7.17.2012/some summer somethings

I’ve had these two pictures sitting on my desktop for at least the past month, waiting to be blogged about, and it’s been driving my inner-OCD absolutely crazy, but I refused to tuck them away into a folder until I remembered to post them. So, here they are, neither one my favorite recipe, but both definitely worth mentioning. The first one is a pitcher of absolutely delicious citrus-basil mojito. I got the idea for this puppy from some magazine, Whole Living or Good Housekeeping or something of the sort, and tweaked it around a bit, but basically, it’s soda water, fresh basil, squeezed oranges and their skins, honey, agave, stevia, ice, and of course, rum. Absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, the day I decided to take the time out to make this lovely concoction was the day that I went swimming with a group of all-guy friends, who immediately dismissed mojitos as a “girly drink,” and instead stuck to beer. It meant more for me, but was also a little heartbreaking. But if you’re friends with more adventurous guys, or a lot of girls, I would definitely recommend trying this drink before summer’s over. The second picture is what has become my go-to work meal, for afternoons when I actually have time for a sit-down lunch before work. This one’s also incredibly simple, I stuck a chipotle pepper (or two… or three) into the frying pan for about five minutes, with just a little bit of water, let that get puffy, and then sliced it up (still in the pan, but I don’t really recommend trying this, unless you’re also really lazy), and just dumped in some corn, greens, red cabbage slices, peas, and onions. Then I put all that into a rice tortilla, which was incredible, but it’s also great on its own, in a little bowl. The peppers are great, because of the vitamins K and A, but also because they’re incredibly filling. I don’t know whether it’s the peppers themselves, or just the large amounts of water you drink when eating them, but whenever I add chipotle peppers to my meals, I find myself getting much more full, and on smaller portions, than I would without them.

7.16.2012/summer food storage

this summer, one of the things I’ve been most mindful of has been saving energy. This is partially due to a desire to save money, but also because living alone has made me realize just how much unnecessary electricity I was used to using. It’s been interesting, trying to find a balance between always having everything on and plugged in, and walking around by candlelight while sweating my face off after nine at night. While I think there is something to be said for the latter, I’m trying not to lean too much towards either extreme. I held out well into the month of July before I ever really turned my air conditioning unit on, but the summer heat has made the occasional blast of cool air an absolute necessity. I’d say there was a solid two week period where Will wouldn’t come over to my house at all, and I’m quite certain that had a whole lot to do with the fact that it was much warmer in here than it ever was outside. Live and learn. However, it’s been interesting, learning what electricity eaters I can do without, and which ones I do really need. For instance, refrigerators. A staple in almost every American house, and yet not entirely necessary. At least not for a twenty one year old living on her own. If I were to truly grocery shop and eat the way I wanted to, every day of every week, then I would be popping into the farmer’s market once or twice a week, constantly buying fresh produce, and never needing to cool or freeze anything at all. Alas, and I’m ashamed to admit this, but there is more than one bag of frozen vegetables sitting in my freezer right now, and I’ve certainly got quite a few things staying comfortable in the vegetable drawer of my refrigerator. Even so, I stumbled upon this incredible project a few weeks ago, and I think it raises a good point – even if we are planning on storing foods for more than a few days, is chilling them in an electrical box really the best way to go about doing that? Most convenient, definitely, and it certainly does allow for the most time to be drawn out of everything we buy – but is it allowing us to get the best taste and most nutrients out of the food we eat? Definitely not. So many things lose a great percentage of their nutritional value after just a day or two of refrigerated storage. Not to mention the damage that’s being done by the tens of hundreds of thousand of millions of refrigerators plugged in right now. Just some food for thought. But anyway, to get to my main point about storing food, as I’ve been picking and collecting fresh produce from my garden, friends’ gardens, and my mom’s backyard, I’ve been playing around with the best way to store these fresh veggies (for no more than two days, of course!) The picture below is the most simple, yet probably most rewarding, storage method I’ve come across thusfar. I collected a few of these little cardboard containers from my mom’s house, and currently have them lined up on my kitchen countertop. In them, I’ve paired two or three things that go well together (pictured below, cherry tomatoes and basil leaves) so that no cooking or processing is required to make a complex taste out of some simple produce. After just a little bit of time, the tastes start to rub off on each other, varying of course based on how strongly flavored the individual elements are. Let me tell you, there are few things as enjoyable as picking out a fresh, juicy cherry tomato with just a slight twinge of basil to it.