Earlier that day,  I had pulled out three 4-ounce sirloin steaks from the freezer to defrost by the time I got in from work, but I didn’t have anything else  readily available to make for our guests on such short notice. I didn’t have any onions, broccoli  or peppers,  which would have been great to make a wok version of stir-fried steak over rice.  I had two choices. I could either order pizza,  which wasn’t in the budget.

I needed to somehow make a miracle and work with what I had.

So, I looked in the refrigerator to find what else was in there.  I had plenty of  baby spinach, a few leftover potatoes,  a spring mix salad, grape tomatoes, a few scallions, two ears of corn on the cob and plenty of salad dressings. I also found some fresh pizza dough, which was also left over from the day before.

Bingo ! We’d have a huge dinner in one salad.

I cubed and sauteed the potatoes in olive oil, put the steaks under the broiler and tossed everything into one huge salad.

I rolled out the pizza dough, glazed it with olive oil, garlic powder and basil, and sliced it into bread sticks. Then, I glazed the sticks with spaghetti sauce, liberally sprinkled fresh grated Parmesan cheese and baked them to couple with the salad.

The entire spur-of- the moment dinner took less than 20 minutes. Best yet, everyone was delighted.

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But deep house cleaning in the spring isn’t the only thing we should be concerned about. Our bodies, just like our homes, need a change of pace and food. During the winter, we needed to consume heavier foods to help fuel our bodies and insulate us against the cold bitter days. Now that it’s warmer, we should be thinking about eating lighter foods that are easier to digest in the heat.

Spring is a great season for foods like strawberries, peas, baby asparagus and all types of salads. I was also very surprised to learn that my favorite fish, wild alaskan salmon, wouldn’t be available until next month or even early summer through the fall. So unfortunately, I had to purchase farm-raised salmon.

Meanwhile, I’m headed to the co-op to find some fresh berries.

But I also love, love, love avocados. 

And I like them so much that I can eat them whole with a spoon. But if you’d like to make them into some awesome guacamole, just cut them into tiny cubes, and add a few drops of fresh lime juice, salt, pepper, fresh garlic (finely minced) and a small red onion (finely diced). Put this on a plate full of your favorite kind of lettuce and tomatoes, and you have an entire meal.

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We’ re at the bottom of the turkey, which, of course, means it’s time for me to make soup. But before we got there, I served several days of different fare from the original dinner.

The day-after, most of us are way too tired to cook, and with plenty of turkey left on the bone, sandwiches are in order. The turkey is still fresh and if  it was cooked correctly, it’s also very tender. One of our favorite turkey sandwiches uses almost the entire meal, and it’s simple. Just set the food out, and let everyone make their own.

Cranberry sauce, salad and stuffing are included in our whopper turkey sandwich that’s so thick you can barely get your mouth around it.

Whopper Turkey Sandwich

Directions

Slice a very good bakery bread the way you like it.

Slather bread with honey mustard, salad dressing or mayonnaise.

Neatly layer stuffing, cranberry sauce and sliced turkey.

Wrap it foil and warm it in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove it from oven, add salad, and slice and eat.

Or omit the salad, and add arugula or a heartier green, and grill the sandwich as a panini.

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Had anyone told me when I was a child that soup would become one of my favorite meals, I would have laughed them to the moon. Growing up, childhood soups were limited to cans of Campbell’s, and the variety of flavors was very limited in our house. That’s because my mother made most of our daily meals fresh and from scratch, so there was no need to open a can of anything very often. 

But every once and awhile, she’d add soup along with our lunchtime sandwiches, either Cream of Tomato, Chicken Noodle or Cream of Shrimp. 

Today, while on a budget that is way more meager than my mom’s, I’ve incorporated soup into my meals as a mainstay instead of an addition. The big difference is that my soups are made from scratch and usually take me hours to prepare. The upside is that more often than not, my soups are hearty enough to be considered a meal. Very often, I freeze them for later. 

For me, the key is to make the soups as fresh as possible. 

Fatimah’s  Garden Vegetable Soup 

One huge soup pot 

3 large zucchinis, quartered and sliced 

3 large yellow squash, quartered and sliced 

1 large red onion, finely chopped 

2 yellow peppers, diced 

1 red pepper, diced 

1/2 pound string beans, halved 

5 sweet potatoes, quartered and cut into wedges 

3 large Yukon gold potatoes, cubed 

2 jars large jars of vegetarian spaghetti sauce 

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced 

3 lbs vine-ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced 

1/4 cup light olive oil 

1 head fresh garlic, finely diced 

1/4 cup of fresh parsley, finely diced 

1/8 cup fresh cilantro, finely diced 

2 cups pot liquor or vegetable broth 

1 small bag of baby carrots 

Directions 

Heat light olive oil on medium heat and saute onions, peppers, garlic until soft. 

Add mushrooms and then the rest of the vegetables, adding the tomatoes and then the fresh herbs last. 

Cover and simmer on low heat, while stirring now and then, until the vegetables cook down (about 1 1/2 hours). 

Add vegetable broth and continue simmering on low heat until all of the vegetables are soft. 

Turn off heat and allow pot to rest for 15 minutes. 

Serve with cornbread, muffins or garlic bread. 

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Then with herbs from my potted herb garden – which included fresh basil and oregano – plus the last of my home-grown tomatoes, I used the rest to make vegetable soup later in the week.

I work for an organization called Resources for Human Development as development manager for Philadelphia’s first homeless newspaper called One Step Away. Every week, Equal Dollars brings  in a haul of locally grown, mostly organic produce from area farms - some of which are in Lancaster County, which is a hub for outside Philadelphia for organic farming.

Deneene, who like me is a foodie and who also caters, established Equal Dollars a few years ago, and provides fresh produce and other items to employees of the organization. Every week, we get an opportunity to buy fresh vegetables with Equal Dollars currency, a kind of bartering system.

* * * * *

Many people think that it’s impossible to make collards taste good without using animal flesh. Some folks have turned to turkey butts or turkey wings for flavoring because they don’t eat pork. I certainly don’t partake in any parts of the pig and haven’t since I was 18. But that’s another blog. I’ve written in the past about making vegetarian collards. The best part about them is the “pot liquor,” which is the broth created by boiling the greens, seasonings and herbs  in spring water.

Pot liquor is the basis for any great vegetable soup and it can be frozen. My pot liquor can be used as it is or combined with beans and an assortment of vegetables in a crock pot. (Photo here by QuintanaRoo is of her navy bean soup.)

The next time you make any type of fresh vegetables, save the pot liquor. I guarantee you it will flavor your soups and stews so well that you’ll never consider throwing it away again.

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My Pesto Pasta is really simple to make, and it’s a real filler for vegetarians. When I’m making a small amount,  and don’t feel like hauling out the food processor to make fresh pesto, I buy a good brand of pesto sauce from Weavers’ Way Co-op, which recently opened up a third state-of-the-art market near me.  (Photo above shows fresh basil and baby spinach from photographer satakiele.)

Pesto is basically made from garlic, fresh basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese and pine nuts, and blended in the food processor. Pesto can be used on any type of pasta, but I also like to serve it with rice, chicken or slices of mozzarella cheese with vine-ripe tomato slices.

Bowtie Pasta with Pesto for 6

Ingredients

One bag of bowtie pasta cooked al dente (slightly firm)

½ cup of fresh pesto sauce

2 cups baby spinach

1 cup grape tomatoes, washed and halved

½ cup shaved parmesan cheese

6 cups of boiling water

Directions

Bring water to a rapid boil and cook pasta for 6-8 minutes (until al dente).

Turn off heat and add spinach to wilt it.

Drain pasta while it’s still hot, and add pesto and tomatoes.

Garnish with parmesan cheese.

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This peppermint  will take over my yard if I let it
but it’s great for making iced tea.

I don’t normally buy too much meat for my family, especially in the summer. We eat a mostly vegetarian diet with a little bit of flesh thrown in. I always buy my chicken from the farmer’s market because the animals are raised on local farms where they receive more humane treatment. Chickens fed on the ground are much healthier than those from commercial farmers because they are nourished outside and in the sunlight rather than being fed  from a feeder in a factory with thousands of others. Plus, factory-grown animals are always shot up with hormones to make them grow abnormally faster.

Also at the farmer’s market, the butcher is willing to custom-pound the meat, which helps to tenderize it before you cook it.

In the summer, I prefer mostly fish, and am starting to eat less and less of it - especially in light of the Gulf oil spill (and who knows how far that will travel).  I’m moving away from seafood as well. Farm-raised seafood, although it might not have the same pollutants found in the ocean, have  other problems such as bacteria. Plus farm-raised fish just isn’t authentic enough for my tastebuds and it doesn’t really taste enough like the ocean.

Which brings me to this: I love vegetables, especially in the springtime. There’s nothing better than a stir-fried or steamed medley of fresh veggies. I love buying my vegetables from the co-op or from local farmer’s markets for pretty much the same reason as for meat. They are much fresher and organic, and those farmers don’t use chemically laced pesticides. In fact, some vegetables are so fresh they still have dirt on their roots.

Every summer I try to grow a few more herbs. Last year I started with peppermint and rosemary, which are both great for seasoning many foods. Peppermint is a weed and it has taken over my garden. This year I added lemongrass and I’m also trying to grow tomatoes. With a small yard I can’t grow too much. But many people are turning their roofs  into roof-top vegetable gardens. I’m not there yet , but still I find that concept fascinating.

I’m at the beginning of growing tomatoes and the experts say I should grow something for them to climb up. Any suggestions?

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Crudites are not only healthy for your kids, but will also help you keep the pounds off. Anyone who’s ever thrown a good party knows about crudites, the  French array of assorted fresh vegetables that are either blanched or served raw on a platter, and surrounded with dips, ranch dressing or hummus.

Crudites are almost always standard fare at banquettes, cocktail parties and dinner parties. But they are also a fabulous snack and are great for ready-to-serve  lunches for school or work.

Simply take broccoli, carrots, peppers, asparagus, mushrooms or any other vegetables – either raw or blanched with a little seasoning in boiling water (for a minute), seal them in ziplock bags for freshness and pack them with dips of your choosing.

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Muddie  made  her succotash with fresh corn, cream and lima beans. I distinctly remember her having a lot of butter and even white sugar in the recipe. Succotash can be a blend of many vegetables, and I like to mix mine with okra.

I have a standard rule about food in my house: Live food for live people. I believe that although GOD has equipped our bodies to handle a lot of the junk we put into our bellies, He really intended for us to flourish from eating live foods and a lot of fruits and vegetables.

If you believe the Christian account of creation, the Bible’s first chapter Genesis show Adam and Eve eating mostly fruits and nuts. It wasn’t until after The Flood that humans really got into eating a lot of meat. That’s why GOD made Noah build an ark so he could mate two of everything since all of the vegetation died during the floods.

Those thoughts in mind, I try to follow in my mother and grandmother’s steps and buy my produce from locally grown farmers instead of commercial supermarkets.

My succotash may have similar roots, but it also has fewer calories and less fat because I use rice milk instead of dairy, which is much healthier. The difference between her succotash and commercial succotash (as seen in this photograph by H4NUM4N) is that she used fresh corn kernels she cut by hand rather than using a can opener. I detest canned food because it seems really dead to me. I’m a little less squeamish about flash-frozen food.

Like my mother and grandmothers, I prefer everything fresh. In this recipe, I do make an exception and use frozen lima beans.

Succotash

2 cups frozen lima beans, defrosted and drained

2 cups fresh white corn, cut from husks

½ cup okra, sliced

1 red pepper, diced

1 large red onion, diced

2 vine ripe tomatoes, diced

¼ cup virgin olive oil

3 cloves crushed, garlic

3 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

Roux

3 tbsp honey

3 tbsp soy butter

1  1/2  tbsp unbleached flour

1  1/2  cups of rice or almond milk

• Melt butter in a pan.
• Mix in flour until it becomes a paste and slowly stir in milk.
• Reduce heat and stir until it becomes a creamy sauce.
• In a Dutch oven, heat olive oil on medium heat and sauté in this order: garlic, onions, peppers, corn, okra, lima beans and  tomatoes. While this is cooking down, make a  roux  and mix with the succotash. Let simmer until okra is soft, but not slimy. Serve over rice or couscous, either by itself or as a side dish.

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A good soup stock doesn’t have to come from something that walks around. Good vegetarian soup stocks can come from a variety of sources, and one of my favorites is miso soup.

I love miso’s ability to blend with so many other things, and a good miso stock is simple to make.

It’s great with vegetables like squash or spinach or asparagus. But miso also tastes good by itself, with tofu and scallions, sea weed or even stocked with leftovers for a heartier soup.

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