From Trash to Treasure

Hang on!  Don't throw away your kitchen scraps!!

This concept isn't new by any means, but I was asked by my sister-in-law to post this little treasure that comes from what you normally throw into your trash. 

Wait, before you shake your head and move onto the next blog, hear me out.

I use vegetable broth all...the...time. And it gets EXPENSIVE! At almost $4.00 for 4 cups of broth, I get all kinds of savings when I make my own!  I've read recipes where they have you use whole, good produce to make broth,  Sure when you are done cooking the vegetables you get some good tasting broth, but you end up throwing away all those veggies that turned into a pile of mush. It always seemed like such a waste, so I only ever did that a few times.  But wait....!

You know those end pieces, onion skins and peelings that you cut away from the good stuff then throw them in your trash or hopefully your compost pile?  Well stop that!

Take a minute to wash up all your vegetables before you go cutting on them.  Then peel and cut away. Just don't discard the scraps.

Instead, put them in a gallon sized plastic storage bag, and throw it in your freezer. Every time you fix yourself some veggies, add them to the bag. Keep doing that until your bag is full.

When you get a bag or two full (depending on the size of your pot), pull out a stock pot and dump that scrap heap in and add water and whatever seasonings you like. For this batch I added several bay leaves, peppercorns, some thyme and some capers.

Each batch is a little different depending on what you have in it and how much of it. Your winter batch will taste different than your summer batch. (I love the addition of tomato scraps!) This batch had onions layers, celery ends, garlic ends, carrot pieces and peels, white and sweet potato peelings, kale stems, asparagus and broccoli stalks, cauliflower centers and who knows what else. Okay, ...well I do.

Fill up your stock pot with water all the way to the top and bring it to a boil. Then turn the heat down and let it simmer, pretty much most of the day.  It makes your house smell awesome!  You can skimp on the time and the variety of produce, but I wouldn't recommend it. I did it once that way and the broth was very pale and the flavor was very light.  Let it simmer for a minimum of 4 hours, It will reduce somewhat, but it should end up a beautiful amber color.  Once you are satisfied with the taste and color take it off the heat and let it cool. Then strain it, and ladle it into containers and freeze. I always keep some out in the fridge to use right away.

Here is the finished product. 

I ended up with about 39 cups of broth out of this batch. If I bought all of that, it would have cost me about $39.00 USD, but instead it was FREE! And when I am all done, I take the strained mushy veggie scraps to the compost pile. It's a win-win for me and the dirt! 

I hope you make up a beautiful batch of broth soon. Enjoy!

Thanks to my honey for taking the photos for me!  See more of what he does over at Photography Musings by Dave.

Meatless Monday - Chickpea Cherry Salad

Welcome to the 38th installment of Meatless Monday with Mindy!

I've been on hiatus for awhile, visiting with friends and family out of state, and doing some sewing at a lodge in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. All fun and enjoyable, but it doesn't allow for much computer time. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad. I can tell you that it's nice to not have to come up with something to eat every day, and let others cook for you. On the other hand, wow do I feel heavy!  I was so appreciative of every ones good cooking and it was all good stuff, but I'm glad I don't eat like that all the time.

It's still winter here in NE Ohio. We have about a foot of snow on the ground and currently we are beginning to get what is supposed to be another good snow storm. This snow will last throughout the night adding another 3-6 inches to what we have already. (sigh)

We've been eating cold-weather comfort food all winter, and I LOVE that. All that "stick-to-your-ribs" type food, Mmmmm, what's not to love?  I've noticed though, just recently, that each day, the sun stays in the sky a few minutes longer. OK, technically the sun is above the horizon longer, but here in the Cleveland area we have to imagine REAL hard that it's shining on us most days during winter. But I digress.

I think my body is gearing up for longer, warmer days because I had an odd craving this evening. I wanted a salad. I know what you're thinking...weirdo.....right?  Who wants salad in the winter time?  Well, I had just bought some Napa Cabbage at the store this weekend, but was low on the traditional salad fixings we typically use during warmer weather. However, I had an email recently that had a recipe with an unusual list of ingredients, and I thought.... why not throw some of those together, mix it with my cabbage and see what we get.

I'm so glad I did.

Chickpea Cherry Salad

2 15.5 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 11oz can mandarin oranges, drained 

4-5 green onion, sliced going into the green

1 clove garlic, minced

2/3 cup dried tart cherries

2/3 cup pecans, chopped

4-6 leaves of Napa cabbage, chiffinade 

(or bok choy would work too, or kale, or....)

1 TB candied or fresh ginger, minced (I used candied tonight)

1 jalapeño pepper, minced (optional, but recommended, yum!)

*******

3 TB apple-cider vinegar

3 TB olive oil

1 TB dried parsley

salt and pepper

Add the ingredients together from the top of the list (from the chickpeas to the jalapeño). Give it a good toss to mix it all together.  Then mix the oil, vinegar, parsley, salt and pepper to taste and drizzle over the salad and toss again.

You'll want to eat all this up in one sitting. It should feed 3-4, but with just the two of us, we had very little left over.  If you need to store any left-overs, make sure to drain off the excess juices before refrigerating it.

This meatless main dish salad is packed with nutrient dense carbs, plenty of fiber and protein, and the ginger can help reduce inflammation while calming your stomach. All that aside, it just plain tastes good!  I hope you enjoy it. I know we did.

Thanks to my honey for capturing these great shots of the salad. See more of what he does over at his blog.

Meatless Monday with Mindy #24 Mango Quinoa Salad

Welcome to the 24th installment of Meatless Monday with Mindy!

 My honey and I went to the Farmers Market this weekend and selectively purchased our items. The first few times we went this year, I was like a kid in a candy store, wanting everything I saw. We came home with huge bag fulls of lovely fresh produce. However, for just the two of us, some of that produce did not get used before it went bad.

Since then we have tweaked slightly the way we shop at the market. We peruse each section, looking over the produce and other goodies being offered there, decide who has the best looking stuff for the best price, then go back to those vendors and purchase only what we need or really want to buy.  This has worked out much better. Only this week, I let one purchase get the better of me, and I fear that the red, green and romaine lettuces that I purchased may not get all used up before they go bad. I couldn't decide which ONE to buy, so I bought them all.....Lawd help me, they all looked so good. 

Before I go on, can I just say, I am so proud of my honey.  He didn't sign up to eat meatless, but bless his heart, he's  not complaining. He says simply, the food is good. He's always been a pleasure to cook for as there isn't anything he really doesn't like, but he does enjoy his meat and has no intentions of giving it up (yet). But he's been eating more and more meatless meals as time goes on, and doesn't seem to miss the meat.  Okay, so every once in a while he'll bring it up and I oblige, but he eats meatless 2 out of 3 meals most days.

I had no idea what I was going to make for Meatless Monday this week, so I posted on Facebook asking for suggestions.  My good friend Linda (Hi Babs) suggested the Mango Quinoa Salad that she found on Pinterest. I tracked this suggestion to it's owner, Savvy Vegetarian  who credits  Nicki Goff for the recipe.

I had been looking at an eggplant lasagna recipe (I WILL make it soon) and even went to the store while we were running errands tonight to pick up a few ingredients I didn't have. But by the time we got home and I started to pull out all the ingredients, I saw what time it was. Geemineeze! It was already six o'clock. The lasagna would take an hour once I got it in the oven. Plus, when we take pictures, it slows down the preparation time as I slow down for the shots, staging the food, etc.  So, due to time constraints (and the fact that I was kinda hungry), I decided to make the salad. I actually even had all the ingredients on hand! 

So this meal, besides the salad, also used up some of the produce we bought at the Farmers Market on Saturday. The corn was steamed to perfection (After our meal tonight, we both tried to think who we bought our corn from. It was amazing! This bi-color corn was so sweet and full of good flavor. We will definitely be trying to find that vendor again). We also used some Rocky Gold Cantaloupe that we picked up ( I just love Farmers Markets) and some Brussels sprouts  that have been in the crisper for a while now (that I over roasted...dang).  Simple fare, easy to prepare and quick. Perfect.

So, here is the recipe for the salad. Quinoa is a perfect main dish ingredient as it has a good amount of protein, it pairs well with most ingredients and is very fulfilling.  Make sure to pop over to Savvy Vegetarian when you have some time to check out her blog.  Good looking stuff there.

 Mango Quinoa Salad

4 servings

Salad Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups cold water

1/4 tsp salt

1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped (I used frozen)

OR: 1/2 cup dried mango slices, soaked overnight, then cut in 1/2 inch dice

1/4 cup blanched slivered or sliced almonds

2 Tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds

1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced

Dressing Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp turmeric

Juice of 1 lime (about 2 Tb)

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

First gather all your ingredients and cut, chop and measure everything out. Remember Mise en Place!

Prepare your quinoa. To do this, rinse the quinoa if required, drain well, and add to a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups cold water and 1/4 tsp salt. I almost always buy pre-rinsed quinoa, so it saves me that step. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and let quinoa sit covered for 5 minutes. Fluff quinoa with a fork and let it cool to room temperature.

Peel the mango and cucumber and cut into cubes. 

Measure out your seeds, spices and herbs. 

Mix the cucumber and mango along with the almonds and pumpkin seeds.

Add the cooled quinoa to the mango mixture the set aside. 

Make the dressing.

Roast the turmeric in 2 TB oil in a small pan on med-low for 30 - 60 seconds, then set aside to cool.

Add the lime juice to the oil & turmeric

Mix in cilantro and salt and pepper with a whisk or a fork. Besides Farmers Market, I grow my own herbs. I actually used a combination of cilantro and parsley for this recipe.

Pour the dressing over the salad, and toss.  Easy peasy!  

Serve immediately, or cover and chill.  Once the salad has come together, plate your meal and enjoy!

I had to get a shot in of the beautiful flowers I picked up at the Farmers market too!

Thanks to my honey for taking the pictures for me. See more of his work over at Photography Musings by Dave

Nutrition Data Per 177g Serving: ( about 3/4 cup) 334 cal, 41g carb, 16g fat, 152mg sodium, 5g fiber, 10g protein, low Cholesterol, good source Magnesium & Manganese. Estimated glycemic load 19

What did you make for Meatless Monday?

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