What’s for lunch?
Problems vs. Possibilities
If you’re like me, I often open the refrigerator and look at the various food items and ask myself, “what can I eat for lunch?” My answer to that question is much different now than it was some years ago, thanks to the food skills I have developed, and continue to develop.
What I used to think when looking in the refrigerator went something like this:
There’s nothing to eat (meaning, nothing ready to eat right away, potentially while standing in front of the refrigerator with the door still open…)
There’s that part of a carrot in the produce drawer, and half a beet… why do I still have half a beet?
Oh right… there’s that acorn squash I cooked because it was getting old, but now it’s just sitting in my fridge getting old…
I cooked those beans for tacos, but now we’re out of tortillas, so no more tacos.
Is that a tiny bit of rice in the back of that shelf?
Food skills have changed this narrative, and changed my view of the things in the refrigerator and pantry so that they become possibilities instead of problems.
What do I mean by “food skills?"
Food skills are all the steps and processes that happen related to food:
planning, procuring, and preparing
consuming and engaging our senses in eating food
food safety and handling leftovers and waste
understanding the larger food system
If you don’t feel like you have a good handle on many (or any?) of these skills, you’re not alone. Many of us did not learn these skills when growing up, through no fault of our parents or communities. We did not learn them because numerous food companies have made billions of dollars creating products, processes and conveniences which excuse us from exercising many of those food skills I listed.
With ready-to-eat foods of all kinds, sold in almost every store or establishment we enter day to day, and just as many ready-to-eat food products available for delivery anytime of the day or night, we as a society have been invited to outsource our food skills to food companies. However this also means we outsource any control over the ingredients, quality, flavor, packaging and price.
Check out the section on Food and Health skills for more details.
So… What’s for lunch?
While I’m definitely still on the journey of food skills, I can say with confidence that it has been life- and health-changing to take more control of my food environment, not to mention being more satisfying, empowering and frankly, delicious! I now love making delicious, creative meals, finding purpose and avoiding waste of those little odds and ends in the fridge.
So come along as I walk through how this is what I ended up having for lunch:
I discovered the end of some asparagus, half a golden beet, old mushrooms, a bit of tat soi (Asian spinach my husband brought home from work at Freedom Food Farm), some already-cooked rice from the freezer. Each of these things on their own were not a meal, but employing the food skill of “sautee things that are not too tough”, I chopped that half of a beet in thin slices, did the same with the thick end of the asparagus, chopped the mushrooms, part of an onion, and once my pan (with a bit of olive oil) was hot - sautéed them all until they were tender to a fork. Adding a dash of salt along the way helps draw out the moisture in those veggies and makes them more tender and digestible. I added the rice after the veggies were mostly cooked, just to heat it through and combine with the other flavors.
Into my bowl that all went, adding some parsley and pepitas as a garnish, and some dressing left over from a salad.
There you go. It was delicious. Truly, delicious. The beet slices were sweet, the mushrooms and rice savory, the asparagus gave a nice texture and light spring-flavor amidst the others. The pepitas added crunch, the parsley a fresh, strong herby zing. The dressing was some version of what I make for any sauce (see basic sauce formula below), and it added a creamy element that didn’t need to be anything fancy, but held it all together in a delicious and satisfying way.
Sauce or Dressing Formula
Kate’s easy and adaptable formula is affordable and keeps in the fridge for weeks.