Use these tips to streamline dinner without meal kits

Meal kits have been gaining popularity in recent years but the neatly packed boxes aren't the only way to save time on busy evenings.

Meal kits contain pre-measured but not necessarily chopped ingredients and come with photos and instructions to make it easy to prepare dinner from scratch.

They may push you out of your comfort zone, inspiring you to try something you otherwise wouldn't.

Multiple companies now offer subscriptions or standalone ordering options. Your choice of dinners is shipped to your home in an insulated box with cooler packs inside to ensure it stays fresh until it's time for dinner. Yes, there will still be dishes.

• Pros and cons of meal kit delivery services

If ordering meal kits is beyond your budget, or the added packaging or travel time is a concern, there are other ways of taking the pressure off that post-work crunch. When I tried it, two meals for two cost $50 and there were no leftovers for lunch the next day.

Beyond throwing something in the slow cooker in the morning or making large batches of soup, stew, curry or chili on the weekend (all of which are great time-savers), plan for usable leftovers to keep you a step ahead of the game.

Roast two chickens instead of one or chop a few extra onions and store them in a heavy zip-lock bag in the freezer. They won't clump together, and can be poured straight from the freezer bag into your pot or skillet.

In fact, onions will start to melt and soften more quickly, having already broken down in the freezer. The same applies to peppers.

If you often start with an onion-carrot-celery trilogy, the three can be frozen together next time you have some spare minutes to chop extra.

When you don't have a meal kit in your kitchen or extra chili stashed away in the freezer, and it looks like your cupboard is bare, pasta e ceci can be pulled together in 20 minutes.

Use staples you probably already have in your pantry. If you don't, you can plan to keep them on reserve for such occasions.

Pasta e ceci (pasta with chickpeas)

Pasta e ceci is a quick sort of soupy pasta that's a staple in Rome, where there are as many variations as there are people who make it.

This version is cooked quickly on the stovetop, pasta and all, which allows the starch from the pasta to thicken the sauce.

Choose a small shape that cooks quickly or use broken lasagna noodles if you have a few left at the end of the box. A bunch of different varieties will work to get rid of a few kinds you might have left over.

If you have a Parmesan rind around, toss that into the pot, too. Don't be afraid to add a sprig of rosemary, a chopped carrot, a bit of crumbled sausage or anything else you think would be delicious.

Although there are hundreds of similar versions out there, I took direction from Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen, and she took hers from Rachel Roddy at the Guardian.

Ingredients

Generous drizzle of olive oil.

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed.

¼ cup tomato paste or ½ cup crushed tomatoes or passata.

1 tsp salt (or to taste).

A good grind of black pepper.

One 425-539 gram can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained (1½ to 2 cups).

½ cup (or a handful) small pasta, like small shells, ditalini or little hoops.

2 cups hot water. Put the kettle on to boil if you want to speed things up.

Good olive oil.

Parmesan.

Optional: clove of garlic, bit of chopped rosemary and/or pinch of red chili flakes for the olive oil garnish).

Preparation:

In a deep skillet or heavy pot, heat the olive oil with the garlic until it starts to smell wonderfully garlicky.

Add the tomatoes (careful, it might splatter) and salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for a minute.

Add the chickpeas, pasta and water and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sauce is uniform.

Turn the heat down and let it simmer away for 15 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and much of the liquid is reduced and absorbed.

If you like, warm a bit of olive oil on the stove with a crushed clove of garlic, about half a sprig of chopped rosemary or a pinch of chili flakes and drizzle it overtop with the parmesan.

Otherwise just add a drizzle of straight-up olive oil.

Serves: Two people, generously.

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​​With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.