the five meals you meet before grocery shopping
cleaning-out-the-fridge + making that dinner 🍴
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in these new-found rural years as a functional adult who likes to cook, it’s just that: Life is better with good food, and an even better dinner.
Yeah, days might seem longer, and life can be hard when you live so remotely and winter-y for so much of the year. I’ve already gone on & on about this stuff. I’m not a broken record. Hello, I’m…passionate.
There have certainly been “experiences”, such as multi-day power outages, weeks (and weeks…) far below zero, off-trail shenanigans, the art of learning to not visit a grocery store every day (and duh, by that I mean, weeks that becomes months) and hot darn, those dry cabin years. Those uh, devoted cast iron years. Where, to put it gently, camping no longer felt dirty and really, suddenly became fun. And those campfires, what a satisfying and calming epiphany of my own human history.
I swear - I have little doubt – that some of this living has taken years off of my life.
But with a huge capital B, on the other side of those exhaustions and eye-openers, I have even less doubt that these “life lessons” have made me soooo much stronger than twenty-and-thirty-something jess could quite literally never, ever have anticipated. That’s some living.
And in the culinary vein, because of course it comes back to the sanity & savory of my kitchen when I’m ‘scrappin, I feel stronger than ever, too.
It’s more than horn tooting.
It’s getting older, it’s practice, it’s confidence, and it’s utterly/intentionally/sustainably/seriously making the most out of what’s on hand.
Those ‘good eats’ I talked about in the first little bit are more often warm, they’re cozy, and they very likely involve a cast iron. Old habits, new habits, dinner.
Looking back, the two staple meals of my young-er adult years stay true: Stir-fries and Pasta. If anything, and now almost ironically when it comes to my access most of the year in Yellowstone, these two dinners involve more vegetables in my life than ever. Well, maybe. Ideally!
Getting to the tasty point!
There are five go-to meals in my repertoire that I turn to when it’s been a while since a grocery run. Weeks, months, who knows. These dishes politely & pointedly make the most of the limp kale and remaining two sprigs of parsley we should or should not be keeping in the fridge. It’s when we’re down to the last few Montana-grown carrots and hopefully a few potatoes - ‘cause I’m patiently waiting for real! new! potato season this summer – and that’s a bold statement when baked potatoes a la Idaho/Montana are *such* a way of life in this part of the country. I’m not joking. They’re in convenience stores.
So. Potatoes, impending.
Back to my kitchen: Is there garlic? Probably. Hmm, peek into the freezer, peruse the seemingly never-ending pantry showcase of canned goods, dried grains, and gaze upon all those marvelous jarred sauces & condiments in the fridge. Farro, it could be your day. Thai curry pastes: I’m always thinking of y’all. Thanks for what you do. Likewise, pasta. We really do go back.
Dinner impending !
“THE FIVE MEALS YOU MEET BEFORE GROCERY SHOPPING”, remote-living-jess edition:
It’s become something of a dare - a personal culinary challenge - a sudden round of tournament of champions with my freezer - to see what unfolds for dinner the week before that much-needed grocery shop.
1. THE EVERYTHING-GOES, SERIOUSLY CLEAN-OUT-THE-FRIDGE COMMITTED RAMEN STIR-FRY
This one calls for a just-hydrated packet of ramen, cold rice or extra rice noodles, any & every veg possible from both the fridge and freezer, maybe some cooked protein such as baked tofu or soy curls (because well, there is never, ever extra tempeh in our fridge with my tempeh-loving spouse), that hot cast iron, some aromatics, toasted sesame oil, sugar, something salty, and and the decision to veer the flavors/fridge sauces towards Thai, Chinese, Korean, or uh, fusion-y. Bonus points for fresh lime wedges, one of the chili oils, and some pickled radishes that are pretty much always in the fridge. It’s really Pad Mama by feel & flavor, right to my heart and stomach.
The basics follow…
2. THE PRETTY–PRETTY-PRETTY-PRETTY QUICK SQUASH + SEEDS MAC & CHEEZE
Okay, there is always canned pumpkin in my kitchen (hi cats) and whether I break out the Vita-Mix or a mason jar and immersion blender, it’s time for a speedy mac & cheese base courtesy of pepitas and/or sunflower seeds - ‘cause nary a treenut in this house, nooch, a spoonful of miso, a smidge of garlic & onion powder, some mustard and lemon juice/apple cider vinegar to taste for acidity, paprika when I remember it, some tapioca starch for texture, olive oil, water or milk to thin things out, requisite salt, pepper and hey, hot sauce to taste - and look at all those old school vegan mac & chz essentials going to work. Don’t measure anything. Keep tasting. Blend, blend, blend, and boil your noodles. Drain the al dente elbows or whatev, add the sauce to the pan with the noodz and let it thicken, bring to a boil, whisk & stir & add a little reserved pasta cooking water as needed. Eat with a side of warmed frozen peas or greens. Maybe a few chickin’ nugz or roasted (canned! rinsed!) smokey chickpeas for protein. Yup, plus more hot sauce.
3. ‘TIS BOWL O’CLOCK
Ah, yes, some of this, some of that, grains, hopefully a green, something saucey, definitely a bowl. Taking it back to 2010 and the quickly growing number of endearing Portland food carts with “bowl” in the name. This is a bowl of cooked lentils or beans with your grain of choice, or perhaps with toast or pita or tortillas and most likely in my kitchen, some trusty cabbage slaw and tahini dressing. Just thinking about it makes me want to add some Braggs Liquid Aminos, although then I remember they might be wearing red hats these days. I might check on that. More importantly, there are at least 3 other types of soy sauces/tamari in my fridge and this type of dinner can go in endless ways with global influences from here, there & everywhere. I’m talking Kik Alicha, Jamaican Chickpea Curry, Ful Medames, Chana Masala, Cuban Black Beans, Frijoles Borrachos, etc-cet-era !
4. HEYYYY, JULES-IS-COOKING TONIGHT AKA SWEET PEA + PESTO RISOTTO
What a delight. Yours truly starts the mise-en-place, and then my dear spouse takes the wheel and makes his speciality. I kid you not, this happens on the semi-regular.
This one is definitely up when there’s an extra jar of stock in the fridge and no interest in soup (no offense, soup!) and you know I made that stock. Well, the instant pot did. The staple risotto in our house calls for frozen peas (duh), an open bottle of wine (double duh) any remaining herbs, some of the summer freezer archives pesto (triple duh), and if we have Beyond Sausage, which we usually do (again, in the freezer), it’s getting sliced and browned in a cast iron in the oven while Jules cooks the risotto above. The timing and dinner is swell. <3
5. AND “HEY, WE HAVE A FREEZER!” AKA BREAK OUT THE CHICKIN’ NUGZ + ANY SIDE OF VEG
…which realistically, is frozen peas or corn or dare I say that limp kale, perhaps jazzed up with some miso butter. Okay, or just hot sauce. Our mutual favorite widely available vegan chickin’ nugz - what a time to have a freezer - are the Simulate ‘big’ tenders and the Impossible. Come on, we can be relatable sometimes!
AND THE RUNNER-UPS:
Aglio e Olio: spaghetti, olive oil, garlic - there must be some garlic, right?? + parsley if we have it, obligatory chili flakes and/or jarred Calabrian chiles, salt, pepper, parm or nooch, twirl that fork. If I’m feeling special and salty, I’ll toss in some green olives.
Dal TBD + stovetop or sourdough naan
Potato Cabbage Hash if we have those two + whole grain dijon + garlic + canned or jarred hatch chiles + probably frozen corn
PSSST, HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Grilled Chz + Lentil Soup- or if that’s too out of reach - anything pickled already in the fridge.
And particularly if there’s some breakfast sausage in the freezer, I’m thinking Savory Chickpea Omelets or what the hey, FINE, it’s Pancakes for dinner. You got me.
What are *Your* go-to dinners before a big shop?
References + Relevant Links:
P.S. Full disclosure, we’ve been to the grocery stores a whopping two weeks in a row since I drafted this list. Whoa.
MAJOR YUM. Thank you for the recipe inspo!
Tacos or totchos! Canned black beans with sautéed onion and hopefully garlic, fajita seasoning, nooch, s&p, frozen roasted corn (and sometimes the TJ’s mexi cauli rice & veg mix). Top with pickled jalapeños and more nooch and hot sauce. If I have, I add tortilla chips inside the tacos.