go to the grocery store but I didn’t have time to go and cook. I assessed the situation and found: quinoa, 4 carrots, 1 apple, 1 sweet potato, 1 onion, pumpkin seeds, 1 lemon, garlic, some cilantro, and a bag of black beans…guess I wasn’t too far from making a great party dish at all!!

Sometimes you have to just set stuff out and think; “could I make that taste good.” Nine out of ten times you can, and guess what…you used what you had.