Friday, November 5, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
What I Made for Dinner Tonight
We are on a strict budget. Since an obscene percent of our income is committed to ensuring our right to reside on the planet, we've more or less been forced to eat consciously. I don't think that we're eating in the way that Michael Pollan intends in his many books including Food Rules, but I do try to be mindful of his general precepts. I love to "source" foods of local origin. This does not mean going to the closest grocery store in the neighborhood, it means obtaining food that was grown within a a fairly close proximity of your neighborhood. Illinois, si! Paraguay, not so much.
But often, especially in our current version of eating consciously, buying it at the cheapest and closest grocery store is our first rule of urban food gathering. Trying at least to buy something that is in season on or near the North American continent is my second rule. If we didn't have a thick forest canopy over our backyard, we'd be growing it. Alas, there is very little edible that we can grow in our shade garden and besides, if it is edible and sometimes even if it is not, as in the case of say, the plastics recycling, Bruno will eat it before it can be harvested. Our neighborhood garden has a waiting list. They've used up approximately a third of the farmable area with landscaping which, although lovely to behold, is hard for me to drive by without a little bit of an attitude about all the tomatoes and peppers and basil I am missing.
That said, for tonight's dinner, we shopped at Aldi's, Schnucks and Jay's International. I also made use of the tiny bottles of Hendrick's gin given to us at Book Expo America last month.
I would rather not shop at Aldi's since the "Aldi "family is not local, (indeed, Trader Joe's is a sibling of Aldi's) but we do at least shop at an Aldi's located within the city limits so our tax dollars get reinvested here. I have always loved Jay's for its endless aisles of mysterious foods at rock bottom prices, although they don't have the best reputation for service. You are pretty much on your own as you try to decipher the multitude of languages on the various obscure and fascinating packages. But Jay's is there for the immigrants who know these languages, I am merely a visitor and I don't really mind the adventure of it.
I'm not sure of the cost of this meal because I didn't keep track. I will estimate it to be $9.50 excluding the wine.
The menu:
Grilled Shrimp on the barbie with Cilantro Lime Sauce
Grilled Zucchini
Sushi Rice
Pinot Grigio
Gin and Limeade
The shrimp were cooked, peeled, frozen and affordable at Aldi's. I thawed them, skewered them, slathered them with olive oil and stuck them on the grill long enough to make grill marks.
The cilantro lime sauce came from one of my favorite under-rated little cookbooks, The Asian Grill by David Barich and Thomas Ingalls. It has honey and fish sauce in it.
The grilled zucchini was exactly that: zucchini sliced lengthwise into zuke planks, painted with olive oil and grilled until not quite exhausted. I'm embarrassed to say the since I was too lazy to go to Soulard Farmer's Market on Saturday, these zukes were sourced from Aldi's.
The recipe for the sushi rice came from Japanese Light by Kimiko Barber, DK, 2006. (currently unavailable.) This time it was a bit dry owing to a lack of practise and lack of confidence. I knew the recipe didn't call for enough water but I followed it anyway. Also, my rice was not all that fresh. Use it or throw it away!
The Pinot Grigio was what was on sale at Schnucks.
The gin and limeade is pretty much self explanatory. Never say no to free alcohol. I smashed some ice cubes all over the place and put what crushed ice chips I could salvage into a favorite vintage glass to class it up.
Would I make this menu again? Yes. What would I do different? Fresher rice, fresher zucchini. And I would make two gin and limeades--one for each of us--and call in sick tomorrow.
But often, especially in our current version of eating consciously, buying it at the cheapest and closest grocery store is our first rule of urban food gathering. Trying at least to buy something that is in season on or near the North American continent is my second rule. If we didn't have a thick forest canopy over our backyard, we'd be growing it. Alas, there is very little edible that we can grow in our shade garden and besides, if it is edible and sometimes even if it is not, as in the case of say, the plastics recycling, Bruno will eat it before it can be harvested. Our neighborhood garden has a waiting list. They've used up approximately a third of the farmable area with landscaping which, although lovely to behold, is hard for me to drive by without a little bit of an attitude about all the tomatoes and peppers and basil I am missing.
That said, for tonight's dinner, we shopped at Aldi's, Schnucks and Jay's International. I also made use of the tiny bottles of Hendrick's gin given to us at Book Expo America last month.
I would rather not shop at Aldi's since the "Aldi "family is not local, (indeed, Trader Joe's is a sibling of Aldi's) but we do at least shop at an Aldi's located within the city limits so our tax dollars get reinvested here. I have always loved Jay's for its endless aisles of mysterious foods at rock bottom prices, although they don't have the best reputation for service. You are pretty much on your own as you try to decipher the multitude of languages on the various obscure and fascinating packages. But Jay's is there for the immigrants who know these languages, I am merely a visitor and I don't really mind the adventure of it.
I'm not sure of the cost of this meal because I didn't keep track. I will estimate it to be $9.50 excluding the wine.
The menu:
Grilled Shrimp on the barbie with Cilantro Lime Sauce
Grilled Zucchini
Sushi Rice
Pinot Grigio
Gin and Limeade
The shrimp were cooked, peeled, frozen and affordable at Aldi's. I thawed them, skewered them, slathered them with olive oil and stuck them on the grill long enough to make grill marks.
The cilantro lime sauce came from one of my favorite under-rated little cookbooks, The Asian Grill by David Barich and Thomas Ingalls. It has honey and fish sauce in it.
The grilled zucchini was exactly that: zucchini sliced lengthwise into zuke planks, painted with olive oil and grilled until not quite exhausted. I'm embarrassed to say the since I was too lazy to go to Soulard Farmer's Market on Saturday, these zukes were sourced from Aldi's.
The recipe for the sushi rice came from Japanese Light by Kimiko Barber, DK, 2006. (currently unavailable.) This time it was a bit dry owing to a lack of practise and lack of confidence. I knew the recipe didn't call for enough water but I followed it anyway. Also, my rice was not all that fresh. Use it or throw it away!
The Pinot Grigio was what was on sale at Schnucks.
The gin and limeade is pretty much self explanatory. Never say no to free alcohol. I smashed some ice cubes all over the place and put what crushed ice chips I could salvage into a favorite vintage glass to class it up.
Would I make this menu again? Yes. What would I do different? Fresher rice, fresher zucchini. And I would make two gin and limeades--one for each of us--and call in sick tomorrow.
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