Improvised Dinner

I went to New Seasons with a dinner idea in mind, only to be thwarted by the masses of people there--stocking up for the big storm, I guess. There were no regular-sized carts left *at all* and the meat counter was a solid mass of people. So we had dinner from the "pantry" tonight, that is, improvised with the materials at hand. If you are in a similar pinch, here are a couple of ideas...

Lemony rice:
Olive oil
1 c rice
2 c chicken broth
zest of 1 lemon (or 1/2 of a dried up lemon in the back of the crisper box plus a lime)
1 grated zucchini, which was getting on in life and needed to be used up
1 grated carrot
2-3 cloves garlic
Parmesan cheese (1/4 c?)
juice from aforementioned dried up 1/2 lemon, which was actually surprisingly juicy

Saute the rice in the olive oil until it starts to get a little brown. Add the zucchini, carrot, and garlic and stir around for a couple of minutes. Add the broth, bring to boil, then simmer like you normally cook rice (12 min or so?). When liquid is absorbed, stir in lemon juice and Parmesan and let sit for a couple of minutes. Very tasty. This is also great (even better, actually) with orzo rather than rice.

Broccoli with Pine Nuts:
Olive oil
Pine nuts (1/4 c? or walnuts or whatever nut you like that you have on hand)
4 c broccoli florets
2 cloves garlic
salt
2 T broth
2 T white wine (or substitute rice vinegar + a little sugar if you have no wine)
2 T Parmesan cheese.

Saute the pine nuts in the olive oil until beginning to brown. Add broccoli and garlic and stir around until the broccoli is nice and bright green. Add a little salt if you'd like (not too much because you'll be adding Parmesan later), and then the liquids, and steam for a few minutes until broccoli is done. Toss with Parmesan.

Add a smoothie and a little loaf of freshly baked no-knead bread (thanks for the idea, RedMolly, I'd cut this recipe out of the FoodDay months ago and never tried it). Voila! All stuff scrounged from the supplies on hand.