Tonight is the Blood Drive and Parent to Kid book reading event at my daughter's school. I usually give blood and I am due to give it today, but I am on antibiotics so I think that counts me out tonight. Oh well, I will hit them up at the next event. As a reminder though, if you are healthy and able to give blood, please do! Blood levels in my community are in critically short supply and I know periodically they get low in other places. You can even make an appointment at your local blood bank. Find out where to give here as well as find out if you are eligible to donate!
Okay, so they serve pizza at Parent to Kid night and I know even though we had homemade pizza last night my little munchkins will want some when they get there, but first they are going to have a bowl of Great Green Soup, inspired by some soup I once had at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Massachusetts. The cafeteria there was wonderful, really locavore and organic and everything was so tasty! It was the coldest May I can ever remember and they had a bright green soup that tasted wonderful and was bright as green grass. I asked the lady behind the counter what was in it and she said, "Basically, any green vegetable we have in stock and in season. Frozen veggies work well in it too!" So today my great green soup is a simple affair, I sauteed chopped onions and celery in butter and salt, then I added chopped baby spinach and 6 large stalks of lightly steamed and chopped up asparagus. To this I added 2 1/2 C of organic chicken broth (could just as easily be veggie broth) and then I mixed it all up with my immersion blender. Taste and adjust seasonings; if need be add a bit of fresh ground black pepper. I serve it with a dollop of plain greek yogurt, but you can of course use sour cream or creme fraiche if you have it. I think a bit of shaved parmesan cheese in it or on it might be good too.
So there you go, bright green tasty antioxidants in a cup! This might be fun to serve for St. Patrick's day too!
Showing posts with label green soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green soup. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Waste not, want not
I have been dying to get back here and write some long and involved bit of culinary wisdom, or some funny anecdote about my life as a Mom, daughter, volunteer, sex kitten (part-time), domestic engineer. But the actual Moming, daughtering, volunteering, sex-kitten thing got in the way. I'd like to say my duties as a domestic engineer got in the way too, but frankly, you'd just have to look at my house to know that ain't true.
Ahem.
So today I am going to write about something near and dear to my heart recently and that is making sure you do not waste food. Food is a pretty big part of my limited budget and nothing irks me more than having to throw away my hard earned money with food that has gone past its prime.
The biggest things that go bad for me are fruits and vegetables. I have very little time to write today, so this post will focus on the vegetables and the next one will be about fruit. *Note: I have never had any ice cream go bad.
My best tips for preventing food waste are:
• Make a list, not only of what you need to buy, but also how you are going to use it. So you need to make a menu for the week, noting what side dishes you are making to go with what. Try to use your most perishable veggies first, but be flexible, if that broccoli is starting to "bloom" early (it develops a yellow color) then use it up quick.
• Make substitutions. Tonight's dinner was going to be chicken and rice plus broccoli and squash, but oh look a tomato is going bad (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes bad!) and needs to be used up. Cut off the bad spot and chop it up into the rice side dish. Chopping it and adding salt helps break it down and by the time it has cooked with the rice it merely becomes a flavoring agent for the rice. Good times.
* Make soup/stock. I have a freezer full of old bones. No, I am not a serial killer with grisly trophies (but you know I totally would be on Criminal Minds). I just love to make stocks. I therefore have LABELLED ziploc freezer bags of chicken and beef bones and very occasionally fish bones and crustacean shells (shrimp and lobster mostly). Now to these animal parts one must add vegetables. Do you have wilted celery? Put it in the freezer. When you cut off the tops of the onion, put it, skin and all into the freezer, more garlic than you can use all at one time? It freezes beautifully. Very pungent vegetables, like broccoli or asparagus get frozen in separate bags also LABELLED for use in what I call the "Great Green Soup" (featured elsewhere on the site, keyword green soup).
* Make a meal of them. If you find yourself, late in the week with a bevy of quickly aging produce, make fajitas or stir-fry or even a casserole or two. Cook finely shredded carrots into a tomato sauce, chop zucchini into zucchini bread, roast an entire pan of assorted vegetables with sea salt and olive oil.
* Make a rescue attempt. Sad, wilted greens can be briefly revived using the scientific principle of turgor pressure. Basically those lettuce leaves have dried out in your refrigerator. Give them a brief rinse and set them stalks down in a large container of ice water that you have dosed with a liberal slug of white vinegar. They will be perky and presentable in 20 minutes or less. Then spin dry or pat dry the leaves and serve yourself a great big salad that night.
* Make compost. Sometimes despite our best efforts, stuff goes bad. Return it to the earth by starting a simple compost pile. I had one on my balcony that was completely contained in a large rubbermaid tote. Besides vegetable matter I added egg shells and coffee grounds, plant clippings, shredded newspapers, paper towels, grass cuttings and the like. I was rewarded with dark rich compost for my container garden. You can also google search for how to start your own "vermiculture" composter (worms) and something intriguing I read about called a "bokashi" bucket.
Vegetables are cheap and abundant this time of year, so take advantage and buy up your summer favorites. This summer I am going to be investigating some home canning options, (yay strawberry jam!) and maybe even parching my own sweet corn. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted.
Ahem.
So today I am going to write about something near and dear to my heart recently and that is making sure you do not waste food. Food is a pretty big part of my limited budget and nothing irks me more than having to throw away my hard earned money with food that has gone past its prime.
The biggest things that go bad for me are fruits and vegetables. I have very little time to write today, so this post will focus on the vegetables and the next one will be about fruit. *Note: I have never had any ice cream go bad.
My best tips for preventing food waste are:
• Make a list, not only of what you need to buy, but also how you are going to use it. So you need to make a menu for the week, noting what side dishes you are making to go with what. Try to use your most perishable veggies first, but be flexible, if that broccoli is starting to "bloom" early (it develops a yellow color) then use it up quick.
• Make substitutions. Tonight's dinner was going to be chicken and rice plus broccoli and squash, but oh look a tomato is going bad (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes bad!) and needs to be used up. Cut off the bad spot and chop it up into the rice side dish. Chopping it and adding salt helps break it down and by the time it has cooked with the rice it merely becomes a flavoring agent for the rice. Good times.
* Make soup/stock. I have a freezer full of old bones. No, I am not a serial killer with grisly trophies (but you know I totally would be on Criminal Minds). I just love to make stocks. I therefore have LABELLED ziploc freezer bags of chicken and beef bones and very occasionally fish bones and crustacean shells (shrimp and lobster mostly). Now to these animal parts one must add vegetables. Do you have wilted celery? Put it in the freezer. When you cut off the tops of the onion, put it, skin and all into the freezer, more garlic than you can use all at one time? It freezes beautifully. Very pungent vegetables, like broccoli or asparagus get frozen in separate bags also LABELLED for use in what I call the "Great Green Soup" (featured elsewhere on the site, keyword green soup).
* Make a meal of them. If you find yourself, late in the week with a bevy of quickly aging produce, make fajitas or stir-fry or even a casserole or two. Cook finely shredded carrots into a tomato sauce, chop zucchini into zucchini bread, roast an entire pan of assorted vegetables with sea salt and olive oil.
* Make a rescue attempt. Sad, wilted greens can be briefly revived using the scientific principle of turgor pressure. Basically those lettuce leaves have dried out in your refrigerator. Give them a brief rinse and set them stalks down in a large container of ice water that you have dosed with a liberal slug of white vinegar. They will be perky and presentable in 20 minutes or less. Then spin dry or pat dry the leaves and serve yourself a great big salad that night.
* Make compost. Sometimes despite our best efforts, stuff goes bad. Return it to the earth by starting a simple compost pile. I had one on my balcony that was completely contained in a large rubbermaid tote. Besides vegetable matter I added egg shells and coffee grounds, plant clippings, shredded newspapers, paper towels, grass cuttings and the like. I was rewarded with dark rich compost for my container garden. You can also google search for how to start your own "vermiculture" composter (worms) and something intriguing I read about called a "bokashi" bucket.
Vegetables are cheap and abundant this time of year, so take advantage and buy up your summer favorites. This summer I am going to be investigating some home canning options, (yay strawberry jam!) and maybe even parching my own sweet corn. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Last Night's Dinner: A Festival of Antioxidants
Leftover "Soup"er Green Soup
Baked Salmon Patties
Sauteed Spinach
Fresh blueberries (for dessert)
The green soup is kind of a family legend at this point. Any green vegetables (and curiously always leeks) make it into the soup. You boil all your gorgeous green veggies in chicken or veggie stock, along with onion and carrot for sweetness. When everything is nice and soft, add salt/pepper to taste and blend it all together with a stick or immersion blender. Sometimes I top it with a little parmesan cheese or perhaps a spoonful of pesto. Any green herbs that take your fancy can be added as well, fresh towards the end of cooking time, dried herbs go in at the beginning. Examples of green veggies I have used include kale, spinach, collard greens, broccoli, peas, green beans, leeks, and green onions. This soup is wonderful for veggies that are starting to get a little past their prime. Alternatively, if you have some cooked broccoli left over from dinner the night before it can be thrown right into this.
The salmon patties were a HUGE gamble, but one that paid off. I loooove salmon so much, it's kind of sick, but I worry over environmental concerns associated with farmed salmon. Wild caught salmon is very expensive... unless it is canned. Canned salmon is kind of dicey in how you prepare it. You don't want it to taste canned or "off". These salmon patties went together very easily, and baked up beautifully. I think all the fresh ingredients, especially the lemon juice added a nice flavor and kept things moist. Recipe is included at the bottom of the post.
I sauteed the spinach with diced yellow onion in bacon fat I have been saving in the fridge. Yeah, I did, and your grandmother probably did too. Maybe she just kept an old Crisco container on the back of the stove filled with "drippings". One tablespoon of the stuff won't kill me, and it won't kill you either and it adds silky, yummy, clingy fat and a lovely smokey flavor. So there.
Salmon Patties (found this on about.com, but it was uncredited)
Ingredients:
1 can (16 ounces) salmon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
cold water
2 med. eggs, beaten
dash pepper
1 slice bread, fine crumbs
1/4 cup finely minced celery (with leaves)
2 tablespoons finely minced green onion
1 tablespoon finely minced bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (canola)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°. Drain salmon, reserving liquid. Discard skin, but save bones. Flake salmon lightly, but well, with a fork. Crush bones and mix with the salmon.
Add the lemon to the reserved salmon liquid and enough cold water to make 1/2 cup liquid; add to the salmon. Add all remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Form into 4 patties. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
** I used three 6 oz. cans for a total of 18 oz. of fish. I lacked bell peppers, added diced carrot. I lacked green onions, subbed in green shoots from a sprouting onion growing in my garden. I was also missing celery entirely. I could have used some celery seed spice, if I had any. I crumbled up fresh bread to make crumbs but it kind of disappeared. I added in 1 tablespoon of seasoned bread crumbs also topped patties with those crumbs to add some "crunch". Also re-reading this recipe today I never saw that it called for baking powder at ALL! Apparently you won't miss it. Hm. Next time I will lightly oil the pan as the patties kind of stuck a little.
Baked Salmon Patties
Sauteed Spinach
Fresh blueberries (for dessert)
The green soup is kind of a family legend at this point. Any green vegetables (and curiously always leeks) make it into the soup. You boil all your gorgeous green veggies in chicken or veggie stock, along with onion and carrot for sweetness. When everything is nice and soft, add salt/pepper to taste and blend it all together with a stick or immersion blender. Sometimes I top it with a little parmesan cheese or perhaps a spoonful of pesto. Any green herbs that take your fancy can be added as well, fresh towards the end of cooking time, dried herbs go in at the beginning. Examples of green veggies I have used include kale, spinach, collard greens, broccoli, peas, green beans, leeks, and green onions. This soup is wonderful for veggies that are starting to get a little past their prime. Alternatively, if you have some cooked broccoli left over from dinner the night before it can be thrown right into this.
The salmon patties were a HUGE gamble, but one that paid off. I loooove salmon so much, it's kind of sick, but I worry over environmental concerns associated with farmed salmon. Wild caught salmon is very expensive... unless it is canned. Canned salmon is kind of dicey in how you prepare it. You don't want it to taste canned or "off". These salmon patties went together very easily, and baked up beautifully. I think all the fresh ingredients, especially the lemon juice added a nice flavor and kept things moist. Recipe is included at the bottom of the post.
I sauteed the spinach with diced yellow onion in bacon fat I have been saving in the fridge. Yeah, I did, and your grandmother probably did too. Maybe she just kept an old Crisco container on the back of the stove filled with "drippings". One tablespoon of the stuff won't kill me, and it won't kill you either and it adds silky, yummy, clingy fat and a lovely smokey flavor. So there.
Salmon Patties (found this on about.com, but it was uncredited)
Ingredients:
1 can (16 ounces) salmon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
cold water
2 med. eggs, beaten
dash pepper
1 slice bread, fine crumbs
1/4 cup finely minced celery (with leaves)
2 tablespoons finely minced green onion
1 tablespoon finely minced bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (canola)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°. Drain salmon, reserving liquid. Discard skin, but save bones. Flake salmon lightly, but well, with a fork. Crush bones and mix with the salmon.
Add the lemon to the reserved salmon liquid and enough cold water to make 1/2 cup liquid; add to the salmon. Add all remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Form into 4 patties. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
** I used three 6 oz. cans for a total of 18 oz. of fish. I lacked bell peppers, added diced carrot. I lacked green onions, subbed in green shoots from a sprouting onion growing in my garden. I was also missing celery entirely. I could have used some celery seed spice, if I had any. I crumbled up fresh bread to make crumbs but it kind of disappeared. I added in 1 tablespoon of seasoned bread crumbs also topped patties with those crumbs to add some "crunch". Also re-reading this recipe today I never saw that it called for baking powder at ALL! Apparently you won't miss it. Hm. Next time I will lightly oil the pan as the patties kind of stuck a little.
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