Things I made today

Pictured: granola, minestrone
Not pictured: vegetable stock, yogurt

(Pardon the iPhone photos, still haven't sorted my camera)

Apples, celebs: just another day at USG

Maybe winter's not so bad - the photo makes today's haul look almost...appetizing!

My hearty cold-weather cornucopia:
2 bags spinach
1/2 lb. Swiss chard
1 bunch curly kale
4 large beets
1 1/2 lbs. Carola potatoes
2 lbs. carrots
1 bunch celery
1 buttercup squash
Total spent: $35

The greenmarket today was a sea of apples - even the usually reliable Migliorelli Farm had little more than apples - but I managed to find some good-looking (but pricey) greens. I don't like the texture of curly kale, but I'm going to use it for smoothies, so it shouldn't matter. The other greens will be sauteed or steamed, per usual, I'll roast the squash, and the beets will go into borscht.

But the most exciting part of the greenmarket today was when I met celebrity picklemaker Rick from Rick's Picks, and got to talk to him and his coworker Allison about how much I love their beets. They were really friendly! I also bought a jar of whole dill pickles, and I've eaten about half of them already...I think I'm going to try to make ersatz pickled carrots with the brine after they're gone, per a tip on the Rick's website. We'll see how that works out.

At the moment I have (last week's) apples on the stove for applesauce. No big recipe plans this week other than borscht; tonight I may make colcannon with a side of veggie sausage and steamed carrots, or maybe oven-baked sweet potato fries with sausage and greens - cozy winter foods, as it's just around freezing out.

Meme me

Ann from the fantastic Redacted Recipes tagged me for my first meme ever, and now that I've sat down for what feels like the first time in weeks (cookies are in the oven), I will tackle it.

What were you cooking/baking ten years ago? Ten years ago, I was a freshman in college, so I was cooking just about nothing - since I lived on campus and ate almost entirely foodservice meals. Though I did have an espresso maker (which I used every morning) and a mini-fridge in my dorm room. Mostly the mini-fridge held milk for my lattes, but at some point during first semester, one of my burnout dormies asked me to hold some LSD-soaked sugar cubes in the freezer for him. They stayed there until the end of the year, when he was, apparently, finally ready to party.

What were you cooking/baking one year ago? At this time last year, I was roasting a lot of cubed root vegetables with spices and olive oil; I baked barely any sweets, but did make savory biscuits and scones once in awhile.

Five snacks you enjoy: I love cheese and olives, pickled beets (these from Rick's Picks are my recent obsession), tamari almonds, sourdough toast with goat cheese and peach preserves, and, um, Snapea Crisps. The thing about me and snacks is that I will eat all of any snack food that is brought into the house in one sitting, so I tend not to keep it around.

Five recipes you know by heart: Chili, spicy stir-fry sauce, couscous with chickpeas and kale, vegan gravy, chocolate pudding

Five culinary luxuries you would indulge in if you were a millionaire: A big kitchen with lots of space and lots of natural light; every fancy All-Clad copper-lined pan available (including the asparagus cooker!); a brick oven for bread and pizza; a six-burner range; and a dishwasher.

Five foods you love to cook/bake: Vegetables of all types in all ways, tofu, cookies, fruit pie

Five things you cannot/will not eat: MUSHROOMS!!! in any shape or form including blue cheese, meat of any sort including seafood, raw onions, turnips, cilantro

Five favorite culinary toys: my wonderful Global 8" chef's knife, long sturdy wooden spoons, Kitchenaid hand mixer, bread machine, and Oxo tongs

I'm not quite sure who to pass this along to, but I am going to try Polly and Abby, if they are so inclined. Thanks Ann! This was fun - especially the fantasy kitchen part.

Delicious stir-fry sauce; plum updates

Last night I was craving spicy green beans a la San Francisco's amazing House Of Nanking, so I improvised. Of course, they didn't hold a candle to the originals, but they were certainly salty, spicy, and delicious. They were so good that I wrote down the stir-fry sauce recipe for once:

Spicy garlicky stir-fry sauce for green beans (and tofu)
Enough for two green-bean-loving people

4 tbsp. vegetable broth
2-3 tbsp. tamari soy sauce
1-2 tsp. chili garlic sauce (I used about 2 and they were on fire!)
2 cloves garlic
about 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

Mix everything up in a little bowl with a fork. Start sauteeing your beans whole on medium-high, then add half the sauce when they're halfway done. Add the rest just when they're tender enough, and stir until everything's coated and sauce is thickened, about 5 seconds (seriously). Serve over LOTS of rice with many iced drinks on the side. You can also use this sauce for tofu, but you can figure out how to do that on your own.

In plum news, the lovely big Shiro plums were...well...still plums. I am afraid I'm doomed to disappointment by most plums. The combination of super-tart skin and extremely mild, sweet interior flesh is just not for me. I wish I could find the Green Gage plums from last year! Sigh.

Also, in only tangentially-related news (because they are only tangentially vegetables), Snapea Crisps are now available at Trader Joe's, which basically means all my meals are going to be spoiled by snacking from here on out.