ChatGPT to the Rescue: A Fun and Flavorful Fusion Recipe Emerges from an Empty Fridge

Disclaimer: This article - at least the recipe part - was clearly written with the help of AI.

The fridge is as bare as it has been in a long time.Last night, in a fit of something that was equal parts hunger, unwillingness to go to the store, and nerdiness I decided to hop on ChatGPT and “create” dinner.

Why? Because I’d seen other people do it and thought it looked like fun. It is the 21st Century equivalent of driving to a fork in the road and flipping a stick to see which way to go.

All it took was a simple prompt:

Yup – kim chi, vegetables, and noodles (later changed to farfalle noodles). That was it. Seconds later ChatGPT spit out this recipe –

Creating a fusion dish like "Kimchi Vegetable Farfalle" can be a fun and delicious experience! Here's a recipe that combines the flavors of kimchi and vegetables with the popular pasta shape, farfalle:

Ingredients:

- 8 oz (225g) farfalle pasta

- 1 cup kimchi, chopped

- 1 cup mixed vegetables (carrots, bell peppers, zucchini, etc.), thinly sliced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 2 tablespoons sesame oil

- 2 tablespoons soy sauce

- 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean red chili paste) - adjust according to your spice preference

- 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar

- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

- 2 green onions, chopped (for garnish)

- Sesame seeds (for garnish)

Instructions:

1. Cook the farfalle pasta according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the sesame oil, soy sauce, gochujang, honey (or brown sugar), and rice vinegar to create the sauce. Set aside.

3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and stir-fry for about 30 seconds until fragrant.

4. Add the mixed vegetables to the pan and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until they start to soften but are still slightly crunchy.

5. Stir in the chopped kimchi and cook for another 2 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

6. Pour the prepared sauce over the vegetables and kimchi. Toss everything together until well coated and continue to cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.

7. Add the cooked farfalle pasta to the pan and mix everything together until the pasta is well coated with the kimchi and vegetable sauce.

8. Remove from heat and garnish with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.

9. Serve hot and enjoy your delicious Kimchi Vegetable Farfalle!

Feel free to adjust the spice level, sweetness, or any other ingredients according to your taste preferences. This dish combines the unique flavors of kimchi with the comforting elements of pasta, making it a delightful fusion meal. Enjoy!

Now the whole point of this exercise was to make something out of the meager holdings in my nearly empty fridge. So, obviously I didn’t have Korean red chili paste. Oddly enough, I had everything else.

After about twenty minutes of prep time – including cooking the noodles, I had dinner. ChatGPT did well! The dish had good flavor and just enough spice to make things interesting. In fact, it was good enough that I am taking the time to write this article.

I doubled the recipe, and it was more than enough food for four people. I’m not sure what I paid for everything, but it was a low-cost dish as well – one that I’d definitely make it again.

It seems like this a dish that would work either hot or cold.

I, and my family of picky eaters, enjoyed it.

That being said, there is one caveat. It was missing something. My wife and I decided that it needed to have shrimp added. We didn’t have any, so it didn’t go in this time, but it probbaly will when I make it again.

I don’t write about recipes a lot, in fact this is my first time, so I’m not really sure how to rate this dish. It is definitely 3.5 out of 4 cookbooks, spatulas, salt shakers, or whatever else the people that do this for a living use to let everyone know how good something was.

The point of the story is I liked the dish, it was easy to make, and there are leftovers. You should try making it.

Enjoy.

Sidenote: In keeping with the theme, the title for this article was generated with ChatGPT and the header image by Blue Willow.