Melissa | Growing Green Nutrition – Page 51

Kitchen craziness

It’s been a busy week of cooking, baking, and fermenting. Three-and-a-half hours of oven time on Tuesday yielded nice results.

Clockwise from top: roasted fennel, roasted potatoes (dug on Saturday), and a double batch of granola.

I also baked six loaves of bread (Matthew made the dough before work), including one chocolate cherry loaf — so good!

Two crocks of shredded cabbage, on their way to becoming sauerkraut.

After all that kitchen time, I didn’t really feel like making dinner, but I tossed together a zucchini salad to go with the roasted potatoes.

This was an occasion where my internet recipe search [for “zucchini salad”] was spot on. I used this recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen, complete with her suggested additions of chickpeas and avocado, which I wanted to work into the dish anyway — it was like the author read my mind!

In addition to the kitchen endeavors, I’ve been cleaning and decluttering the apartment, in preparation for hosting our vegetarian potluck group for the first time ever!

Our previous apartment was just too small, so we’ve enjoyed the hospitality of others for the three years we’ve been part of the group, in addition to “hosting” a dinner at the Botanical Garden for two years. I’m really looking forward to having the gathering here.

Now back to the kitchen to figure out what I’m making for the potluck . . . .

Cool as a cucumber salad

If you’re growing cucumbers (or get them in a CSA box), this is about the point where you’re wondering, what do I do with all of these cukes?

One good option is homemade pickles (looks like I need a post on that subject), but if the pickling route is not your thing, there’s always cucumber salad.

The challenge with a cucumber salad is to make something that’s flavorful rather than watery, with a twist to add interest to what can be a boring dish.

Challenge accepted and met.

Asian Cucumber Salad

Recipe by Melissa
Serves 4

Ingredients
3-4 c. cucumber, cut in small chunks (or thin slices)
2 T. finely chopped onion (red would be lovely)
2 T. miso paste
2 T. sugar
2-3 T. seasoned rice vinegar
1/3 c. chopped peanuts and/or black sesame seeds
Cilantro for garnish (opt.)

Directions
Whisk miso paste, sugar, and rice vinegar to combine. Toss with cucumber and onion. Refrigerate for at least two hours (or up to twenty-four). Before serving, top with peanuts and/or sesame seeds.

Note: Feel free to play with amounts of miso, sugar, and vinegar to get the salty, sweet, tangy combination that’s right for you!

——

We ate all of the finished product before I could snap a photo. This makes a fast and easy side, snack, or picnic dish.

World Naked Bike Ride!

Well, I did it! Despite serious fatigue on Saturday evening (following a morning of gardening and an afternoon of toddler wrangling), I resisted the urge to just spend the night curled up on the couch and miss out on yet another World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR).

I loved experiencing the positive energy and camaraderie of the Tour de Fat ride in D.C., and that, combined with the fact that we’ve been talking about doing this forever, provided the necessary motivation.

We returned from the garden (sans toddler) and ate a quick dinner, after which I donned my blue tutu and hopped on Baby Jake. We rode to the rendezvous point/pre-party on South Grand, where we made some final outfit adjustments.

The ride is part protest against dependency on oil and other nonrenewable resources, part celebration of bodies and positive body image, and part really fun group bicycle ride, summed up nicely in this quote:

It’s time to put a stop to the indecent exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution they create.

Clothing ran the spectrum from nothing (except footwear — I didn’t see anyone barefoot, though I wouldn’t count it out) to totally PG, family-friendly beach wear, which we’d already discerned from previous years’ pictures.

In this age of digital media, where everyone has a camera and can post to the internet in seconds, we opted for a middle road. You know, just so there’s nothing scandalous that would mar my future run for president.

We fed off the energy of the crowds that lined many portions of the thirteen mile route through the streets of St. Louis, and, while our ride certainly caused delay for some motorists, they didn’t seem to mind, given the free entertainment.

With over 1500 participants, this was the largest WNBR in St. Louis to date, pretty impressive for an all volunteer-run event.

My only complaint about the ride itself (and the pre-party), was the smoking. I would love to see the ride become a smoke-free event. I’m not sure where that would leave the men who stuffed their cigarette packs in their underwear, hoping to compensate for certain, um, shortages, shall we say, but my lungs would really appreciate it.

Barring the ride going smoke-free, we’re planning to bring water guns next year, so we can help put out fires (guy who puffed a cigar for half of the ride, I am looking at you! Actually, I was this close to walking up and pulling it out of your hand and smashing it under my running shoe).

Other complaint about the event? The after-party.

The route ended in The Grove, at an outdoor event sponsored by HandleBar and Atomic Cowboy. By that point, I seriously needed a restroom (having not relieved myself in alleyways along the route, the toilet of choice for numerous other riders). After looking in vain for port-a-potties, we headed to HandleBar, hoping for a restroom and the chance to purchase some food.

Instead of welcoming the riders, as one would expect given their sponsorship of the event, HandleBar was charging a five dollar cover for the evening. Seriously lame, guys! I was planning to buy food, but you just lost some business.

We crossed the street to Atomic Cowboy (no cover) and joined the growing bathroom queues. Afterward we grabbed a table and waited in vain for someone to take our food order. We even resorted to eating our own snacks, sure that that would attract attention, but no.

I finally hopped up and approached a waitress who had just delivered an order to a table across the room, only to have her completely and blatantly ignore me. (Was it the petals? Would less clothing help?)

We finished our own snack and headed to the outside “party” area, where I hoped to find an awesome dance party in progress. Not so.

In addition to being lame in general, there were far too many “spectators” at the after-party, people who were creepily milling around, not following the [un]dress code at ALL. A private event just for riders (and perhaps appropriately clad friends) would be much better.

Final verdict on my first WNBR: the ride itself was great — I’m very glad we did it, and I’m looking forward to next year!

The after-party? Seriously anticlimactic! It needed restrooms, food, less fully-clothed people, and more dancing.

Barring those changes, we agreed it would have been fun to have a group of friends to hang out with at the end. So, who’s joining us next year???

Foods of summer

The garden kindly waited to hit its full summer stride until we returned from our trip. After a week of being creative with frozen veggies, I was ready!

The zucchini on the bottom right got away from us, but it was perfect for zucchini bread. I whipped up a big batch and made some with chocolate chips as “cupcakes” for Sir’s belated birthday celebration with his childcare friends.

After I made them, I had a bit of baker’s regret, wondering if three- and four-year-old kids would go for my healthy treat: no frosting, made with whole wheat pastry flour, and chock full of grated zucchini and chopped pecans.

The kids’ verdict? Yummy!

I made use of the hot oven to roast some veggies for dinner that night: red beets, golden beets, and broccoli romanesco, served with pasta with garden veggie sauce and a side of garlicky collard greens.

Garlic featured prominently in the roasting marathon. Matthew peeled hundreds of cloves of garlic for a taste test of the twenty-four varieties he grew. Unfortunately, my method of roasting the garlic in muffin tins, with individual varieties separated in the cups, and perhaps the fact that the cloves were already peeled, didn’t lead to the best roasting ever.

Edible, just not that really delicious carmelization that you can get with roasted garlic. Matthew also sauteed several of the varieties to try them that way.

After all that work, our general conclusion is that the different kinds all taste like, you guessed it, garlic!

Another meal, this one inspired by a magazine recipe for pasta with anchovies, walnuts, and raisins, served with tomato-topped kale and cannellini beans, plus some sauteed squash.

Finally, this dish was actually a pre-vacation meal: a simple pasta salad with [raw] kale, spinach, and last year’s sun-dried tomatoes, dressed in olive oil, white wine vinegar, parm, and salt and pepper. Some chopped olives would have made a welcome addition.

Unpictured eats: quinoa and summer squash salad, gazpacho, lentil chili, and garden veggie curry.

Stay tuned for some recipes, including more details on the polenta dish and a simple, refreshing cucumber salad.

In with the new

Prior to his unexpected health scare, Matthew was in the midst of dealing with bicycle trouble.

His Craigslist-ed Surly Pacer quickly became his primary bike, with his hybrid Giant relegated to the back-up bike role. Not long after finally taking it in to a LBS for a minor shifting tune-up (after attempted tries to tweak it himself didn’t quite do the trick), he faced a much bigger problem.

On his way into work a few weeks ago, the shifting lever for the rear gears broke off in his hand. He called to tell me that it was going to be a very slow ride home from work. I suggested the bus.

Now, some people are in to fixed-gear bicycles, but we are not those people. Anyone who’s bothered to get out of his car and onto a bike in the St. Louis area can tell you that, contrary to some perceptions, St. Louis is not, in fact, flat. Nope, from minor inclines to some pretty major hills (including The Hill, which is often part of our bike route), having gears (and knowing how to use them well) is an essential part of a good biking experience around here.

After much research, Matthew had a few options, ranging from expensive to more expensive:

Buy the part and pay for labor to replace the broken shifter — $200
Upgrade to a new shifting system (he wasn’t crazy about the existing set-up) — $450+
Cut his losses, ditch the Pacer, and buy a new bike

Option #1 was by far the cheapest, especially after he managed to get the maker of the shifter to cover the cost of the part (his research revealed that there was a known defect/weakness that led to the break), leaving us to cover just the thirty dollars of labor. Done.

We could have stopped there. But in the course of his research, he had already gone back and ridden the [new] Salsa Casserole that he was considering back in March when he bought the Pacer.

The lure of a new bike, which came standard with the upgraded shifting system he was considering for the Pacer, plus the benefit of free tune-ups for life, was hard to resist. That, combined with the discovery that his Craigslist bike was not the standard Pacer that you would buy from a bike shop, but something that had been built up (with perhaps cheaper components) by the seller, weighed heavily in favor of the new bike.

Until his hospitalization, I had been mostly a neutral party, acting as a sounding board for the options, but mostly encouraging him to decide. Seeing him in the hospital prompted some kind of “life is short” mentality for me, and I started advocating for the new bike (a decision toward which he’d been leaning anyway).

He picked up the [repaired] Pacer and the new Salsa Casserole on the same day, and then perhaps set a record for length of time elapsed from purchasing to riding a new bicycle (19 days!) due to recovery/fatigue and the timing of our trip.

Sunday morning, we finally all headed out for a family bike ride — the Casserole’s (he going to name it soon) maiden voyage.

The bike wasn’t the only new thing: Sir sported his new helmet.

I’m pretty sure that thing would almost fit me. Not to name names, but someone has a big head.

The Casserole is really a beautiful bike (another factor in its favor) — a light silvery blue color. It came with the small front rack (I guess we need some kind of a basket for that), and the bike shop staff transferred the fenders and rear rack that Matthew had put on the Pacer. (While they weren’t willing to negotiate on the price of the bike, which was already discounted due to it being a 2012 model, Matthew did negotiate for the labor of moving the accessories, which, at over an hour of time, was well worth requesting.)

While there’s some temptation to keep all of the bikes (two back-ups is better than one, right?), we’re planning to sell the repaired Pacer, hopefully for close to what we paid for it. While it could have been worse, this was not the best introduction we could have had to buying a bicycle on Craigslist. If the seller cannot produce specifics on where he/she purchased the bike — buyer beware!

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Asian Cucumber Salad

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