Years ago, someone told me that the sign of a balabusta is someone who has hardboiled eggs, cooked potatoes, and fried onions in the fridge at all times. You can always whip up a meal quickly starting with one of these ingredients. I like to fry up lots of onions for a long time over low heat, and put them in cups in the freezer. This way, I’m always one step ahead.

I tried this with canned mushrooms as well, and surprisingly it was equally as good. Usually I’m a stickler for using fresh mushrooms, as canned mushrooms aren’t so palatable. But here there’s so much flavor from the other ingredients that it’s not as noticeable.