A Fridge Full of Possibilities đź’š
I keep coming back to kale salad.
I know I've talked about kale before, but there's something about this vegetable that I just love, especially now that I've discovered how to prepare it properly.
And this week, along with another batch of my favourite kale salad, I found myself cooking a four-dish vegetarian dinner for my in-laws, using vegetables that were already sitting in my fridge.
It's funny how much my attitude towards cooking has changed since I started receiving my weekly OrganicBox.
My Favourite Kale Salad Trick
If there's one thing I've learnt, it's that a little bit of preparation can completely transform a vegetable.
With kale, it's all about giving it a massage!
I strip the leaves away from the stalks, add approximately two teaspoons of olive oil and a quarter teaspoon of salt, and then massage everything together with my hands for about a minute.
It sounds almost too simple to make a difference, but it really does.
The kale softens, the flavour improves, and what can sometimes be a fairly tough vegetable becomes something lovely to eat.
If I've got leftover green beans or snow peas, I'll blanch those and add them too.
Then I open the pantry and see what I can find.
Pistachios, toasted almonds, sesame seeds, dried cranberries, activated pepitas, hemp seeds. Really, anything goes!
The wonderful thing about this salad is that I don't even need to make a dressing. The olive oil, salt and all those delicious additions give it plenty of flavour.
And it keeps beautifully in the fridge for days, which makes it perfect for lunches or adding to dinner throughout the week.
A Last-Minute Dinner Invitation
Last Friday, I decided at the very last minute to invite my in-laws over for a vegetarian dinner.
Now, once upon a time, that probably would have meant finding a few recipes, writing a shopping list and heading out to buy everything I needed.
But this time, I simply opened the fridge.
I still had broccoli from the previous week's OrganicBox delivery, and it was looking every bit as good as the fresh broccoli that had arrived that morning.
There was also some leftover cabbage and mushrooms waiting to be used.
Rather than thinking about what I needed to buy, I started thinking about what I could make.
And that's when the fun began!
Four Dishes, One Very Happy Dinner Table
I've been finding so much inspiration from other people who love cooking with vegetables, particularly Caitlin Latessa-Greene from @starinfinitefood.
Her recipes have encouraged me to look at familiar vegetables in completely different ways.
For our dinner, I decided to try two of her creations.
The first was a Roasted Cabbage Salad with Orange Walnut Goat Cheese Crumble.
After last week's caramelised cabbage discovery, I was more than happy to experiment with cabbage again! I would never have imagined that this humble vegetable could be used in so many interesting and delicious ways.
The second was a Crunchy Roasted Broccoli Salad with Creamy Garlic-Miso.
I love that broccoli can go from being a simple steamed side vegetable to becoming the centrepiece of a dish, just by changing the way it's prepared and what you serve with it.
I also discovered two recipes from Nico Pallotta at The Plant Based School.
A Mediterranean Mushroom & Rice Stir-Fry, which was a lovely way to use the mushrooms I already had, and Crispy Fried Tofu, something a little different to add to our vegetarian dinner.
Four completely different dishes, all inspired by the fresh produce I already had at home.
And they were all an absolute winner!
Even the In-Laws Approved!
My father-in-law is 88 and my mother-in-law is 84, and I'm delighted to say they thoroughly enjoyed our vegetarian feast.
Since starting my OrganicBox journey, they've become quite accustomed to being the first people to try my latest kitchen creations.
I think they've accepted their role as my official guinea pigs!
And I love that they're always so willing to try something different.
There's something really satisfying about sharing a meal you've made from scratch, particularly when you've managed to turn a collection of leftover vegetables into something that everyone genuinely enjoys.
From 'What Will I Do With This?' to 'What Can I Create?'
I've been reflecting quite a lot lately on how my cooking habits have changed.
When I first started receiving my weekly OrganicBox, I would sometimes open the fridge and wonder how I was going to get through all the vegetables before the next delivery arrived.
I wanted to avoid waste, but I wasn't always sure what to do with everything.
Now, I find myself looking forward to seeing what's left in the fridge.
I'm trying recipes I probably wouldn't have considered before, discovering new flavour combinations and becoming much more confident about making meals from whatever I already have.
Even vegetables from the previous week's delivery are still beautifully fresh, giving me more time and more opportunities to experiment.
And rather than feeling like I have to use something up, I'm excited about what I might be able to make with it.
That's probably been the biggest change of all.
I'm no longer looking at the vegetables in my fridge thinking, "What am I going to do with all of this?"
I'm looking at them thinking, "What can I create?"
And that has made cooking so much more enjoyable.
Who would have thought that a weekly box of vegetables could change the way I feel about being in the kitchen?
đź’š
Alice's Fridge Rescue Tip
Before writing a shopping list, have a good look at what's already in your fridge and pantry.
You might be surprised by how many wonderful meals you can create without buying anything extra.
And if you've never tried massaging kale with a little olive oil and salt, give it a go. One minute really can make all the difference!
Recipes That Inspired This Week's Fridge Rescue
I love sharing the recipes that inspire me, so if you'd like to try any of the dishes from our family dinner, here are the original recipes and their creators.
From Caitlin Latessa-Greene — @starinfinitefood
From Nico Pallotta — The Plant Based School
Thank you to these wonderful recipe creators for continuing to inspire me to try something new with the vegetables in my fridge.
. Â
About Alice
Alice is an OrganicBox customer who loves finding simple ways to use what's left in her fridge before her next delivery arrives.
We share her Fridge Rescue ideas because they're exactly that — ideas from a real customer, cooking at home, using what she has and trying not to waste good food.
New box on the way, fridge rescued today. đź’š
