“To change one's life: do it flamboyantly, do it immediately, no exceptions.”

I love the deceptive simplicity, the cocky absoluteness, the bold challenge… I try to make those flamboyant changes every day. It's not easy, but I keep at it anyway…

Making Changes

I went to a potluck picnic the other day. Generally, I like these sorts of things because I get to try out recipes from my cookbook (yes, I 'm still writing it and yes, it will be done sooner than later) on an objective and unsuspecting audience.
     So I wanted to know what to bring, expecting to be asked for some kind of salad or vegetarian main dish (I make a mean vegetarian lasagna). Nope. “Could you bring a dessert? Or maybe a beverage?”
     Dessert? Really? So not my strong suit. 

Here are some not-so-little-known facts about me: 

     * I do not have a sweet tooth (which, by the way, is a remarkably good thing not to have when wheat and eggs are unceremoniously ripped from your diet. That way there's not a lot of crying over the cakes, cookies and pies you no longer get to enjoy). 

     * I love to cook—I hate to bake. Seriously. I can't even manage a pre-packaged mix without a lot of eye-rolling and shaking my head in exasperation.  

     * The aforementioned allergies impose some serious limitations in the dessert arena. I've been advised not to even handle eggs which is a) crazy, b) inconvenient and c) absolutely true. 

     But I'm changing! Flamboyantly! Now! No exceptions! And I do so love a challenge…so off I went in search of a wheat-free, egg-free dessert that would be absolutely delicious—and I found one. 
     Brownies made without wheat and eggs—with a deliciousness guarantee, to boot. I even had all of the ingredients, which was kind of amazing and very serendipitous. I took this as a sign that it was meant to be.

I bet you think this story has a happy ending, don't you?

Well, it doesn't. 

Actually, it does, but not as far as those brownies are concerned. Who knew that a last-minute substitution would be such a game-changer? Yep, definitely a cook, but certainly not a baker. Alas, those poor brownies—delicious though they were—never quite set right and never made it to the party. That said, if you follow the directions, these brownies are absolutely fabulous and perfectly wonderful. You should try them. I, unfortunately, don't always do as I'm told.
     Did I mention I don't have a sweet tooth? I started looking through the cupboards and the fridge, determined to find something—anything—that I could whip up in a jiffy that would be acceptable to bring to a picnic. No sweet dessert-makings to be had! I'm not one to give up easily and so I kept looking…
     What did I find? Lemons. Not at all surprising for the droll girl with a wry sense of humor and no sweet tooth.
     What did I make? Only the best Homemade Sparkling Lemonade ever. Life handed the droll girl with a wry sense of humor and no sweet tooth lemons and she made lemonade. 
     Did I mention my love of irony and happy endings? Sometimes making a flamboyant change involves embracing your true nature and celebrating it—lemons and all. 

Wasted Food = Wasted $

So let's talk about your refrigerator. When's the last time you took a look to see what's really in there? When it comes to wasting food—which translates to wasting your hard-earned cash—forgotten items in the fridge are a key culprit. One easy way to save money is simply to take a quick inventory of what's in your refrigerator before you head to the grocery store. See what you have on hand and figure out how you can use it. Plus, there's the added benefit of knowing beforehand what you're out of instead of making an unhappy discovery mid-recipe. 

Mostly, I check the fridge to see what's in there before I do my shopping for the week. Then again, sometimes I don't—which is what led to a recent stockpile of cucumbers, carrots and parsnips. See? Not perfect and perfectly happy.

Treasury of Soups

Let me just tell you how I feel about cucumbers. I love, love, love them. Peeled and sliced on a plate, in a salad or pickled in any way…I'm absolutely mad for them. But of my favorite concoctions is in a lovely green gazpacho featuring cucumber, mint and a hint of poblano. Now that the days are getting hot, Cucumber Mint Gazpacho is one very cool, refreshing and very easy-to-prepare soup. 

I also happen to love soup. My mother tells me that when I was little, I always wanted soup for breakfast. Why not? I still do. And lunch. And supper. 

So armed with a bunch of carrots, some locally grown parsnips and a few other goodies, I put on my [imaginary] chef's hat and went to work The result? Oven-Roasted Carrot and Parsnip Bisque. 

Moral of the Story

No food went to waste. The money I didn't spend on things I already had went toward fresh produce from the farmer's market—not to mention I had plenty of room for it in my newly cleaned out fridge. AND I made two simple and delicious soups to nourish me throughout the week! 

Give it a shot for yourself and be sure to let me know how it turns out…

New to the Humble Neighborhood? Here's the deal: I cook. You come and eat–and in the process you get to hang out with a bunch of really cool people. Sounds good, no?

Dinners will feature fresh, seasonal dishes and will take place on the second Saturday of each month from June through September. Here are the dates: June 11; July 16 (this is actually the third Saturday, due to a prior commitment on my part. Plus I couldn't very well call the series "Second Saturdays Unless I Have Plans and Move One to the Third Saturday in July." It loses the alliteration quality and doesn't flow as nicely); August 13; September 10. Appetizers and munchies at 6 p.m. with dinner planned for 7 p.m.

So…like I said, I'm thinking about it and I'd love your input. Take this quick survey and let me know what you think!

As far as cooking goes, beets are really wonderful because you can use both the greens and the roots to make completely different dishes. This week I started toying with that idea and ended up with a combination of oven-roasted beets (and other tasty root vegetables) and sautéed greens. These dishes are lovely on their own, but also delicious (my favorite) when served together.

I love this dish and wanted to share it, so I’ve decided to do is to post a few recipes in this blog in hopes of sharing and getting some feedback. I’d love to hear what you think!

Oven-Roasted Beets with Sautéed Greens

Ingredients:
A bunch of beets, including the greens
3 or 4 (or more, if you like) baby turnips, peeled and cut in chunks
6-8 fingerling potatoes
Olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tsp butter (optional)
Kale
Mushrooms, sliced
Garlic, sliced
Balsamic vinegar

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Wash the beets and trim the greens (leaving an inch or so of the stalks attached to the beets) and set aside. You want to keep the beetroot intact, so that lovely color doesn’t run and turn the other vegetables pink.  Put the beets, turnips and potatoes in an oven-safe baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to one hour, until vegetables are soft (a knife will slide in and out easily).

Meanwhile, wash the beet greens and kale (discarding the kale stems) and tear or roughly chop into bite-sized pieces. Wash and slice mushrooms. Slice the garlic.

When the root vegetables are nearly done, heat butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter stops sizzling, add the mushrooms and sauté until soft. (Note: if you don’t want to use butter, you can just use olive oil instead. I just happen to like the flavor combination of mushrooms and butter). Add the sliced garlic and sauté until it begins to turn golden. Add the greens and sauté until they turn bright green and begin to wilt. Remove from stove; add a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar and toss.

Arrange the greens on a plate and place oven-roasted vegetables on top. At this point, I like to rub the beets to remove the skin and then slice the beets before placing them on the greens.

Go Beets!

Look Before You Leap
 
This is very important: If you’re using a recipe, read through it—in its entirety—first, thereby eliminating one of those “Oh, rats (or your favorite expletive)!” moments when you realize too late that you were supposed to chill, soak or otherwise prepare something ahead of time—or that the cooking time exceeds the time by which your guests will be arriving by several hours. Trust me. You’ll thank me for this.
This is also the time to make sure you have all the ingredients—or if you don’t, you can decide what substitutions you’re brave enough to make.

Get it Together

Get your ingredients together before you start cooking. In accordance with my Virgo nature, I line them all up on the counter in the order in which I’ll be using them. You can line them up any way you want to; the important thing is to get all your ingredients in front of you, so you can do a headcount. Make sure you have everything—and enough of it.
To simplify the cleaning-up process, I put away each item after I’ve used it. By the time I’m finished, all my ingredients have either been used or put away! 

Wash and Go

The clean-up-as-you-go method works really well for all your pots, pans and utensils, too. I use whatever spare seconds I have to quickly wash up any items I’m done with so I won’t have a huge mess to contend with when I’m done.

These are the tricks and tips that work for me—feel free to share your own!
 

Case in point…

The first time I made dinner for a boy was a disaster. Food this bad should be outlawed. Seriously. But there I was—17 and feeling pretty cocky about my mad kitchen skills. The challenge? His favorite—homemade macaroni and cheese. From scratch. No recipe required. How hard could it be? Make the mac, throw in the cheese along with some other mac-n-cheese-friendly stuff, stick in the oven and wait.

What could happen?

Right. Let me paint a picture to illustrate the magnitude of my glorious catastrophe. Imagine a tasteless mess of mushy macaroni floating in a milky sea bobbing with clumps of separated cheese chunks. Now sprinkle on some half soggy, half crispy breadcrumbs and you’ve got the idea…

Is she really writing a cookbook?

What I love about that all-too-true story is that I was fearless. I’d never considered failure as an option and so I didn’t see it as one. We laughed and moved on. The defining aspect of that moment is that it didn’t define me as a lousy cook.

If I could make a meal that bad, then I knew I had in me the potential for something really good. After all, every action has an equal and opposite reaction…

A Happy Accident

I may not have bastardized any comfort food lately, but I can still make a damned good mistake. For instance, that last minute addition to a dinner party when I decided the menu had to include broccoli slaw (btw, there has to be a better name for this—I’m taking suggestions).  Except of course, I had used the ingredients—the ones I “knew” I had—in other dishes. There was not so much as a drop of yogurt, the raisins had disappeared into thin air and every last slivered almond was spoken for.

So I made it up as I went along. My homemade mayonnaise (with a splash of apple cider vinegar and some sucanat) replaced the yogurt and I found water chestnuts were a delightful replacement for the crunch of the almonds. As far as those wayward raisins, I simply substituted dried cranberries. Voila! An accidental success!

Don’t let preconceived notions or a fear of failure keep you out of the kitchen. Have fun! Go wild! And remember, if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not cooking!

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