Wow, what a time to be alive, am I right? If we're not self-quarantining, we're on the streets in campaign for a better and brighter future, helping our neighbors feed themselves with zero-contact grocery drop-offs that include sanitation supplies, or checking in on one another to make sure we have the resources we need, to keep on keepin on in these crazy times.
I know Camp Logan Compost Logistics has been a bit quiet lately, but our system of urban composting has not stopped, and we will not drop this torch. In the last few months, we've seen an explosion of new compost hauling businesses, and growth of local gardening initiatives providing opportunities for self-quarantiners to get out of the house and spend some quality time in the more beautiful parts of our city.
We know the transition to cooking and eating at home can be a difficult one, especially when we feel we have more stress than ever, and reeeeally want to reach for the freezer chicken taquitos and feel like a hero, or go out to support that local burger joint. And we're not saying those are bad options! We're just here to support y'all in your choices to keep it vegetarian and compostable, which can also usually be a LOT healthier than the "fast&easy" kinds of foods that are more tempting during stressful times.
So, I figured we ought to share some recipes with y'all to help keep it compostable, convenient, and tasty. I personally learned to cook as a child, because I enjoyed working with my Mom in the kitchen, and learning how to "make magic" in the kitchen. She's a great cook, and when we were on WIC, she managed to trick my brothers and me into thinking we were upper middle class, with the feasts she would provide us every day.
The staples we kept in the house were dry goods like butter (always keep an extra lb in the freezer!), flour, brown rice, dry pasta, bulk sugar, yeast, dried spices like oregano, parsley, chives, savory, sage, bay leaf, and basil; canned goods like tomato soup, or cream of anything soup (which we never ate as soup - they're better as casserole bases!), and long-lasting veggies like potatoes, carrots, onions, and citrus fruits like lemon and lime. I can think of a thousand recipes she's taught me with those ingredients alone, but it took until I was cooking for myself to really see the aftermath, and how much of that "food" is actually wasted.
While I no longer peel potatoes (most of the nutrients are in the skin), that waste is still prevalent, which is why composting is so important to me. I know many people who are at home and cooking for the first time probably won't have seen that waste before now, and I hope it will trigger the same sad disgust in y'all as it did in me, and spurr a new choice to divert waste rather than discourage home-cooking.
Composting to me has been a liberating way to feel like I'm wasting less whenever I clean out the fridge and admit to myself that "I am definitely not going to eat these leftovers" and rather than throw them "out" to the trash, I sort them "in" to the compost. But I've also been experimenting with new ways to transform leftovers into new dishes to last throughout the week, and waste even less. The recipes below are versatile enough to create a few meals, and can be combined with others to feed a family for days on end, with high nutrients and low waste.
The recipes
Pr-oat-ein Rice -
Increase your white rice's nutrient density by adding other grains, like steel cut oats, quinoa, grits, brown or wild rice, or even lentils. The trick is to line up your grains according to cook time, and do a bit of math to make sure you add enough water (and salt / spices) up front, for the overall grain additions, and set timers to add each kind of grain at the right time. Most brown rice takes 30-40 minutes to cook, and steel cut oats can take anywhere from 5-30 minutes, so read the packaging, to make sure you know when to add what.
I use grits to cheat - they take about 5 minutes to cook and absorb ALL the water left in the pot, so if you get to the end and your rice is looking a little wet still, add barely 1/4 cup of grits to a big pot, and about as much water, make sure to stir well, and then turn the heat off, and let it sit and do it's thing for 5-10 minutes - they're very forgiving, so if they seem crunchy after ten minutes, add a bit more water, stir, and let sit for 5-10 more minutes, or hit them with low heat again. This can be prepared as sticky rice for sushi, or with a little butter or oil and some spices to make it a pilaf or with some cooked beans and extra spices and some tomatoes and onions added to make dirty rice.
Sometimes, after a long day, I just want to come home, eat something and go to bed. That's when I re-cook some premade proatein rice, with a little oil and cheese to make a crispy hash-brown-meets-tostada-meets-polenta base for salads, veggies with sauce, or - if it's my Monday-meat-cheat day - some steak tips and gravy. But most of those nights... I just eat the crispy fried rice bit, and go to bed!
More traditionally, this proatein rice also makes great fried rice, which cooks crispier than using white rice. Fried rice is a great way to use up leftover veggies and rice - just toss it in a big pan with some oil, and when it's nice and cooked through, scramble up some eggs in the same pan, so it partially mixes into the rice. I like to season fried rice with soy sauce, hoisin, sesame oil, garlic, onion, and a little vinegar or lime juice.
Pocket Pot Pies -
This rice can also be incorporated into homemade pocket pot pies, to both thicken and stretch gravy, as well as adding nutrition and protein. Pocket pot pies - made in muffin / cupcake tins - are my favorite for leftover stew / chili / slow cooker creations / creamy soups. They work best when all the ingredients are pre-cooked, so you only have to make sure the crusts cook through and the rest is just hot enough to eat.
Combine rice, soupy leftovers and cooked veggies or freezer veggies into a thick filling, and then take some crusts (Pillsbury and other like brands have pre-made pie crusts which are so easy and perfect, and some are even sneakily VEGAN!) and cut them into circles about 1/2" larger than the holes of your muffin tins, and smoosh them into the cups, making sure to smooth out any wrinkles, and sort of push the edges together to make a nice even cup, and keep some circles for the tops, set aside (you'll want to add them with just 10-12 minutes left of cooking, so they don't burn). Cook the filled cups until the gravy looks like it's almost thick enough, then put the extra crust circles on top, and carefully press into the cups with a fork, so they sit evenly - make sure to puncture the tops too, so steam can escape, then continue cooking until the crusts on top look tasty!
Cheesy Potatoes-
This casserole is one that has been passed through several generations and cultures across America and the World. My family calls them either Cheesy Potatoes or American / Fourth of July Potatoes. We can make it with either frozen hash browns (the square kind, preferably "fiesta" variety with onions and peppers) or with natural potatoes, just cook them a bit first, either by boiling, baking or microwaving (don't forget to stab out your quarantine sorrows through the potato skin so they don't burst!), and then chopping once cooled into little cubes / bits, about 1/4-1/2 inch pieces.
Cheesy potatoes are easily made into a feisty kugel as well, if you have leftover egg noodles (regular noodles work too, but egg noodles are traditional and add extra protein and hold up better in the oven). If you try to put dry noodles into the kugel at the beginning, make sure the original mixture has enough moisture - I usually add broth or water to achieve this. It should be pourable, if using dry noodles - if not, it can be thick enough to scrape out of the bowl, but should still resemble a pudding / custard texture.
In a big bowl, combine some can of cream of something soup (I'm partial to cream of mushroom, cream of chicken and cream of cheddar, but you can even just make a rue and add broth of your choice and/or cream), greek yogurt or sour cream or cream cheese, shredded cheese, salt and pepper and spices like savory, parsley, chives, along with minced or finely chopped onion and garlic, and some chopped peppers or other green veggies like broccoli, frozen spinach, sweet/snow peas, edamame, green beans - whatever you have / like. Mix in the frozen or cooled and chopped potatoes, and then dump into a greased (use your frozen butter like a fatty paintbrush) casserole, and bake at 450, until the middle bubbles, then top with cheese or crushed crackers or - my family favorite - crushed and buttered corn flakes, and cook until the top is crispy golden brown.
I can't think of anything that microwaves as well as leftover cheezy potatoes. This is my favorite meal-prep casserole, as it can last all week and seems to taste better when re-heated! Get creative with what you have in the fridge / pantry, and if it's terrible.. eh - ya learned something, and you compost anyway. Feel free to reach out with requests for recipe specifics, or questions about the ingredients you have.
Happy Homecookin, y'all!
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