At the moment I really need to go grocery shopping. While I usually keep my fridge fairly well-stocked, every once in a while I find that its contents have disappeared, as if overnight. So when contemplating today’s lunch, I thought, what can I do with…nothing? Or, practically nothing? I must use what’s on hand. I must improvise!
Be it pre-wedding season and you’re busy flitting from the florist to the bridal salon, or be it post-wedding season and you’re time is consumed writing thank-yous, going to the grocery store often takes a back burner, and the skill of “kitchen creativity” can come in quite handy.
Now, I like to eat healthy and generally keep my refrigerator stocked with foods on which I won’t be tempted to over-indulge (or if I do, won’t feel guilty about!). I try to keep a lot of veggies, and dried grains on hand so that in the event I am running low on groceries, like I was today, I know I’ll still be able to put something together that’s at least reasonably healthy.
Today’s ingredients were an odd selection, to say the least. When I opened the door of my fridge, this is what looked back at me:
- Left over edamame pods from Monday night’s sushi dinner
- A 2″ hunk of cucumber
- Some sun-dried tomatoes soaking in a water-filled Mason jar
- Left-over, handmade raw sour cream
- Intriguing cloves of black garlic (if you can believe it, the little freak that I am, I did not have plain old garlic in my fridge but I had black garlic!!!)
- Two sad, somewhat wilted-looking stems of kale
- A hearty, much less sad-looking bunch of Lacinato kale
- A sneaky can of chipotle peppers
Bada boom. Bada bing. I will make a salad.
It’s important to remember that you don’t need to go out to buy custom ingredients in order to have a great meal. Plus, let’s face it, that’s not practical. You can make a deliciously satisfying meal with what you already have on hand. It’s a wonderful opportunity to utilize your “kitchen creativity” and innovation. It also saves you money (which, after spending thousands on a wedding, is, I’m sure something you’ll want to do) and puts what might otherwise be wasted food to good use.
If the task of creating your own recipe seems too daunting, or you think you’re not imaginative enough to put something together on your own, start with another recipe and use it as the framework for building your own; one that appeals to your taste buds and makes use of your refrigerator’s pre-existing contents.
Just remember to try and make something that is well-rounded, ie. has protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Of course, the incorporation of fruits and veggies can’t hurt either! And you really can’t eat too many of them. They’ll make you feel full, because of their high water content, without feeling sluggish, and provide you with vitamins and nutrients along the way. That way, ten years down the road, you’ll still be able to fit into your wedding dress!
The act of making your meals is also important because it connects you to what you’re eating and makes you think about your food’s origins–a local farmer’s market, a grocery store, a 7/11. This will make you think twice about what you’re putting in your mouth and perhaps encourage you to make better food choices (if you’re not already!).
The last thing to remember is that being innovative in the kitchen comes from practice. It’s only from making your own meals that you acquire a feel for flavors and ingredients that work well together and taste good to you. You’ll be happy, healthy and feeling great, even after the honeymoon!
So without further ado, today’s salad…
Spicy Massaged Kale Salad
Ingredients:
Salad
- Enough kale, Lacinato or other, to fill you up!
- Cucumber (as little or as much as you’d like)
- 1/2 c. shelled edamame
- 5 sun-dried tomatoes (preferably soaked overnight), quartered
- Salt and pepper, to taste (now I, the queen of both, didn’t need either because the dressing was flavorful enough, but you salt and pepper to your little heart’s content!)
Dressing
- 3 T. raw sour cream
- 1-2 T. sun-dried tomato water (the water that your sun-drieds were soaking in)
- 1 Chipotle pepper
- 1/2 tsp. maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 large clove black garlic
Directions:
Massage dressing into leaves and let soak, or “wilt,” while you peel your edamame and cut your sun-dried tomatoes and cucumber. Toss everything together, add salt and pepper, to taste (I actually added neither because it didn’t need it!) and transfer to a pretty little plate (perhaps one from your bridal shower???).
Et voilà! Lunch is ready!
And remember! You can use this recipe and modify it to suit you! Don’t like sun-dried tomatoes? Use fresh ones! Or try peppers! Don’t have black garlic? Try regular garlic! Don’t have raw sour cream? Use your favorite dairy-free plain yogurt! You get the idea. Have fun with it!
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Laura Cavanagh is a twenty-something vegan whose days are filled practicing yoga, blogging, photographing and baking. She graduated from the University of Michigan with an Art and Design degree last April, and rather than pressure herself to secure a 9 -5, she has instead been using her time off to pursue varied interests and enjoy life. She earned her yoga teaching certification in fall 2011, which was also when she became vegan. She uses her veganism as an opportunity to utilize her creativity with recipe and flavor brainstorms, photographs and product packaging. Like the projects she had at university, her baking often presents challenges that, when overcome, result in a sweet end product.
We met in a Creative Writing Class at Virginia Commonwealth University.
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