Sometimes, your day can get really taxing, and you are in no mood to do anything after that, least of all cook. But you are hungry, and you are not in mood for restaurant food. One such day, I found the Pizza Box from Chef’s Basket. I like Chef’s Basket products, I like their pasta kits, noodle kits and I liked their Tiramisu kit too. So, I thought I would most probably like this too.

The box claimed that it was possible to make 6 thin crust pizzas from it. It has six thin crust pizza bases, it had a pouch of toppings (comprising of baby corn, olives, paprika and jalapenos), a pouch of pizza sauce, and a few little pouches of oregano and chili flakes seasonings.

The pizza bases need to be cooked on the pan for sometime, spread the pizza sauce in it. Wash off the toppings in running water, and then spread them over the sauced bases. Add in some chopped onions if you want to, of course I wanted to. And then grate cheese over it. Cheese and onion are my ingredients, they are not part of the box, rest are from the box. Cook it up again on the pan and pizzas are ready.

It is a good quick fix dinner. It is not something I would like to have when I am having a party at home. But if I am a mother working a little late, or just had a hard day at work, and no mood to cook something elaborate yet want the kids and the family happy, this could work. For a single person like me, it definitely works as a quick fix at home, and as a welcome alternative to a lot more expensive restaurant food. The box costs Rs. 249, and that much for six thin crust pizzas seems a good bargain deal. The toppings might taste a little odd, as they sat preserved in a preservative solution, so make sure they are wahsed thoroughly before adding. And, add in something more of your choice too – paneer, golden corn, mushrooms, whatever you have at hand. You can experiment with the types of cheeses. You can try to make Italian Quesadillas out of it, using two bases to make a quesadilla.

A lot of times I feel, it is not the lack of willingness to cook, or the time to cook that bothers us so much, as the question, “What to cook?” does. This box offers  good direction in that case, while also giving me full freedom to experiment in places. A good quick fix, nothing awesome about it. It definitely saves the headache of chopping vegetables.