Sunday, December 13, 2009

use it up!

Since my last day ever at BU is a week from tomorrow (!) one of the MANY things on my mind is cleaning out my fridge/pantry.

One thing I did was a great big one pot meal.

In cold, horrible weather, is there ANYTHING better than chili? Methinks not.

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Clean out the Fridge Veggie Chili

The veg:

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Heated 1 T or so vegetable/canola/whatever oil in a big pot. Added one bell pepper, chopped, 1/2 a white onion, chopped; a last wedge of red onion, chopped. Let cook til soft.

Then added last of some hot pepper, minced, and 2 cloves garlic, minced.

Then some flavorin’s: 1 tablespoon tomato paste, about 1 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon.

Then my pantry guys:

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I soaked my last 1/2 cup dried black beans in water overnight. Then this morning I added 1/4 cup barley and more water and let them soak all day. Added those.

Also  added about 1 1/4 cup diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup chickpeas, 1 1/2 cups or so veggie stock, and another 2 1/2 cups or so of water (seems like a lot but add it or your beans will burn! Those suckers soak up liquid!).

Lookit all the pretty colors!

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Bring everything to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours or so, or until everything is tender and combined to your liking.

LOOK AT ALL THE CONTAINERS I USED UP!

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(The plastic one represents veggie stock. I make mine homemade!). There is something so noble feeling about using up containers!

Aaaand yeah it tasted pretty dang good:

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The flavor balance was spot on with the cinnamon adding a nice je ne sais quoi. And the TEXTURE was super fabulous- I loved the occasional chew of barley and the bigger pieces of chickpea.

With Akmaks for dippage and HOT MELTY CHEESE ON TOP!

And you know I used that up too :D

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Also, I’ve made a particular effort to clean out my freezer. My freezer had apparently accumulated some salmon. Lately every time I make anything involving salmon I get this stuck in my head. It is dangerously catchy!

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My appetizer was miso soup. I still have a whoooooooooooooole lotta miso to use up. A lotttttttttt. Anyone got any great miso ideas?

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This also had dried mushrooms (almost done!) and scallions (almost done!). And, lest you thing that my singleminded obsession is using up ingredients, I will also point out that it tasted good :D

Ze sushi:

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Still had one last sheet of nori from the Asian food grocer shipment!

Filled it with brown rice sushi rice, same recipe as last time, using just 1/3 cup rice (finished that off!). Rolls were either smoked salmon (all done!) and mango (ditto!) and, a few of the pieces, just for kicks, green onion. I’m telling you, not to toot my own horn, but I was kind of brilliant coming up with the salmon/mango combo. It is mighty tasty.

And, ideal for finals stress: burger and fries.

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Salmon burger on a TJ’s english muffin with Sriracha and butternut fries. Fabulous!

10 comments:

Food Makes Fun Fuel said...

Congrats on finishing up! Last week and this week I definitely judge my meals on how much I'm "eating up". Unfortunately, oatmeal and peanut butter is my favorite but doesn't get rid of much volume, haha

Stephanie @ cookinfanatic said...

couldn't agree with you more about how fulfilling it is to use up things in the pantry/fridge in a creative way! the chili looks fantastic :)

Unknown said...

I am trying to do the same this!!

Miso is good in anything, gravies, soup, anything that needs "depth" !!

that brown rice sushi looks yum!!

Genesis said...

you deserve to toot your own horn. your recipes looks so yum! we're having chili too, but not because im trying to clean out the pantry but because it was the easiest thing i could think of for dinner. lol.

Veggies, Cake & Cocktails said...

The chili looks great. I had chili yesterday and it is the very best meal on a cold day.

Linda said...

Are you graduating?

Please check out my blog...there's a surprise for you. :-)

Anonymous said...

Yay for homemade sushi, I have to do that again, I haven't made any in a long time.

Taylor

FoodFitnessFreshair said...

Yum, I love chili and sushi! Miso is also a great ingredient for salad dressing.

Lisa said...

Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog! The summit was a pretty interesting event. I just hope some good and change comes from it!

Your chilli looks fantastic! I'm a big fan of Akmak crackers too! Great uses for all your remaining food.

Unplanned Cooking said...

Double the thrill... chili plus a clean fridge!