Canned Food Ideas for Supper

Many people believe that canned food has a bland taste but with a little creativity and interesting ingredients it can be flavourful. Canned food is a long-lasting food item which means that you can store in your kitchen cupboard for months or years. Be sure to check the expiry label. In addition, most canned food has already been cooked and is being preserved in the can which cuts down on cooking time.

Canned lentils are great if you don't have time for shuffling through the tiny legumes and boiling them. If you have a can of lentils then you have already completed half of your supper. Great dishes to make using these legumes include curries, spinach and feta salads, and pasta sauce.

Canned tomatoes are the fastest way to make a traditional red pasta sauce. Instead of blanching the tomatoes, which requires you to soak them in hot water and then peeling them, you can simply add the already blanched tomatoes into the pot. Make sure that you fry half an onion in oil and salt before adding the tomato.

Sweetcorn is a great side dish to have with dinner. Fry the canned sweetcorn in butter and cayenne pepper to create a delicious and healthy alternative. It is also quicker to cook the sweetcorn in the microwave than cooking the whole corn cob.

Although many people are not fond of pilchards there are those that really enjoy it. Plus it is a healthy food which can easily be laid onto a slice of bread. For added flavour in the pilchards add some hot sauce for a tangy sandwich with a bite.

Many desserts are canned too. Canned fruit is the most popular and it is a delicious dessert that indulges your senses. Add some custard, ice cream or sweet ideal milk for delicious variations for dessert. Fruit meringue is a light dessert that everyone can enjoy. Fill the meringue with the canned fruit of your choice and then top it up with whipped cream. This is a simple Pavlova that anyone can make.

Lunch spreads also come in cans and it is great for making lunch or snacks for your children. Jam is one of them. Spread it on bread for tasty sweet sandwiches or take two Marie Biscuits and spread apricot jam on the one side. Close the two biscuits together to make a biscuit sandwich. It's a sweet treat that doesn't contain as much sugar as cake.

Stock up your kitchen cupboards with canned food so that you always have a quick meal solution. Wholesale suppliers will have a range of different types of canned food that you could get cheaply in bulk.

Tips For Cooking Collard Greens

Collard greens (Brassica oleracea) are loose-leaved like kale and spinach. You can eat them raw, although they are better when cooked.

Collard greens cook relatively quickly and are best sauteed in olive oil. However, if you are not a vegetarian, you can try cooking them with bacon for added taste. This is my preferred way of cooking them. Simply heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the sliced bacon first, until it is crispy. Then remove it from the heat and crumble it before putting it back in the pan.

Next add the kale and cover it with chicken stock, adding red pepper flakes and seasoning. Simmer for about 45 minutes or less, until the greens are tender.If you want to cook the greens quickly, slice them into medium-sized pieces and add olive oil to a frying pan. When it's hot add the ingredients you intend using. You can add chopped garlic and red pepper flakes to spice up the rather bland taste of the collard greens. Add the greens to the pan and saute them for about four minutes, or until they are bright green.

If you have a slow cooker you can cook the greens with ham hocks for a southern-style dish. Use chicken stock and seasoning to enhance the flavours. It's best to cook this dish over night. Be careful when removing the ham hocks as you don't want to leave any slivers of bone in the greens. Then stir them. Let the hocks cool before attempting to handle them. You need to remove all the fat from the hocks and of course, remove the bone from each hock.

Put the meat back into the slow cooker and add the greens, stirring them so that the meat and vegetables are combined well. You may want to reheat the mixture before serving this traditional Southern-style dish.

If you are vegetarian, stick with the garlic and red pepper flakes and, naturally the greens, but add chopped spring onions, and some other greens, such as kale, and turnip and mustard greens.These go very well together and some chopped tomatoes would also help to enhance the flavour. To spice them up a little, you can add tamari, or the more usual soy sauce, smoked paprika (or a hot paprika), and seasoning. 

These green leaves are very nutritious, containing, as they do vitamins K, A, E and B complex ones. As for minerals they have iron, manganese, and calcium, to name just a few. Why not cook some and give yourself a healthy treat?

The Smartest Way to Cook Collard Greens

If you have ever cooked collard greens before, and are not quite sure about what to do with them, you can prepare them by first removing the stems and the thick central veins in each leaf. Next cut the leaves into pieces, strips or ribbons. Some people soak the leaves in warm water with salt added, for about ten minutes before preparing them, but this is optional. However, the soaking and the salt ensure they are clean.

You can saute the greens in olive oil or bacon fat, for about 5 minutes with garlic and chopped spicy red pepper. Stir so that the leaves are coated with the oil. When the leaves are still a vivid green and wilted, add a teaspoon of red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar to the pan and toss them so that they are all evenly coated. Serve them hot or at room temperature, whichever you prefer.

It is possible to blanch the greens after first preparing them as outlined above. Chop the leaves coarsely and cook them in boiling water (salted), for about 10 minutes, when they should be dark and tender. Drain the collard greens in cold water and squeeze to remove excess water. Serve them alone or as an accompaniment to another dish.

The smartest way to cook collard greens is to fry them with garlic, mushrooms and small pieces of chopped red pepper or jalapenos. Add seasoned stock to the pan and cook until the leaves have wilted.

It's possible to eat the leaves raw, although you might find them indigestible.You can juice them though. A cup of pure collard juice would require eight cups of greens to get an 8 ounce serving. It's much easier and far less time-consuming to blend collard juice with apple juice and perhaps the beetroot juice. Collard juice can be quite bitter, so mixing it with other juices is best. For a sweet drink, blend the collard leaves with chopped mango and orange, or make a smoothie with banana the collard juice, berries that are in season (or frozen ones), ground flax seeds and almond butter. This is a particularly nutritious drink.

Collard greens are versatile and cheap, so are ideal for families and students living on a tight budget. They are packed full with vitamins and minerals and so are a healthy option. Why not pick up some greens next time you go shopping and experiment with them?

Catering Equipment for Creative Egg Dishes

Eggs are known for their protein rich content and are a favourite addition to the breakfast meal. Besides simply frying them, there are number of ways to cook eggs as well as to present them in creative ways. Here is the catering equipment for making neat and creative egg dishes.

• Egg Rings. You get a few options when it comes to this catering equipment. There are round or square ring options as well as an omelette ring. This product allows you to fry the contents neatly in perfectly round or square shapes. When you present it on a plate it will look professional and immaculate.

• Egg Lifters. Lifters are more of an essential type of catering equipment. It allows you to lift the fried foods gently off the pan to avoid it from breaking apart. Neatly lifted fried foods will remain whole and create a well-ordered appearance on the breakfast plate.

• Egg Poachers. This catering equipment comes in different sizes. It all depends on how much you want to make. These are containers that have four or more cups inside them. Inside each cup you can load the ingredient and float them in water until it comes to a boil. The result is an oil free perfectly formed poached egg.

• Egg Slicers. This product is usually made with aluminium wires that are able to create thin and even slices. Once you've boiled the eggs, you can slice them evenly and layer them one slightly over the other to create a neat patterned layer. It is ideal for a buffet set up as well as for platters. Add some tomatoes and cucumber slices in between to create some colour on the platter.

• Egg Wedgers. Instead of slices you can make wedges. They are thicker than the standard slicers and you can get creative with the way you lay them on the plate. You can either layer the wedges on the sides or all around along the edge of a round platter. Or you can place the wedges upright with the yolk part facing upwards. You can place them in star patterns or circular patterns for interesting presentation.