Saturday, December 02, 2006

When the cat's away...


As I have probably mentioned before, my live-in photo assistant/ dining companion HATES broccoli - to the extent that if I cook it in the house, he gets grossed out. But he's going out of town next week, so like any hot-blooded American twentysomething gal with an out-of-town significant other would, I plan to party. And by "party," I mean "cook and eat lots of broccoli." Probably I am going to stir fry it with slices of garlic...

Today was a good day:
1 head broccoli (!!)
1 bunch baby rainbow chard
2 bags spinach
1 zucchini
1 small tomato
1 bunch basil
half a dozen shallots
2 jumbo heads Rocambole garlic
3 sweet potatoes
8 lbs. Mutsu apples
Total spent: $38

Nothing too out-of-the-ordinary today at the USG; I arrived quite late so it was already extremely busy. I bought the basil and shallots because I'm going to make tomato sauce; I guess the fresh basil must be grown in greenhouses or something, since it's a sunshine-loving plant, or maybe it's sticking around because of the unseasonal heat we've been having. Either way, it's likely the last hurrah for the year, so I'm going to make a huge batch of sauce to freeze and keep.

3/4 of the apples are already bubbling away on the stove for applesauce - the last batch I made went so quickly that I had to double the recipe this time around. Homemade applesauce can really take the edge off of winter-angst. (So can great coffee, like the cup I had at the Mud Truck across the street from the greenmarket).

Otherwise, we had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, made with whole-wheat artisanal bread, chopped-up garlicky sauteed spinach, and (gasp!) Kraft singles. I challenge the world to invent a better grilled cheese sandwich. I don't believe it can be done.

The spinach this week seems especially good. Lately the leaves have been quite large and full of stems (which I can't stand, so I trim them all off), but this week's batch, from the same vendor, was all tiny leaves still in bunches, which not only is more tender but easier to prepare.

What happens, I can't help but think, as the days get colder and shorter, when it freezes? Does that mean no more spinach? Can hardy root vegetables like carrots survive? Perhaps I'll ask some vendors next week...

1 comment:

polly conway said...

dude, i ate an entire package of pre-chopped broccoli last night, steamed and tossed with some vegetarian oyster sauce. if my significant other had been present post-feast, i think i would no longer have a sig. oth.