On cooking real food -- "What do I do with all this stuff?"

I know that some people here cook often, using lots of fresh produce and other healthy items. Others have mentioned that they don't really know how to cook very well, so they tend to use lots of packaged foods. I just got done cooking a bunch of stuff, and I wanted to share what I did since it was mostly improvised. None of it was fancy cooking, and I spent maybe an hour in the kitchen.

This won't be specific to any particular diet, and the items I cooked may not work for yours. In fact, I wasn't particularly aiming for low-calorie right now, but I'm still conscious of what I'm eating.

I get a CSA box, and part of the reason that I signed up was to teach myself to cook outside my comfort zone. Also, I'm leaving town this weekend so I had several things that I needed to use up before I left. The inventory:

- A head of lettuce
- An onion
- Four patty pan squashes
- Half a dozen heirloom tomatoes
- Two lemon cucumbers
- A couple of carrots

I had no idea what to do with the squashes, so I started looking for recipes. I decided that what I wanted to do was stuff them, so I read a couple of recipes to get the general principles then set out on my own.

First, I put the squashes in a pot of water and let them boil for about ten minutes. I preheated the oven to 375.

While I did that, I turned two slices of herb ciabatta into bread crumbs. I chopped half the onion and the carrots, then put it into the food processor with a clove of garlic and turned it into a fine mixture. I mixed this with the bread crumbs, some cracked pepper, some herbs, and some shredded parmesan.

Next I chopped half a pound of bacon into bacon bits, and cooked it. When it was crisp, I pulled out the bacon and sauteed the other half of the chopped onion in the bacon fat. I added some of the bacon to the bread crumb mixture from above.

While that was cooking I took the tops off of the squashes and scooped out the centers. I filled them with the bread crumb mixture and put the tops back on. Whoops! I made way too much stuffing. I grabbed a couple of the tomatoes, cored them, and stuffed them with the remaining mixture. The two pans of stuffed goodness went into the oven.

I tore the lettuce into coarse bits. When the onions were done I removed some of the fat from the pan then added the bacon bits back in. I added some cider vinegar, some cracked pepper, and a spoonful of sugar to make a dressing, then poured that over the lettuce. Voila! Wilted spinach salad.

This leaves me with four tomatoes and two lemon cucumbers. I'll chop them up and dress them with cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper and have a nice salad.

When the dust settled, I'd used up everything I needed to get rid of. I have lunch and dinner items for the next few days, and if there are leftover squashes I'll freeze them for later.

Wilted lettuce is best served fresh, but it'll survive being reheated... it won't be as good as when it was made, but it will work. Everything else is best served chilled (the tomato and cucumber salad) or will reheat well (the stuffed squashes and tomatoes.)

I hope this inspires someone to go cook something new!

wow you've been busy! and I think you're a great cook thanks for your ideas

I would think that all the cooking shows on TV would make cooking more accessible to more people, but it does seem like many people are terrified of their own kitchens. As you pointed out, cooking is about using what you have to make something you would like to eat. Meals don't have to be fancy or gourmand or contain exotic or expensive ingredients. They just have to have ingredients you like that you can easily get. Anyone trying to lose weight should do themselves a favor and take control of their fate by learning to prepare at least a few simple recipes.

I agree, BlueWaterBottle. I would go a little bit farther and suggest that they should learn not just a few recipes, but a few basic patterns from which to build recipes.

Example: a frittata is a perfect "use what you have on hand" recipe. You really just need to know, "OK, I do this with the ingredients, then pour the eggs into the pan and cook it this way until it's done."

I think I'm definitely one to be intimidated regarding cooking. I always worry that I'll get it "wrong" - which is silly, because as long as you don't burn something or add too much of something to make it inedible, it should turn out fine. Even if your version varies from a recipe.

So my husband does most of the cooking. We eat basically the same rotation every 1-2 weeks since he is not as adventurous as me when it comes to cooking. But I've really been making an effort to try to cook more things. I made a white bean saute with sausage a few weeks ago that turned out pretty good.

However, I LOVE to bake! Maybe that's it - I'm better following a more exact recipe that having to wing it!

I think ultimately it comes down to just biting the bullet and diving in. Try a simple recipe, get really good at it and then go from there. You'll be surprised at sometimes it's the meals that you throw together (and not follow a recipe), that turn out the best!

People also get discouraged when their food doesn't turn out quite right or something minor goes wrong, so it doesn't look like it does on the TV or in the book, like things sticking to the pan/tray.

And simple tricks can prevent things like that happening. For example, I line my trays with non-stick baking parchment when I roast vegetables, not only does it mean I use less oil/cooking spray it means there is less to clean up as what little does stick just gets thrown away with the paper.

I agree completely. It's about learning a few simple methods. I despise following 'recipes' and have much more fun when I wing it. I do exactly that with a frittata most mornings in the winter.

It's always a good idea to follow the directions exactly the first time you try a recipe. But from then on, you're on your own. -- James Beard

James Beard is a wise man.

A basic cook book like Joy of Cooking or Fannie Farmer is a great resource for learning cooking techniques. They aren't geared to lots of pre=packaged ingredients. You can often pick one up pretty reaonable at a used book store. I LOVE to cook and rarely use packaged anything unless it's just basic food like a can of tomatoes or a box of barley. So much cheaper and so much healthier without all the added salt, sugar, and chemicals.

thank you for sharing your little kitchen adventure story! I have never been a natural cook so to hear the flow of thoughts that preceed this type of creative explosion is very good for me. I have a tendancy to over-complicate the things which can only be achieved by keeping it simple. So, you taught me something. Take a quick inventory and work within the lines of that inventory. It's more like a challenge.... like, lets see what you can do with THIS ????????

I'll just pretend i'm on a reality tv show next time

He was, I seem to have lost the 2nd half of my comment there, which was, I am terrible at actually following his advice.