Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Grocery List

FRESH
Garlic - 1 bulb
Shallot - 1 to 2 bulbs
Collard Greens - 2.5 lbs
Bell Peppers - 4 (red and/or yellow)
Green Beans - 1 lb
Green Cabbage - 1 small
Broccoli - 2 large
Cauliflower - 1
Lemon - 2
Basil - 1 bunch
Parsley - 1 bunch
Ginger - several thick fingers
Raw Walnuts
(Fresh Fruit for lunches and breakfasts)
(Salad Greens & Veggies for lunches)

LESS PERISHABLE (Some of these may already be in your pantry)
Chopped Tomatoes - 14 oz can (Suggest Muir Glen Fire Roasted)
Olives - (Buy what ever you like in a jar for easy storage)
Capers - (Buy in a jar for easy use and storage)
Balsamic Vinegar
Soy Sauce
Chick Peas - (2) 14 oz cans
White Beans - 14 oz can
Cumin (if you already have Cumin, get some coriander)
Mustard Seeds
Brown Basmati Rice (we will be adding this to some of our meals, optional)
(Salsa for lunch salads)
(Black Beans for lunch salads)

REFRIGERATED
Tofu - Baked - 8 oz
Soy Milk for Breakfast
(Frozen Fruit for Breakfast)
(Amy's Frozen Vegan Burritos for emergency meals*)

* It is better to break down and eat some relatively healthy Amy's food then some junk fast food or pizza so I usually keep a few things in the freezer for when our schedule gets messed up.

Learning to Cook Again

I have gathered some of our favorite simple recipes that have the potential to be made without added oil. We are going to test them out by having Matt cook them this week. The idea is to come up with recipes that I can share with Maureen in Columbus for healthy everyday dinners. Since I started cooking like this I have forgotten all the little workarounds and special pans and other adjustments I make to get the food on the table.

The menu for the week:
Garlic Braised Collard Greens with White Beans
Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Smoked Tofu
Braised Green Beans Puttanesca
Not Creamed Spinach with Chickpeas
Broccoli Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette
Spicy Roasted Cauliflower and Bell Peppers with Chickpeas

Most of these recipes are intended to be vegetable side dishes. I am making them the main dish by adding some beans or tofu. If you have had your beans or tofu for the day you can leave them out of these dishes.

I picked these recipe because they are based on vegetables that you can get at any grocery store all year round. I will also be modifying the recipes a bit to simplify the ingredient list. When you are first starting out you could go broke buying all of the spices and vinegars. My idea is to not add more than 2 or 3 special purchase items a week.

Off to make my shopping list. (Which I will post later).