Garbage Night (aka Playing Ketchup)

Empty Fridge with film and ketchup

The refrigerator is oddly empty so I’ve decided that tonight should be Garbage Night. Tonight we will eat whatever crap is in there. Hopefully it isn’t a gross combo…

DINNER MENU

• Whitefish salad (Russ & Daughters) on cracker. There is only one cracker’s worth (each) left. And that sh!t is too good to toss.

• Edamame from freezer. (see, NEW RULES)

• Salad. Definitely the last day for the greens. Thankfully we’re getting more food tomorrow.

• Pea Soup. Just made from frozen peas.

• Butternut Squash Soufflé. Heated up in oven from freezer. I have no idea where they came from or when we bought them. (see, NEW RULES)

• Sausage. Grilled in pan. A little salsa on top. These are the most delicious vegetarian sausage in existence. We discovered this company at Bark. I like them better than meat sausages. We always have these around and are great when you need a protein. No, I’m not a vegetarian. Yes, they’re very good.

• Vanilla ice cream. Leftover from the tasting. Can probably find some cookies, too.

• Beer or wine, water or seltzer.

NEW RULES:

No more frozen fruits and vegetables. Not until we prove that we actually eat it. We never just “toss some in” as we think we might. And we don’t bring edamame as snacks. We just don’t. Keep buying peas though. It’s a good soup and only takes a few minutes to make.

No more impulse buys at Trader Joes’. Under what situation will frozen File of Sole suddenly sound appealing? And, please, no more random meals from Asian markets. There is too much sodium. And questionable ingredients. I am too afraid to actually try them. Yes, (vegetarian) mackerel would be delicious as an appetizer with nori and avocado, I just can’t imagine defrosting that thing when I happen to remember to buy nori and my avocado is perfectly ripe.

IN CONCLUSION:

I think Garbage Night was a success. The fridge and freezer are neat and organized and I didn’t spend a cent. I had some protein, some veg, some carbs, some fiber and some fat. And I stayed on Plan. With all of the money I saved, maybe I should buy a new pair of skinny jeans...

JA, Your dinner is ready!

There is a possibility that I have made the ugliest soup in the world. And, I doubled the recipe so that we can have a lifetime supply of it. Some Feral readers might beg to differ. This looked pretty ugly. This too.

I have the last laugh though: when I plan out my meals, I lose weight. And what can be bad? Its a green lentil soup with curried brown butter, coconut milk (and coconut oil!!) and chives. Yum!! I hope JA likes it. (I’m going out tonight. Tomorrow’s lunch).

Green Curry Lentil Soup

with curried brown butter, and chives

JA,

Drizzle top with brown butter curry and chives—it’ll

help it not be so ugly. Eat with baguette. Drink beer.

And don’t forget to have a salad.

Love,

Feral

Beer. Brown butter curry. Chives.

Holy Smokin’ Easy Soup!

JustAwesome asked me to make a pea soup today. From frozen peas. She said it was super easy and really good. I don’t love peas, honestly. I find them too sweet. But I trust her judgement—if she said it is really good, then it is really good.

It is sooooooooo freakin’ good.

Not pretty, but smokin’!

The most challenging part is reading the recipe, which is, oddly, in paragraph form. I don’t usually type recipes, but I can’t resist here.

The quickest and best soup you can make is to cook 3 cups of frozen peas in 2 cups of vegetable stock made with a good-quality bouillon cube. When the peas are tender, purée in the food processor or blender. Add some olive oil (preferably basil-infused) and season to taste. Serve Parmesan to sprinkle over.

And that’s it. She does go on to say that you can add ham or this or that but that is basically it.

I used Whole Foods’ 365 organic petite frozen peas and Pacific veggie broth. Immersion blender. Salt. Pepper. Then, instead of basil-infused olive oil, I used a Smoked Extra Virgin Olive Oil that we just picked up this weekend. Clearly the pièce de résistance. Holy smokes!

Great with the leftover gougères that we froze!