When I’m pondering what to make for dinner, particularly after working all day, the first thing I consider is prep time — what do I have to chop or peel or prepare before I start putting the dish together?

I try to get myself organized on weekends — make a rough meal plan for the week and take care of the grocery shopping. I may even prepare a couple of things that can be cooked or reheated later.

But more often than not, Thursday arrives and we’ve eaten everything I’ve planned. That’s when I start flipping through my mental recipe files, trying to think of something I can convince myself to make, something that will stop me from ordering a pizza or take-out Chinese.

I find that any little thing I can do in advance really helps me win this argument with myself. And a little-known line of products has made quite a bit of difference.

About a year or so ago, a colleague turned me on to these little frozen cubes of fresh garlic he’d found in the freezer section of his grocery store. The brand name was Dorot, and the packaging boasted that it had been grown organically and contained, besides the fresh garlic, only a bit of canola oil and sea salt.

I bought a package and happily used it. The best part was that it really tasted like fresh garlic you had just prepped yourself. It was convenient, but it wasn’t life-changing.

But I recently came across a nearly identical-looking set of products — along with the garlic, there were frozen cubes of minced ginger, minced fresh basil and chopped, sautéed onions — in the Wal-Mart in Westerly. The brand was “Pop & Cook,” and the label said “manufactured for Wal-Mart. Product of Israel.”

After a bit of Googling later, I learned that Dorot, actually a kibbutz in southern Israel, is now packaging some of their products for Wal-Mart under Pop & Cook brand.

How did I ever live without the Internet?

The kibbutz, where the garlic and seasonings are grown, processed and packaged for export, was started in 1941 by German immigrants. Its website — which Google does a pretty good job translating — says about 600 people live there today, many of whom work as part of the community's agricultural economy.

Under the Pop & Cook label, they also offer frozen cubes of chopped fresh cilantro and chopped mild red chili.

Most of the packages contain 20 frozen cubes — 1 teaspoon (or 1 garlic clove) each — that easily and individually pop right out of the package into whatever you’re cooking. The sautéed onions come 10 cubes per package, the equivalent of three onions.

Each package cost $2, 10 cents per cube. Pound for pound, that makes the herbs a bargain and the onion, garlic and ginger much more expensive than fresh. For example, fresh garlic and ginger were for sale in Wal-Mart’s produce department for $3.98 per pound each. In frozen, cube form, my $2 for 20 teaspoons works out to $11.43 per pound.

But I wonder if that’s right comparison to make. I mean, what is the cost of eating pizza a couple nights a week versus cooking my own dinner? I don’t really know. I just know that these little cubes so far have been a good enough incentive for me not to figure it out.

When a recipe calls for several of the ingredients available in the frozen cubes, the convenience is multiplied. Spicy Sesame Noodles, for example, use the classic trio of ginger, garlic and basil. Not having to peel, mince and/or chop those whittles the prep down to a bit of sautéing, some measuring, boiling the noodles and chopping some peanuts. Not bad for a Thursday night dinner.

Rather than continue to buy these, my inner Martha Stewart wants to steal the idea — start with a bulb of fresh garlic and a hand of ginger, peel them, coarsely chop them, then run them separately through the blender with a bit water to facilitate the process. Then I could individually freeze teaspoons of the resulting purees and have my own supply. I could even reuse the little Pop & Cook plastic trays ...

Until then though, I’ll happily part with the $2. 

Enjoy!

Jill Blanchette is the multiplatform production editor at The Day. Share comments and recipes with her at j.blanchette@theday.com.

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Chopped Peanuts and Basil

1 tablespoon peanut or olive oil

6 cubes minced ginger (2 tablespoons)

2 cubes minced garlic (2 cloves)

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1½ tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon (or more) hot chili oil (I used harissa oil but you also could substitute sriracha)

1½ teaspoons salt

1 pound Chinese egg noodles or angel hair pasta

12 scallions (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced

½ cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts

9 cubes minced basil, thawed (¼ cup thinly sliced fresh Thai basil of basil leaves)

Heat the oil in small skillet over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic cubes and sauté 1 minute or until they have broken down and become fragrant. Transfer to a large bowl and add the sesame oil, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, sugar, hot chili oil or chili sauce and salt, and whisk to blend.

Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, stirring occasionally. Drain and rinse the noodles under cold water until cool, then drain thoroughly and transfer them to the large bowl with the sauce.

Add sliced the sliced scallions and the thawed basil cubes, if using, and toss to distribute the basil and coat the noodles and scallions with sauce. Let stand at room temperature until the noodles have absorbed the dressing, tossing occasionally, for about 1 hour. Stir in the peanuts (and the fresh basil, if using) and toss again.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Original recipe from Epicurious.