Q: Why are you always squirreling things away in the freezer?

A: So that one hectic night I can open my freezer and, in 20 minutes flat, produce a meal that’s infinitely more satisfying than “can of tuna dumped on lettuce” or “something spread on a cracker.”

Freezer Stew (Tonight’s Variation)

Chop a large fresh onion, or use frozen if you have one. Ditto a garlic clove. Saute these in a large pot in some olive oil (presumably not frozen). While these soften, thaw a 4-cup freezer bag of homemade chicken broth and a cup or so of frozen chickpeas; easiest way to do this is by running hot water over the bags in the sink. (Sure, yes, use veggie broth if that’s how you do.)

Also, thaw a baggie of frozen whole-wheat bread cubes and a frozen baguette butt on the counter or unwrapped in the microwave. (Actually, it’s easiest if you remember to thaw these things in the fridge in the morning, but this is all very flexible.) Oh, and preheat the oven to 400!

When the broth is thawed and the onion/garlic is soft, introduce one to the other. Bring it up to a boil and stir in a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, unless you happen to have about 2 cups of frozen tomatoes, tomato sauce, or tomato puree lying around. Meanwhile, cube the baguette butt — use the garlicky cutting board, it will be delicious. Arrange all the thawed bread products on a cookie sheet, toss with some more olive oil, and stick ‘em in the oven to become crouton-ish.

Back to the soup pot: time for the thawed (or mostly thawed) chickpeas. At this point I realized my “cup or so” of chickpeas was a little light, so I added some cooked leftover lentils from the fridge. Season this business with a splash of Bragg’s, a few pinches of sea salt, and a healthy dose of crushed thyme leaves. Now, the good part: remove a massive bag of frozen spinach leaves from the freezer. Don’t thaw! Just mash the bag with your hands and the brittle leaves will crumble apart. Dump the “chopped” spinach into the pot and stir well.

Hey, are the croutons burning? Maybe check that.

Let the stew simmer on very low for as long as it takes to clear the table, feed the cats, whatever. To serve: ladle stew into bowls. Top with generous handfuls of croutons, stirring them down to absorb some of the liquid. Top that off with grated cheese, as pictured above, if you eat cheese. If you are like me and do not eat cheese, I recommend some nutritional yeast.

Serves two. With leftovers. Bam, you might say.