Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. Why do I do this? Because in March of 2008, I finally got fed up with the amount of food I was wasting, and I thought that showing my waste to other people would motivate me to use up my food instead of wasting it. Because this often embarrassing practice was so helpful for me, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born.
Zee Food Waste
Here’s what I composted this week:
I might have been able to rehydrate those mushrooms, but they also smelled a little funky, so I opted to compost them.
The avocado? Well, it was one of those that was a little far gone when I cut it open, so I threw it into the fridge to add to a smoothie later.
But it fell out of the fridge later when someone was getting something out, and then when it got put back, it wasn’t stored properly, so it dried out and turned black and was just generally too unappealing to eat.
Compost it is.
Then last night I discovered that, due to some poor fridge organization, a bag of thawing beef had leaked some juices onto the last of a bag of grapes. And since we eat grapes raw, I didn’t think that was really very safe.
Produce Box Update
(In case you missed this before, we’ve signed up for an every-other-week delivery of a CSA-style box.)
I got my second produce delivery box this week, and I’m pleased to say that we had very nearly used up the entire contents of box #1 at that point. Phew.
The good thing about getting a box is that it makes us eat more vegetables than we would otherwise. For instance, last night at dinner I might have been tempted to just serve watermelon as a side dish, but because we had the produce box, I also steamed a pot of broccoli.
One of the things in our box this week was red chard, which I’d never eaten before. We’re not big on cooked greens, so I’ve been making salads with it. I’m also wondering if I could throw it into a smoothie. Yay? Nay? Advise me!
Robin
Monday 16th of June 2014
My daughter uses chard to bulk up her pesto. It's actually delicious. We grow a lot of it in our garden...
My favorite way to eat chard is to braise it African style with or without other greens. I'll post a description sometime if you think you'd like that sort of thing.
We get a CSA box weekly. It can be a challenge to use the foods that I'm not used to having around, but it's fun. I'd love to read about your approach to that...
Julia
Monday 16th of June 2014
Here is a yummy thing to do with chard. Tear up the chard and cut up some potatoes with the skin on. Dump everything into a pot of boiling water. Cook till potatoes are soft. Use a hand masher and smash it all up with butter and salt and pepper to taste. Yum!!! This is one if my families favorite side dishes.
Gerard
Thursday 12th of June 2014
What works for me is a spiced puree (like Indian Saag): sweat some chopped onion family and maybe ginger in whatever fat/grease you have, add a bunch of chopped chard (or other) greens and stems and cook till soft. Then add garam masala to taste and whiz with an immersion blender (or put in a blender). Maybe add cooked chick peas, cubed potato, or paneer if you like. Serve over rice or with flatbreads. Kinda like a warm smoothie! :-)
NMPatricia
Monday 9th of June 2014
When we started getting a CSA box, we had the exact same reactions. Oh, I need to eat more vegetables. And now, after a while, it is becoming far more normal to do it. The chard - cut it up, season it to your liking (and I am still figuring it out), and roast it. Takes only a few minutes and I like to eat it for snacks. Some people liken it to "chips" although I certainly haven't perfected that part.
Carol
Saturday 7th of June 2014
Chard Cheese Pie in Laurel's Kitchen cookbook. Sub some ricotta if it calls for cottage cheese.