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All of us with family and friends are often blessed (and sometimes cursed) with unexpected company at or right after mealtimes. Catering for surprise guests generally becomes a tough job when they land up just as you put the dinner dishes in the dishwasher. However, with our short and sweet list of surprise cooking ingredients to stock in your kitchen, you will never be at a loss for cooking ideas for surprise guests, no matter what time of the day or night they land up.

Quick Cooking Cereals: Small pasta like angel hair, bow or even shells can be boiled in minutes to form the base for a main dish or salad. If you have pasta in your cupboard, you can whip up a meal by either adding cooked or uncooked vegetables to make pasta or a pasta based salad as your main course. The same goes for quick cooking rice. Cook rice in the microwave, it will be done within 5 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté some chopped veggies like onions, peas, carrots, beans and capsicum along with some salt and pepper or some Chinese sauces in a wok, and pour in the cooked rice and fry some more. You are ready to serve Chinese style fried rice to your guests!

Frozen Vegetables and Non-Veg: Chopped frozen vegetables will cost slightly more than regular ones, but they are extremely convenient and they can last in your freezer for ages. These veggies can come in very handy to make a salad or a side dish. Add some boiled pasta or croutons for a light salad or add a heavy dressing if you want something slightly rich. You can also stir fry your veggies within minutes to make a side dish for your pasta or rice or bread. And these are a blessing if you want to have pizza within fifteen minutes. For those who like non vegetarian food, stock some packages of ready to eat chicken or fish nuggets, sausages or salami etc in your freezer.

Instant Stuff: Guests dropping by unexpectedly should not mind getting instant soup and noodles. But to show them what a proud kitchen you keep, you can add a little portion of your frozen vegetables or cooked chicken to instant noodles or soup. This not only adds nutrition to the food, it also imparts it a different taste and flavor that will make your instant very unlike “instant”. Remember that a little garnishing in these cases goes a long way. You should also stock up on pizza bases, because you can make a great pizza with these things within fifteen minutes when you use your frozen veggies and chicken nuggets as toppings.

Different Types Of Sauces: Readymade sauces and dressings can do wonders for any dish that you have to make instantly. If you have one Italian sauce, then you can use it on your pizza or to top off boiled pasta and your fresh, home made meal is ready for your guests. Similarly, with a couple of sauces like pesto, remoulade, teriyaki, hoisin or salsa, you can dish up an aromatic, flavored dish within minutes. Flavored vinegars and oils are great for salad and veggie lovers and some desert sauces let you convert plain ice-cream into a Sunday with the addition of a few fruits( of course canned!)

So go ahead, stock up and let the cook in you experiment with these easy to use, versatile ingredients. Trust me, you will never get anxious about unexpected dinner guests in your life!