gravity’s rainbow

I saw this meme over at Seeds Aside and just couldn’t resist.  Here are the complicated rules: bold what you’ve eaten and strike out what you would never eat.  LIke Sciencewomen, I italicized it if it’s something I’ve cooked and/or grown.  There are still so many things to try!  Sadly, many of the things on this list are things I will never eat again.  No more dairy and eggs for me!

1. Real macaroni and cheese, made from scratch and baked
2. Tabouleh
3. Freshly baked bread, straight from the oven
4. Fresh figs
5. Fresh pomegranate
6. Indian dal of any sort
7. Imam bayildi
8. Pressed spiced Chinese tofu
9. Freshly made hummus
10. Tahini
11. Kimchi
12. Miso
13. Falafel
14. Potato and pea filled samosas
15. Homemade yogurt
16. Muhammara
17. Brie en croute
18. Spanikopita
19. Fresh, vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes
20. Insalata caprese
21. Stir-fried greens (gai lan, bok choi, pea shoots, kale, chard or collards)
22. Freshly made salsa
23. Freshly made guacamole
24. Creme brulee
25. Fava beans
26. Chinese cold sesame peanut noodles
27. Fattoush
28. New potatoes
29. Coleslaw
30. Ratatouille
31. Baba ganoush
32. Winter squash
33. Roasted beets
34. Baked sweet potatoes
35. Plantains
36. Chocolate truffles
37. Garlic mashed potatoes
38. Fresh water chestnuts
39. Steel cut oats
40. Quinoa
41. Grilled portabello mushrooms
42. Chipotle en adobo
43. Stone ground whole grain cornmeal
44. Freshly made corn or wheat tortillas
45. Frittata
46. Basil pesto
47. Roasted garlic
48. Raita of any type
49. Mango lassi
50. Jasmine rice (white or brown)
51. Thai vegetarian coconut milk curry
52. Pumpkin in any form other than pie
53. Fresh apple pear or plum gallette
54. Quince in any form
55. Escarole, endive or arugula
56. Sprouts other than mung bean
57. Naturally brewed soy sauce
58. Dried shiitake mushrooms
59. Unusually colored vegetables (purple cauliflower, blue potatoes -the Andean species, chocolate bell peppers…)
60. Fresh peach ice cream
61. Chevre
62. Medjool dates
63. Kheer
64. Flourless chocolate cake
65. Grilled corn on the cob
66. Black bean (or any other bean) vegetarian chili
67. Tempeh
68. Seitan or wheat gluten
69. Gorgonzola or any other blue veined cheese
70. Sweet potato fries
71. Homemade au gratin potatoes
72. Cream of asparagus soup
73. Artichoke-Parmesan dip
74. Mushroom risotto
75. Fermented black beans
76. Garlic scapes
77. Fresh new baby peas
78. Kalamata olives
79. Preserved lemons
80. Fried green tomatoes
81. Chinese scallion pancakes
82. Cheese souffle
83. Fried apples
84. Homemade frijoles refritos
85. Pasta fagiole
86. Macadamia nuts in any form
87. Paw paw in any form
88. Grilled cheese sandwich of any kind
89. Paneer cheese
90. Ma Po Tofu (vegetarian style-no pork!)
91. Fresh pasta in any form
92. Grilled leeks, scallions or ramps
93. Green papaya salad (sauce needed)
94. Baked grain and vegetable stuffed tomatoes
95. Pickled ginger
96. Methi greens
97. Aloo paratha
98. Kedgeree (the original Indian version without the smoked fish, not the British version with fish)
99. Okra
100. Roasted brussels sprouts

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Botany Club cooks for our end of semester parties. This spring we made spring rolls. We used a total of 20 plant families in our ingredients. I got ones with too many hot peppers.

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I really love orange foods, especially carrots. Usually I eat them raw, but we’ve been getting them every week for a month through csa and even I can get sick of raw carrots every day.

This recipe, adapted from the csa newsletter, is a pretty awesome (and easy! and vegan!) way to eat carrots.

Ginger Carrots

Slice some carrots and ginger up. Toss the ginger in a pan with some hot sesame oil for a minute and add the carrots. Saute for 3 minutes. Add more ginger and some salt. Then cover the pan and shake everything around.

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I used to hate beets (except in barszcz).

This wasn’t a real problem in my life until we started getting them nearly every week through csa. I’d eat the leaves with pierogies and find someone to give the beets. Or even throw them out.

But one of my housemates loves beets and started cooking them for me. The first time, I was hard pressed to chew and swallow the small bite I’d taken. The second time, I actually enjoyed the bite I took. And yesterday, I ate so many my pee turned magenta.

Moral of the story: beets are good even when they aren’t in barszcz.

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As groceries get more and more expensive, I’m really glad I’m part of my local csa. Junk food is a lot cheaper than fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, and I’m sure I’d be eating ramen and rice-a-roni by now without csa.

This winter, we’ve been getting a lot of greens. I grew up eating a lot of kale and collard greens, generally boiled all day long with a ham hock, salt, and hot pepper flakes. This is a good way to eat them, but I got tired of it pretty fast. I also don’t have time to stay home all day with a pot on the stove. I’ve tried a few new recipes this winter. Here are some of my favorites:

If I’m busy, which is almost always, I make Collard Greens with Tomatoes, but they’re also really good in this potato salad.

Kale and Mushrooms with Creamy Polenta isn’t just my favorite kale recipe, it’s become one of my favorite things to eat when it’s cold outside.

I’m always on the lookout for new ways to eat greens - if you know of any good chard, beet green, or turnip green recipes, send them my way!

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So, I don’t really like turnips, but this recipe is fantastic, and easy too! I used extra butter - it got dry when I added the breadcrumbs. I also didn’t have any lemons, so I just added some lemon juice.

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Saute chopped tomatoes and garlic in olive oil for a minute or two.  Toss in a couple spoonfuls of sliced black olives and a spoonful of capers and cook another minute or so. Mix in (cooked) angel hair pasta and a bunch of parmesan.  The end.

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dinner

Originally uploaded by sarcozona

I can cook now.  You may notice that it’s tofu.  I don’t buy meat at the grocery store because it’s expensive and I fail at cooking it and I feel guilty about wasted resources. Since I’m too poor to go to restaurants, I’m pretty much vegetarian now. (Though I wouldn’t turn fried chicken or a good steak down if you offered…)  My vegetarian sister will be very pleased.

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Mrs. T suggests that pierogies make a good light lunch.  While I love pierogies, I don’t think it’s ever appropriate to describe them as light.

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