How many superfoods do you have in your pantry/fridge right now? A little? A lot? No matter. There's always something to make. Just line it all up and see what you've got to work with.
Sailor is about the most health conscious cook I know. She is big on whole grains and beans. Popeye and I are more of the lean meat and veggie school. I know I'm "right", but I know she is "right" too!
Here's some of the stuff I had in the fridge:
An onion,
a red pepper,
mushrooms,
celery,
garlic,
2 bags of spinich,
a butternut squash,
a slice of (pre-NewYear) leftover ham,
and a package of Greenwise chicken breasts.
And some of the stuff I had in the pantry:
Organic barley,
brown rice,
red lentils,
a box of organic chicken broth,
cans of tomatoes.
And in the spice rack:
Turmeric,
thyme,
sage,
cumin,
rosemary.
I still don't know what I'm going to make, but here's my start.
Onion, peppers, mushrooms, celery, garlic, and ham... Chop em up and saute in olive oil. Throw in a pat of butter for a little extra flavor.
Mix a cup of the lentils, and a half cup each of barley and brown rice, into the onion mixture and saute it all together.
Then put it all into a big pot with at least twice as much liquid (chicken stock and water) as grains and lentils.
Add a can of tomatoes.
And some spices.
Put it on medium and bring up til bubbling, then turn down to low.
Time for the "super" additives!
Dice the chicken and brown it in the same pan as the onions. Don't have to cook it all the way through, just brown the pieces and plop them into the pot with the veggies and grains.
Meanwhile, if you happen to have one around, cut a butternut squash in half, put it on an oiled cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven.
Whew. So. I have the forty five minutes it takes for grains to simmer and the squash to bake to figure out how to incorporate them into a meal somehow!
Then there's the matter of buying that second bag of spinich the other day, when I already had one in the fridge. Oops. Chop up at least half a bagful, and toward the end of the cook time, into the simmering pot it goes.
OK. So. To stir the squash into the soup? Or not to stir the squash into the soup?
I take a sample bowlful from the soup pot and stir in a spoonful of soft, baked squash.
With squash. And without.
I am not so sure for myself...
I usually keep my sweets and savories separate. But I really like the idea of all the nutrition of green veggies, orange veggies, whole grains, lentils, and lean meat all in one bowl...
Might have to have a little more of that sample.
Appetite makes the best sauce.
Squash on the side, stirred in, or plopped on top, by a 9pm dinnertime, it hardly matters!
Vitamins, whole grains, protein, oo. Served in one bowl, or two. We're good.
And so is the soup.
Certainly looks good so it must be good. I've found a good way to bake butternut squash. Instead of slicing and wrestling with the knife and counter top I bake it whole and then slice, remove seeds and scoop out. Tonight we're having butternut squash soup,fish, quinoa & broccoli. Huummmm suppose it cold be a one pot supper? Naw your version sounds better for the one pot.
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