I say this all the time to anyone who will listen. You can not eat well when life throws you curve balls if you have not properly shopped for the week. The food just won't be in your house, and will leave you with fewer options.
We are getting quite busy on the home front, trying to juggle extremely busy work lives, with lots of family events, trying to spend time with our kids and friends, and trying to see a renovation project through the final stages of completion before a really big birthday party / summer fest / housewarming party at the end of the summer. So our evenings have been really busy lately with painting, cleaning and picking things up.
Yesterday I wanted to make sure we ate before our evening chores began, so I grabbed four soft whole wheat tortillas, added a handful of spinach leaves to each one, heated up some of the black bean chili mixture (which I intend to turn into burgers this weekend) and spooned it on top of the spinach leaves. A grate or two of lime zest and some hot sauce and sea salt made for some delicious, substantial soft tacos.
If you haven't checked out my recipe for pizza dough yet, you should. Talk about a money saver - I doubled the recipe and had pizza on the weekend, once during the week and gave one to my mom and dad.
Pizza sauce is an easy one, too. On the weekend, Harrison and I made some roasted tomatoes. Cubed tomatoes, an onion cut into eights, some olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar was all it needed. Well, that and a roasting pan at 375 for an hour or so. When it was done, I pureed it down to a thick sauce, adding some fresh oregano which I got as a bridal shower favor, some fresh garlic, some chives and some fresh basil.
I had mentioned to Harrison the day before (I think when I was assembling the corn chowder) that in a professional kitchen, the number of things you have to "do" to a dish to send it out is called a "move". So, for example, my black bean taco thing would have had 6 moves. Taco, spinach, black bean, lime, hot sauce, sea salt.
Harrison was enjoying last weekend, and will help me in the kitchen if I ask him to. So when he kept raving about the corn chowder, I wanted to show him how easy it was to make a tomato soup with the same principle.
So I call out "hey Buddy, want to see how to make an easy tomato soup?"
When he shouted back "How many moves?" I just grinned.
The truth is, whether you're a hungry but curious 10 year old trying to get back to watching Spongebob Squarepants, a busy woman trying to get to everything you need to cover off in life until you fall into bed, exhausted, or every option in between, if you can keep a handful of recipies or principles in your back pocket with only a few moves, you CAN find time to get through your day with some good food.
Here are a few quick "moves" that I think elevate a dish with minimal effort:
*Use lemon, lime or orange zest to top off your dish, with a finish of sea salt.
*Use a George Foreman grill to add some softness and crispiness to a taco or wrap. They heat up almost instantly, and leave cute but delicious grill marks. The other night, I even did this with a veggie hot dog when I needed a snack!
*A plate is like a blank canvas. Look at the colour of your plates as you're putting them together:
*If your plate is mostly red (a chili, a tomato sauced dish, a casserole), sprinkle some chopped green onion or fresh herbs if you have them.
*If your plate is mostly yellow (pasta, curry) add some chopped red pepper or even a fresh chili to the top with some lime zest.
*If your plate is mostly green (salads, stir frys) shred some carrots or beets(or even use a vegetable peeler for long strands!) to wake up the colour and add some additional flavour. Nuts or dried cranberries also provide a nice contrast in taste and texture.
*Desserts can be elevated with a sprinkle of coconut, or some dark chocolate shavings, or some fresh berries. Lemon zest also works wonders here.
So, YES, you might have to add the following to your regular grocery list, but it will be worth it...
Lemon, Lime, Orange
Coconut Flakes
Green Onions
Fresh Basil
Slivered Almonds
Dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries
These few additions to your shopping list can make all the difference in a gorgeous plate of food that you really want to dive into.
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