beXnlog

Produce Update

Made last night:

1) Cornbread, which ended up very good! Nothing stuck in my corn sticks pan since i sprayed non-stick stuff on it before heating it in the oven. When the pan turns a nice glossy black i'll resign from using this strange chemically stuff. I used most of the batter from Kavita's yummy recipe in my big skillet and it'll be enough for 12 slices of cornbread! be thought it was "very spicy" but i liked it just right. It's a non-sweet, cheesy and hot recipe which would be great with chili.

2) Soup, which was delicious of course! You can't really mess up vegetable soup. What we make now has strayed very far from the original recipe i found off the internet, but each batch is still great although different from the last. It's a good way to reduce produce around the house.

bebe's Vegetable Soup (last batch i doubled the below recipe!)

2 T olive oil
2 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb kale, chopped
2 qts vegetable stock (canned or from cubes is up to you)
1 small can tomato sauce or 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 can chickpeas
1 can corn or 2 ears fresh corn, kernels cut off
2 carrots, sliced into rounds
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper

Note you can use zucchini, summer squash, canned beans, mushrooms, fake meat, pasta or any other ingredients for this soup. You will need to add more vegetable stock and seasonings to compensate.

Heat the oil in a big stockpot on medium heat. Add potatoes and cover, cook for about 5 minutes and stir occasionally. Add the garlic and kale, cover to wilt for 1-2 minutes. Add stock, tomato, chickpeas, corn, carrots and bay leaves. Stir well and season with salt and pepper (i use a lot of pepper, enough for be's mom to say it's "picante"). Bring to a full boil, then lower heat back to medium and simmer 5-10 minutes until potatoes are done.

What's great about this soup is not only it's versatility, but the kale! The kale keeps it's texture and is a little crispy, which is a nice balance with the soft potatoes and chickpeas. I added the corn and carrots since i had those around. The original recipe called for chorizo, so it was essentially only potatoes, kale and chorizo.

Made today:

3) Pita pizza; our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. I couldn't finish the last pieces and be used an entire portobello mushroom cap as topping on his. Super easy, made easier with pre-grated cheese. I used fake pepperoni on mine.

4) Carrot-apple-ginger juice in my trusty 6-year old Juiceman. We used 1.5 bags of carrots, 6 apples (3 gala, 3 mutsu) and a big piece of ginger. In addition, be juiced another 2 bags of carrots for beverages tomorrow.

5) Tea, twice. be had Dragonwell green tea, grade #1 from China both times, i had Assam and then green tea with rooibos.

Threw out:

6) Arugula, which turned yellowish and wilty. I was out of town the weekend we received this, otherwise i would have happily eaten it.

7) Dandelion, which i'm tired of eating raw or chopping up and cooking with fake bacon. be doesn't like it and i can't ever eat a whole pound of it.

8) Lettuce; we still have 2 heads of this!

Our current fridge is very old and acts up a lot. We have to keep a big cup near the back to catch the dripping -- we empty almost 32 oz of fridgewater every 2 weeks! If we fiddle with the knobs, it gets too warm inside OR things on the top shelves freeze. I'm glad our freezer works fine besides the fact everything gets freezerburn surprisingly fast. I don't recall the produce i've acquired in previous housing arrangements going bad as quickly as it does here. I can't wait until we can design our own kitchen and get an awesome fridge, storage-freezer, big-burner stove and tons of counter space. Did i mention that our 1st fridge in this apartment was held together with DUCT TAPE on the inside? Just sayin, i drool at suburban fridges.

posted by beXn @ 11:59 PM