Cleaning out the Fridge, Part 1

Our fridge has been filling up for the past few weeks between a bountiful harvest of tomatoes & peppers, not having time to cook as much as usual because work’s suddenly gotten really busy, and spending too much time at the farmer’s market and food co-op - so today I had to knuckle down and do something about it.

I have a “waste-not, want-not” philosophy, so pretty much nothing organic (as in “once alive”) ends up in the landfill.    When I had kids at home, everything we couldn’t use right away went into our huge chest freezer.  Every few months I’d clean it out & make “freezer soup” or “freezer stew” (my kids will remember this) - but now I no longer have the big freezer, so I have to get creative!

First, separate the "edible for humans" contents from the "probably not edible for humans."  I didn't throw out the "non-edibles," because they have their uses too, but you'll have to come back next week to find out about those!

Today's "edible" efrigerator contents yielded:  formerly fresh, but now wrinkly & soft sweet peppers, slightly dried-out carrots, yellowish celery, a couple garden tomatoes, 2 squashes that were getting soft, several slightly soft onions, an overripe avocado, half a loaf of bread (from the counter, not the fridge), a couple overripe peaches, 1 garlic bulb, 2 dried out lemons and a dried out grapefruit, 6 "old" apples, and part of a daikon radish.  Here's what I ended up with.

 

Roasted Pepper Soup

·        Roasted Pepper Soup:  Red, green & yellow sweet peppers, onions, garlic, and vegetable broth.  Slice and broil/roast the peppers till blackened/blistered (about 20 minutes on High). Peel, chop and add to vegetable broth, along with onion, garlic, salt & pepper.  Cook on low.   No veggie broth?  Make some with the rest of the past-their-prime veggies. 

·        Veggie Broth:  6 small potatoes (from the pantry), 3 carrots, 3 stalks of celery, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 small onions, 2 squash, and a handful of parsley from the garden – add water, salt & pepper.  Cook until soft – about an hour (while the peppers cool so you can peel them).  Remove the vegetable pieces.  

Veggie Broth

• Veggie Puree:  don’t throw out the leftover veggies from the broth!  My grandmother used to trick us kids into eating veggies by running them through the blender and adding them to soups, stews, pasta sauce, meatloaf, or gravy as a vitamin booster & flavor enhancer.  If you have too much to use today – freeze it.

• Guacamole:  Puree avocado, a tomato, an onion, 1-2 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper & a little lemon juice in the blender or food processor.

• Apple Jerky:  Slice & core apples, sprinkle with cinnamon & dry at low heat in the oven or in a food dehydrator for a couple hours.

•  Peach Syrup (also works with blueberries & other soft fruits):  Slice and cook with a little water & sugar until fruit breaks down & thickens.  Great over ice cream, pancakes or waffles.

• Dried Citrus Peel (for later) or Citrus Marmalade:  Dried peels can be chopped & dried to season breads, cookies, and cakes.  I could have also used the peel, fruit and juice to make citrus marmalade. For marmalade - bring chopped citrus peel, juice, and a little sugar to a boil, cook for a few minutes till thick & let cool.  I love this on homemade corn muffins.

• Dried Out Bread:  Sometimes I make turkey/poultry stuffing  (tear it up, add some herbs & freeze) OR bread crumbs (same as stuffing, but run it through the food processor).  Bread pudding is another good option.  Tear up stale bread, add eggs, milk, a little vanilla, cinnamon, a little sugar and dried fruit (raisins, currants, cranberries, apples), & bake in the oven for about an hour. 

And there you have it - refrigerator clean, and mission accomplished!

Next time I'll talk about what to do with the non-edible leftovers.