What meals can you make from an emergency food box?

What’s for dinner when your ingredients come out of an emergency food box?

A pair of East Valley chefs tried to answer that question with the help of United Food Bank, a Mesa-based nonprofit.

Romeo Taus of Romeo’s Euro Cafe and David Traina of Liberty Market, both in Gilbert, created recipes using typical food box items such as elbow macaroni, ground beef and pinto beans.

The challenge is part of Hunger Action Month, a nationwide effort created by Feeding America to raise awareness of hunger and access to food in America.

Last year, 12.7 percent of American households, or about 15.8 million people, were food insecure, meaning they were “at times unable to acquire adequate food for one or more household members because they had insufficient money and other resources for food,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

United Food Bank distributes food to people within Eastern Maricopa, Gila and Pinal, and Southern Navajo and Apache Counties. The organization said it can provide four meals to children, families and seniors for every $1 donated.

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Here are Taus and Traina’s recipes created for Hunger Action Month:

Lemon-Garlic Roasted Chicken

From Romeo Taus of Romeo’s Euro Cafe

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

• 1 1/2 cups Italian dressing
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tablespoon chopped any fresh (or dry) herbs you like

For the chicken:

• 1 whole chicken, cut in parts
• 3-4 carrots, sliced on bias
• 1-2 yellow squash, sliced on bias
• 1-2 zucchini, sliced on bias
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped in 1-inch squares
• 1 medium red onion, chopped in 1-inch squares
• 1-2 fresh corn
• 2-3 roma tomatoes, cut in quarters
• 2-3 potatoes, chopped in 1-inch squares
• 1 red pepper, chopped in 1-inch squares
• 1 teaspoon paprika

Preparation:

1. Combine all the ingredients for the dressing. 
2. Cut the chicken in parts, if not already cut, use some of the dressing to brush the chicken parts.
3. Sprinkle with paprika and put in a baking tray in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 
4. Slice and chop all vegetables. Use some of the dressing to brush the vegetables. 
5. In the same oven, place the potatoes, carrots and corn first in a baking tray and bake for 10 – 15 minutes.
6. After 10-15 min take the vegetable tray out and mix in the rest of the vegetables until done to your liking.

Chopped Cabbage Vegetable Roll Soup

From Romeo Taus of Romeo’s Euro Cafe

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef (you could use any ground meat)
• 1 head of cabbage, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 2-3 carrots, diced
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 5-6 slices bacon
• 1 can (14-15 ounce) diced tomatoes
• 1  can (14-15 ounce) spaghetti or pizza sauce
• 1-2 cans (14-15 ounce) vegetable such as green beans, corn or peas
• 1 container stock
• 1-2 cups rice
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

Preparation:

1. Before chopping cabbage, put it in the freezer for 2-3 hours to break down the fiber.
2. In a large pot, cook bacon, onions, ground meat and carrots until onions are translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 25-30 minutes at simmering heat.

Baked Chicken and Beans

From David Traina of Liberty Market

Ingredients:

• 1 bag dried pinto beans
• 3 carrots, diced
• 5 slices bacon, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 package chicken quarters
• 1 can diced tomatoes

Preparation:

1. Pick through the beans and discard any that are shriveled or unappealing.
2. Cover with a few inches of water and leave overnight (or 10-14 hours in advance).  
3. Drain the beans and rinse them under water.
4. Put the beans in a heavy cooking pot and cover with 1 inch of water. 
5. Add three diced carrots and 5 pieces of chopped bacon.
6. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cover the pot with the lid.
7. Add salt to beans when they are tender but not finished and then simmer until they are the consistency that you like. 
8. Season to taste. Salt and pepper the chicken and place in a baking pan.
9. Cover chicken with diced tomatoes and place in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender and cooked all the way through. 
10. Ladle pinto beans in a serving dish and place chicken on top, spoon tomatoes over chicken.

Shepherd’s Pie

From David Traina of Liberty Market

Ingredients:

• 6 potatoes, diced
• Salt
• 2 ears of corn, shucked
• Yellow squash, diced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 can diced tomatoes

Preparation:

1. Bring pot of water to a boil and add three pinches of salt.
2. Add potatoes and boil until tender.
3. Remove potatoes and mash with a fork until smooth (if you have butter or milk, add to them to make them creamier).
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
5. Cut the kernels off the corn cobb.
6. Saute the carrots until almost tender and add the squash and corn to the pan and cook until carrots are tender.
7. Cook one pound of ground beef and drain fat off. 
8. Add tomatoes to ground beef mixture and cook until liquid has reduced.
9. Combine vegetable mixture and ground beef and place in the bottom of a cooking dish.
10. Spread potatoes on top of ground beef mixture and place in preheated oven for 20 minutes until potatoes are browned.

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