The Heart of Darkness

I have a vegan friend who is trying to lose weight... she's gorgeous and doesn't need to, but I digress. She's on the food combining diet, which I hadn't heard of before. I also haven't been grocery shopping since returning from the East Coast so I was armed tonight only with the CSA veggies... it was an interesting challenge! We had:

1. Salad - a mix of jericho and spinach with scallions and salad turnips (sliced plums and an agave-mustard dressing for the non-food-combiners, she had hers plain)

2. Carrots, Cauliflower, and Garlic Scapes - sauteed with a small amount of olive oil and salt

3. Brown Rice - with some wild rice mixed in

I used up the last of my wild rice tonight, and I've decided that the big bin I keep it in will henceforth be occupied by quinoa. The quinoa bin was small to the point that I felt if I prepared a large meal using it, it would be nearly empty. And then I'd have to get more quinoa! Hmm... better use rice instead.

I've decided against such prohibitive strategies and in favor of more quinoa as a regular part of our diet, which should make Casey happy. Go... complete protein!

This is only my second week with the CSA box, so the magic is still very much alive for me. I love having people over for dinner when my fridge is exploding with possibilities! Some folks have mentioned rotting veggie guilt... If you go to my grandmother's farm you will see BINS of rotting vegetables, with flies buzzing all around. Her attitude was always that rot is just a necessary side effect of bounty. It's good to make an effort to share with others, preserve, not let things go to waste, etc... but inevitably you're going to end up with some compost. And it's better to have a little more veggies in your fridge than you can use than not to have enough.

That's my take on it anyway. Plus it's not like we're buying all this stuff individually at grocery store prices! I think we should have a potluck once the night shades start coming in. It's going to be fabulous!!!