Author Archives: Melissa | Growing Green Nutrition

Beware the mandolin

I was dubious about owning a mandolin slicer, but somehow it become one (of the very few) items that we tossed onto our wedding registry.  In fact, we received not one, but two mandolins, and the one we kept proceeded to sit in its box in our pantry for many months.  One day, we decided that we should try the mandolin and decide whether we wanted to keep it or not.

In theory, it sounds great: quickly and easily get nice thin slices of vegetables, or set it to julienne and get cute little matchsticks in no time at all!  In theory.  I imagine there are some heavy duty professional vegetable slicers that operate in just that way (in fact, I recall a rather nice one from my time working at Subway).

But ours?  Oh, it is special.  It came with a “vegetable holder” that is supposed to hold the food and keep your fingers away from the sharp parts.  I’m sure the maker included this solely for liability reasons, because trying to use it makes the whole contraption worthless.  If you want to actually slice vegetables on it, you just have to hold them with your fingers.  (Can you see where this is going?)

Last week, I decided that julienned carrots would make a lovely addition to the cabbage salad I prepared for a pot luck.  One moment I was creating beautiful little matchstick carrots, the next . . . .

Would you care for some julienned finger with your salad?  It took off a nice chunk of skin.  That mandolin slicer might be on its way out the door — not sure it’s worth the human sacrifice!  (However, like a true genius, I went back and finished the carrot I had been working on when the accident occurred.)

All patched up and ready to snack!

This beautiful little apricot from my MILs tree made everything better 🙂

Fast food, green and healthy style

Sometimes you just need an easy-ish meal.  The delicious fresh produce available at this times of year helps in this quest.  The other night, we assembled our delicious beet salad (recipe here) and some dressed-up grilled cheese sammies.

Roasting the beets takes a bit of time, but it’s worth it — chop the beets* and get them roasting first, then work on the rest of the meal while they roast.

The co-chef made the grilled cheese sandwiches, with local cheese and our homemade whole wheat bread, dressed-up with sauteed spinach* and fresh green onions*, while I worked on the salad.  He added a fried egg to his sandwich for a twist.  Good fast food requires a bit more time and effort than traditional fast food, but the result is delicious and nutritious!

* From our garden, as were the greens for the salad.

Open Streets in the heat

Yesterday, I was on my bike for almost five-and-a-half hours, volunteering for Open Streets in St. Louis. Five-and-a-half scorching, 100-plus-degree heat index hours.  It sounded like a good idea when I signed up in April.  Get up at 6am after a late night at Opera Theatre and spend lots of hours out in the sun?  Fabulous idea.

All complaining aside, I enjoyed the opportunity to experience, and help with, Open Streets 2.0 — a great day for bicycling (and walking, jogging, rollerblading, etc.) in St. Louis.

Headed home, a stopped train delayed our trip and increased our time in the elements.  By that point, I had thrown caution (and sun safety) to the wind and removed my t-shirt to prevent death by extreme heat.  Fortunately, we found a shady spot to wait it out.  Eventually, the train passed, and I mustered enough energy to climb the hill and roll on home.  I spent the rest of the day recovering.  Lots of fluids, a shower to scrub off all of the icky sunscreen, some high-quality food (the fact that we made lunch serves as either a testament to our commitment to good food or to our insanity (perhaps heat-induced?)), and a nap — just what the doctor ordered 🙂

The  next two Open Streets events will take place in September and October.  While I hope that the temperatures will be a bit friendlier then, I’ve learned not to bet against St. Louis weather.

Eye candy

Beet salad with quinoa risotto in the background

Photo evidence of our meal at The Westside Local, as described in this post.  I especially enjoyed the golden beets and pears in the salad, but in a head-to-head competition, our beet salad would emerge the winner.