What are Grocery Lists For?

Earlier this year, I reviewed Living the Savvy Life from a green perspective (Does Savvy = Green?).  To the extent that being savvy means investing your time, energy and money on what matters to you, rather than just accumulating stuff, I found a close correlation of underlying values. And where food is concerned, the concept of keeping the kitchen a well-organized, clean, and joyful place to spend quality time making what you enjoy eating would resonate with most foodies, including the slow food-ists and locavores.

When I started to work through implementing the good advice from Chapter 10: Food, however, I hit a stumbling block right away. As I detailed in Kitchen Inventory Confessions, getting a handle on what's in my cupboards, fridge and freezer was both daunting and humbling. Loving food as I do, I'm prone to fall into the more-is-better trap here. While doing the inventory exercise helped me pare down a bit, it's got to become an ongoing task.

Hopefully the next step, creating a master shopping list, will help with that maintenance.  It should at a minimum keep me from ever winding up again with two open jars of peanut butter in the fridge, and one waiting in the cupboard. If I can find a really good smart phone app to move the items onto, that will really tip the scales in the battle against overstocking.

To simply the process, I skipped the recommended step of dividing staples by the best stores to acquire them from, meant to help reduce running-around time and increase trip consolidation (green points for driving less). Since 90% of my groceries come from Trader Joes on my commute home from work, the occasional Costco or Whole Foods item is easy to catalog mentally.

Looking over the list I came up with, some patterns are clear, and not always consistent with how I picture myself as an eater.  Most notably, lots of dairy. Half and half for tea, low-fat organic milk for nightly cocoa, nonfat yogurt for fruit smoothies, favorite cheeses, and eggs are always in stock. Breakfast and snack foods get replenished frequently; so they make the buy-now list regularly. In contrast, meat rarely makes the list, coming home occasionally almost as an incidental.  And with the exception of spinach for salads and favorite fresh fruits for snacks, produce comes home without being summoned by a list. Whatever's in season and looks good hops into the basket (then the trick is to make sure to use it quickly, before it wilts or goes fuzzy in the crisper). As farmers market season ramps up here, it will be interesting to see if we use the master grocery list more or less than during the winter.

The flip side of the list's usefulness, once you've gotten good at avoiding waste from accidental over-buying, is making sure to keep key foods in stock. For me the biggest key to eating well is having the right ingredients on hand when I need them. That includes healthy snacks, fresh fish and produce, gluten-free staples, and basic ingredients for quick dishes made from scratch. If I run out of the good stuff, I'll default to whatever else may be handy, including all the processed packaged foods that shouldn't be in stock at home anyway. So I'm arming myself with a good list to help me make good decisions between runs to the store.

If you've tried an app you really like to help take this tip paperless, please tell us about it!

Bite-size Green on the Menu at LA Webfest

We're going to LA! For a weekend (April 6-8). For a web fest. A what?

Well, it's like a film festival, but for web series. Bite-size Green submitted its series, was selected, and will be screened there.

 We might even win an award - stay tuned!

Angelina Le Grix

As we prepare to head south for the LA Webfest, it's time to re-introduce Angelina, the on-screen face of Bite-size Green.

Angelina Le Grix joined the Bite-size Green community when she graciously agreed to host our TV series. Her intelligence, humor and enthusiasm bring out the best in the guest experts and chefs, as well as the joy in eating local, seasonal foods.

Angelina was born and raised in Toronto, Canada where her parents instilled a passion for fresh and delicious food. She loves to cook because she loves to eat.

Her favorite cuisine started out with Cantonese and has now branched out to Indian, French, Japanese, and Californian.

Angelina regularly visits farmer's markets and loves to learn about local food. She is drawn to simple cooking techniques and recipes that bring out the natural flavors of the ingredients.

Other tidbits:

• Angelina is an electrical engineer.
• She is fluent in Cantonese.
• She has lived in Tokyo, Japan and speaks Japanese.
• She is married to a Frenchman and speaks French.
• She has lived on the East Coast (Boston area and Upstate New York) but considers California her home.

Vegetarian Tapas Recipes

Vegetarian tapas recipes alone can easily meet your appetizer needs or provide your whole tapas party menu. Though Spaniards love ham, sausage, and salt cod, they also revel in nuts, veggies, and cheeses.

Tapas are traditional Spanish bar food. Long ago, a wine glass arrived on the table with a tapa, or cover, to protect the wine. Now the word means any appetizer served on a small plate, to accompany your wine, beer, or sangria. Usually ordered a few plates at a time, each offers 3 to 4 people a nibble.

The fun of tapas lies in the variety; but it can be easy to fill up more quickly than you realize, especially with the salty stand-bys. For a party at home, make 6 to 10 selections, with enough for seconds on some.

My Favorite Vegetarian Tapas Recipes

Spanish Cheese Plate
Manchego cheese, cabrales, and mahon are the easiest to find in US stores. If they prove elusive, try a small wedge of a mild Romano, a creamy French chevre or blue, and a Dutch Gouda.

Roasted Garlic spread alone on bread, or paired with other tapas.

Roasted Almonds
A small bowl of lightly salted pre-roasted almonds will do. But if you can, find them raw and then oil, salt, and roast them yourself.

Almond Gazpacho
A creamy, cold soup with a touch of garlic. Savory and addictive.

Tosta
Similar to canapes, crostini, or bruschetta. Start with good, fresh bread thinly sliced and toast lightly in the oven at 275-300 degrees. Then top with:

• Goat or cream cheese with tapenade (olive paste) or strips of roasted red peppers
• Roasted Garlic
• Manchego cheese, or gruyere, with roasted red peppers
• Cooked asparagus spears with manchego or fontina cheese, lightly toasted.
• Aioli with fresh tomato slices, or marinated artichoke hearts, or roasted red pepper strips.

Catalan Spinach
A very simple medley of spinach, raisins, and pine nuts.

Olives
Buy an assortment of unpitted, marinated olives. (Usually near the deli, or in jars.) Kalamatas and manzanillas are favorites; but experiment with what you can find. Rinse off any excess marinade, microwave (10 seconds!) or saute very briefly to warm them. Place in a small pretty dish, 8 - 12 at a time. Refresh dish periodically.

What are your favorites?

Aioli - not your average Mayo

Making your own mayonnaise is pretty darn simple, and yields a noticeably fresher-tasting spread. You control the ingredients, including cage-free eggs, gluten-free mustard, or any other aspects of special importance to you. And you can add any flavorings you like, such as the garlic that defines aioli.

Image: Epicurious

Aioli is a staple of northeast Spain (land of tapas), southern France (the better butter of Provence), and parts of Italy.
For tapas, it is usually spread on bread, then topped with veggies.

Cooking Tip:
Prepare ahead and keep some on hand. Stores well for a week or more in the fridge.

To Prepare:

• Peel 4 to 5 garlic cloves and chop coarsely.
• Crush in a pestle, or blend in a food processor, with 1/2 tsp salt.
• Add 1 cup mayonnaise, 2 tsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp olive oil, and a pinch of white or lemon pepper.
• Mix well.
• Use immediately, or refrigerate promptly.

Variation: for a milder flavor, try using roasted garlic instead of raw (may require a few more cloves).

Roasted Garlic

Roasted garlic is served many ways - spread on bread, added to homemade salad dressings, and mixed into any dish that calls for garlic but needs a creamier texture and milder flavor. Especially popular in recipes from Spain, France, and Italy. As a condiment or ingredient, the cloves add very few calories, no saturated fats, and both dietary fiber and phytonutrients.

Cooking Tip:

Image: Simple Daily Recipes

Prepare ahead and keep some on hand. Stores well for a week or more in the fridge.

To Prepare:

• Start with 2 to 4 whole heads of garlic.
• Remove a bit of skin, but not so much the cloves separate.
• Cut the top half-inch off of each head.
• Place in the oven on aluminum foil or a baking dish.
• Add 1 Tbsp water and seal the foil pouch or cover the dish.
• Bake 45 to 60 minutes at 375 degrees. (longer if temp lower)
• Test for doneness - they should be very soft to the touch.
• Cool and serve by squeezing cloves out.

Bonus Points: Try making roasted garlic in a solar oven.

Homemade Hummus Among Us

If you usually buy hummus at the grocery store, you may be surprised to find how easy and inexpensive this healthy snack can be to make yourself.

This Mediterranean food can be found in Greece, Turkey, and throughout the Middle East. I first tried it from the original Moosewood - the vegetarian cooking Bible at that time. More recently, it's become popular as a convenience food, and can be found or made in a wide variety of flavor combinations.

Ingredients

• 1 15-oz can (425 g) of garbanzo beans (or chickpeas)
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup tahini (pureed sesame seeds)
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh if possible - use more if Meyer lemon)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic (fresh if possible, or the equivalent amount from a jar or freezer cube)
• 1/2 parsley, chopped
• A pinch of cumin
• Salt to taste
• Options for twists on flavoring (see below)

Preparation

1. Drain the beans, peel the garlic, and roughly chop the parsley.
2. Throw all the ingredients together into a food processor (a blender will do, in a pinch).
3. Blend until creamy. This may require stopping to scrape mix off the bowl sides a few times.

Makes about half a quart.

Variations for the Adventurous
Add any one (maybe two) of these to a batch, to acheive a new taste sensation:

• Black olives (pitted, of course) or tapenade
• Roasted red peppers
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Fresh basil or a dab of pesto

Served As a Dip:
Place in a bowl, with a large plate underneath.
Surround the bowl with cut vegetables - carrots, cucumbers, bell pepper slices, jicama.
You can also offer pita bread sliced into wedges on a side plate.

Hummus as a Sandwich Spread:
Spread onto a slice of good bread, and top with an heirloom tomato layer, cucumbers, or sprouts.
Eat open-faced.

Tasting Club - Book Review

Dina Cheney's enjoyable book introduces socially-minded food lovers to a new concept: the tasting club.
Patterned after the better known book club model, members get together at each other's homes to sample one particular food at each meeting.
Dina teaches you how to host this type of gathering, including the ideal number of guests, how to set up the space, and what to serve as drinks, palette cleansers, and accompaniments.

Strong Points:

• There is very useful background provided on each of the highlighted foods (which have separated chapters).
• The how-to's for each would put any novice at ease.
• The recipes for accompaniments look tasty.
• Gorgeous photos dress up every section of the book.
• The perspective is well-educated on food, but not elitist - you need not be a 'foodie' to enjoy it.

Points to Improve:

• Stong bias for foods from New England may leave some readers at a loss.
• Local foods could be promoted much more strongly. The emphasis on imported foods serves to reinforce the 'good things only come from abroad' fallacy.

Foods Highlighted:
Wine
Chocolate
Cheese
Honey
Tea
Olive Oil
Cured Meats
Apples
Beer

My Twist:
Follow Dina's template, but highlight the best seasonal foods of your local area.