Three Easy Vegetable Recipes
No matter how carefully you plan your weekly shop, by Friday your crisper has turned into a sorry collection of orphaned mushrooms and onion halves. Before your lettuce is liquid, fuel a little creativity with your waste-based guilt with any of these easy vegetable recipes. Just about any leftover vegetables work but toss out anything moldy or smelly, and cut sprouts off potatoes, garlic, and onions.
- If you have pancake mix
Vegetable Fritters
Chop up any combination of vegetables. (Spinach, zucchini, peppers, carrots, onions, and garlic work well.)
In a mixing bowl, prepare the pancake batter according to the package instructions.
In a frying pan over medium-low heat, sauté the vegetables in olive oil until soft. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the vegetables and mix them into the batter.
Add a few spoonfuls of grated Parmesan, if desired.
Increase heat to medium. Spoon the batter into the pan in pancake-size dollops, flipping each when it's golden and crispy.
Serve with salad or a store-bought roast chicken.
- If you have chicken broth
Grated-Vegetable Soup
Bring 4 cups of the broth to a boil. (Vegetable broth or water work, too.)
Grate your vegetables (almost any work—equal amounts of carrots, celery, and onions make a good base). Greens can simply be torn up.
Toss your grated mixture and greens into the broth and return it to a boil (by which time the veggies will be mostly cooked through).
Stir in a large spoonful of grits (or Cream of Wheat), 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer.
Serve with grated Parmesan or Gruyère, if desired.
- If you have canned whole tomatoes
Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce
Mince 1 or 2 garlic cloves and equal amounts of chopped onion, celery, and carrots.
Sauté the vegetables in a generous amount of olive oil until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes to the pan with some red-pepper flakes and salt to taste.
Cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.
Using a blender, puree the mixture.
Top the sauce with poached (or fried) eggs. (You can also spoon it over fish or pasta, or thin it with broth to make a soup base.)
Photography by Boyle & Gardner
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