Cooking during load-shedding doesn’t have to be a turn-off

SOME may be great at meal prepping and are able to rush home and cook before the electricity goes out, but many of us will be stuck in hours of endless traffic, will go home to no power and end up having peanut butter sarmies for dinner … by candlelight ‘nogal’. How romantic.

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Here are five recipes which don’t require any cooking on your part – just a tiny bit of planning in making sure you have these ingredients in your pantry or fridge. You can thank us later.

1. Think Cape Town. Think iconic sandwich. Think Gatsby.
   The reason why the Gatsby is so great is because it’s huge, and you can get however creative you want by adding whichever ingredients you have available. You can leave out the chips, swap cooked meats for deli meats, pack it with fresh veggies and delicious condiments, and voila – the family is fed! There are several recipes on the internet which you can adjust according to your preference.
2. Chickpea salad sandwich. This is basically a meat-free version of a chicken and mayo sandwich. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Also a great lunchbox idea.
3. Cheeseboards with charcuterie are becoming increasingly popular when entertaining, so why not make a meal of it when the lights are out? Popular items include different cheeses, crackers, olives, deli and cured meats, fruit, nuts, crackers and preserves. Get each family member to choose two items to go onto the board and see what you come up with. It could be fun. It could be a disaster. You’ll just have to wait and see.
4. And then there are bowls. No, not the sport but the ones that can be filled with ingredients that come out of a can – like this one we found on the internet. The rainbow bean and feta bowl is filled with all sorts of beans, lentils and corn, so stock up that pantry!
5. Create a little ‘fiesta’ in your home with this Tex-Mex recipe that includes avocados, tuna and nachos. It’s three parts, does not involve any cooking and looks delicious. Yummy!

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