First, I would like to say that I realize that the way my husband and I do things will not work for everyone. Our lifestyle literally revolves around what we eat and cook. It sounds kind of funny to say that, but it is true, and I know that most people probably do not have that luxury. That being said, I hope that you will find an idea or more that you can implement in your kitchen to streamline your meal preparation.
If you are like my husband and me, a trip to the farmers market, or even the grocery store, sends you home with an abundance of beautiful fresh delights; sometimes even more than you can reasonably eat. I mean, how can you resist gorgeous heads of crisp freshly picked lettuce, deep magenta beets freshly dug with greens as proud as a peacock, and the plethora of other super fresh and healthy fruits and vegetables? Really, how can you? The farmers market is like a candy store to us {my wonderful husband is actually the one who leaves the house a little after 6 am every Saturday}, so Saturday mornings offer many opportunities to prep, cook and figure out how in the world it will all fit into the refrigerator. It can be overwhelming and a bit frustrating, because the sheer quantity of vegetables makes it extremely difficult to navigate the refrigerator. Do you know how much space greens, particularly unprepped greens, take up? Lots and lots! I wrote about this very subject last year, and told you what we did with our market bounty everyday for 1 week {some photos appear to be missing for some reason; sorry about that}.
This is $4 worth of beets & greens!
Today I have some more tips for how we manage what comes home from the farmers market. Before we moved to Maui, most of our produce came from Central Market, my favorite grocery store in Washington State. The farmers market was only a few months of the year, and more often than not I did not have the willpower to get up early on a Saturday morning after teaching all week. So I went to the store, and was unable to resist the bountiful displays of fresh fruits and vegetables, and I am sorry to say, we wasted some of that food now and then. I was teaching full time plus {no teacher I know only works full time} and even with the best intentions to cook the Swiss chard, or the butternut squash I didn’t always get to it, and sometimes. . .sometimes. . .we threw food away {gasp!}. Such a sad tale, but it happens to the best of us.
I am happy to report that since we have moved to Maui, we waste very little food. There are a variety of reasons for this. The main reasons are that we both know what’s in the refrigerator, and we prep some foods so they are ready to eat. When you are busy, it’s easy to reach for something quick instead of taking the time to wash the greens, or cut up the broccoli, etc. Sound familiar?? If you have a refrigerator full of fresh produce, but none of it is prepped, when pressed for time you will probably go for what’s quickest to prepare, while what was beautiful on Saturday languishes, until it is thrown away. We did the same thing, and still do, although not nearly as often these days. Another reason is that we have more time for food than we ever had, and for that I am grateful.
- My husband is the primary food shopper & I am the primary “put the food in the refrigerator” person. We both know what’s in the refrigerator, so we don’t tend to forget what we have, even if it gets pushed to the back {which it inevitably does in our smaller size refrigerator}.
- We try to eat the more perishable food toward the beginning of the week, so we aren’t tossing food because it’s lost its appeal or integrity. So, the spinach, broccoli {before it goes yellow}, arugula, tender lettuces and Swiss chard get eaten first. . .most of the time. . .we aren’t perfect.
- We try to prep many foods before they go into the refrigerator. For instance. . .
- Wash & steam or roast your beets; don’t even put them in the refrigerator until they are cooked. You can peel them when they are done & store them for use throughout the week, on salads or as a hot or cold vegetable. If you want to make pickled beets, make a super quick pickling liquid while they steam.
- If your beets came with greens, cut the stems off. Wash the greens well, spin dry then store in a ziplock bag. Beet greens are usually on the sandy side, so you may need 3 changes of water to get them squeaky clean. They are pretty sturdy, so you don’t have to cook them right away. Here’s a recipe for cooking beet greens, which I think are my favorite cooked greens {I love cooked greens!}.
- Wash at least a couple days’ worth of lettuce, spin dry and store in ziplock bag with 10 little holes poked in it. Read why you should do this here.
- Wash enough arugula for 1 or 2 meals and eat it soon; it shows signs of wear and tear even right after you clean it. We love it simply dressed with thinly sliced onion, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and salt & pepper. The beets you prepared are good here too! And crumbled goat cheese!
- You can wash & trim green onions ahead of time so they are quick & easy to use in a stir fry, salad or a healthy nibble on your plate. This was a pleasant surprise to me; I tried it one week, and they stayed fresh beautifully for the whole week.
- Remove the outer leaves of cabbage, wash and store in a zip lock bag.
- Trim celery, separate into stalks and wash. Store in a ziplock bag for easy use. Good to eat with a little salt, peanut butter {!!!}, in tuna salad, soup, pimento cheese, goat cheese, cream cheese, etc.
- Wash, seed and halve peppers-green, red or yellow. They will keep just fine in a ziplock bag for several days. Just reach into the bag for a crunchy snack!
Bon appetit!
Maui Girl Cooks 