Please help me use up Ingredient X.
Posted by Heliamphora on Feb 13, 2009 · Member since Oct 2006 · 4798 posts
Ahoy folks! I thought I'd start a thread where you can ask for recipes and advice on how to use up an ingredient (e.g. a vegetable, fruit, grain, bean, etc.) of which you have lots and lots and lots; or which is new to you and you don't know where to start with it.
I'll go first. :P I have many, many tasty carrots from the farmers' market which I need to use before they go soft.
Recipes, please.
I know, I know, carrots - simple - should be a no-brainer... but I was not fond of them for a long time, simply because I'd never known anything but raw or steamed carrots with very little flavour. I like to do INTERESTING things with them. They're so adaptable! Gimme your adaptations! :D
Chopped chard can be subsituted for spinach in most cooked recipes.
PEACHES. My mom bought a bunch in bulk 3 days ago and they're all already soft and borderline mushy.
ilove my peaches is smoothies. Especially with watermelon and blueberries and like..... Two strawberries. Omg good. I think i will just keep adding chard to various things til it's gone..... And most of the blueberries went nto a failed muffin attempt. Thanks for the suggestions!!
Peaches can be made into a fantastic fruit butter or puree! Chop them and cook them down with a splash of white wine, sugar or agave, cinnamon, clove and ginger. Cook to desired thickness and blitz with an immersion blender if needed. Delicious as is, or served over ice "cream" or with yogurt.
Raisins - what about making a fruit chutney for curries using the raisins?
Raisins-Toss them in a kale salad with citrus dressing.
For some reason Internet Explorer won't let me copy the links from the window anymore...but look up Spanish Slaw on VW. It's an unusual cabbage salad that uses raisins.
Also plumping raisins in hot tea and then chopping and adding them to scones, muffins and teacakes or bread such as Bara Brith (also on here) gives them a bit a of a different texture and flavour than just using them from dry.
What about purslane? Anything other than salad? I got a big bunch of it from my CSA. Can it be cooked or only served raw? How is it prepared - do I eat the whole things - leaves and stem or just the leaves? If salad is my only option, what type of salad/dressing would complement it? Thanks :)
PEACHES. My mom bought a bunch in bulk 3 days ago and they're all already soft and borderline mushy.
Peach cobbler, peach pie, peach crisp. All of these are the BEST with peaches that are almost pat their prime, with tons of brown spots!
What about purslane? Anything other than salad? I got a big bunch of it from my CSA. Can it be cooked or only served raw? How is it prepared - do I eat the whole things - leaves and stem or just the leaves? If salad is my only option, what type of salad/dressing would complement it? Thanks :)
Use as you would baby spinach or cress. Salads, stirfries, soups, sauces...ravioli, etc. I just googled and came up with a bunch of CSA-sponsored blogs with recipes, unfortunately on this computer I can't cut and paste links for some reason. It's apparently full of vitamin C, B and beta-carotene.
Thanks yabbitgirl. I found a reference online to using it raw in tacos (in place of lettuce) which is exactly what I did last night for dinner (lentil tacos), and it was delicious! It has a salty, slightly sour taste so it was almost like adding salt and lime to the tacos, which was a perfect addition.
13.5 lbs of blueberries for $13.50!! (kids were tired or else i would have kiddlet-slave-labored them a bit more)
I got rid of some... but i am still dealing with a lot... any ideas besides the normal pancake/muffin/cobbler? would love to hear them, even use them if the live past me and the kiddo munching on em :)
Freezing for smoothies, obviously. But also http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/07/grilled-tofu-with-blueberry-peach-salsa.html
The lady who runs FatFreeVegan just ran into a similar problem, she explains what she did on her blog.
OMG!!! that salsa looks amazing! you have me wishing i really wasn't at work right now, even more so than usual on a friday! making that salsa when i get home, so it will be uber yummy when i get home from work tomorrow. thank you!
13.5 lbs of blueberries for $13.50!! (kids were tired or else i would have kiddlet-slave-labored them a bit more)
I got rid of some... but i am still dealing with a lot... any ideas besides the normal pancake/muffin/cobbler? would love to hear them, even use them if the live past me and the kiddo munching on em :)
Blueberry jam or preserves.
Or freeze them and try the Blueberry Greens smoothie on this website. I usually leave out the oil in that recipe and it still tastes great.
blueberry tart, blueberry puff pastry, blueberry coffee cake, blueberry-whiskey glazed tofu or veggies, blueberry balsamic glazed glazed tofu or veggies, blueberry vinegarette
Watercress. I love it, but I can never think of anything to do with it other than make a salad.
Also, parsnips. I'm sure I could figure out something, but I'd like to hear your ideas. :)
You should make those little tea sandwiches with the watercress and 'cream cheese,' or some type of spread. I was always fascinated by those. Wraps? There's a recipe in VWAV for potato hash with watercress.
There's also a recipe in VWAV that has parsnips with other roasted vegetables. I'm not very familiar with parsnips, so only know about roasting them and mashing them
Anyone know what to do with baby artichokes? :>
Steam until tender and eat with seasoned "butter" and lemon. Or steam and add to a salad, or eat with "mayo."
dang
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