I just came back from Joyce’s house with my week’s allotment of veggies. That’s good, and all, except for that I’ve barely made inroads with last week’s allotment.
Monday Night Panic
It’s usually Monday that I realize that Wednesday (the day of CSA delivery) is just around the corner. I had only used up the tomatoes. Some went into the Greek salad that I shared with neighbors on Friday. Lyndon and I enjoyed the rest of the tomatoes with Hainan Chicken, which we also had with the sweet fish sauce that’s served at Vietnamese restaurants.
The only item I managed to use on Monday night was the Hungarian wax chiles. I threw it into a recipe for Mongolian Chili, which I ended up throwing away because the ground lamb smelled sour. You know what they say, “when in doubt, throw it out”.
Tuesday Night Catch-Up
Chopped up half of the celery and tossed it into a pot, along with onions, carrots, chicken broth, tomato sauce and dried rosemary. Soup that’s perfect for Lyndon’s cold.
Wednesday Night Frenzy
I’ll never forget the words of the nun at St. Anthony’s in San Francisco, “Everything goes in a stew”. We were a bunch of grade school kids at the most ritzy private school in San Francisco, delivering canned goods to a homeless shelter. One kid asked, “What do you do if you only have one can of peas?”. She was referring to the fact that the soup kitchen feeds hundreds everyday.
The nun’s answer is now answering my question, “How do I use all of last week’s veggies tonight”. Yes, stew. Tuscan Beef Stew, to be exact. I’ve made this specific recipe a few times previously. It’s not only yummy, but also gives me the opportunity to use up whole bottles of red wine, which we can’t drink anymore because they’ve been incubating during the summer in a warm closet.
What’s in the stew? Last week’s radishes, the radish tops, beet greens and celery. To that I added carrots and onions from the grocery store.
What’s left?
two beets
two zucchini
one small summer squash
a bunch of tomatillos
This situation calls for Project Consumption…
