How to Conquer Your Fear of Fresh Ingredients
By EMILY BATTLE
This column is not for the cooks out there who have been at it for decades and have all of Julia Child's works on their bookshelf. We salute you, but we're not there yet. This is for those who want to ditch habits of eating from the takeout menu or the frozen foods aisle, who yearn to put fresh ingredients in their grocery carts and turn them into healthy, flavorful dishes at home, but who are held back in this pursuit by a nagging fear.
This fear tugs at them as they stand in front of a display of fresh produce, longing to impress the checkout clerk with bags of fresh veggies instead of piles of Lean Cuisines. It is the fear of having to throw it all away.
This fear is most common for folks who:
-
a) are new to cooking, and have a limited repertoire;
-
b) cook for only one or two people; or
-
c) are too busy to spend hours planning menus.
The key to getting more fresh (and healthy) ingredients into your refrigerator is developing a 
bigger bag of tricks, or ways to use them.
When I started my journey away from dinners that call for punching holes in plastic before you stick them in the microwave, it was easy for me to buy vegetables and meats when I had a specific recipe in front of me. But I just don't have time to seek out a formula like that before putting my grocery list together.
So below, I offer five dinner ideas that are always in my head as I walk the produce and meat aisles. And during this time of spring cleaning, remember that these are great ways to use up extra vegetables and meats left over from recipes, or items that you want to rescue from an ugly fate before they plunge toward their expiration date.
-
Learn to love the quesadilla. Tortillas are something I am rarely without, because they can be the base for a low-maintenance dinner with lots of ingredient-using possibilities. When I need to turn to this solution, I cover a baking sheet in foil (so I won't have to scrape cheese off it), lay one tortilla down and sprinkle on some shredded cheese and red pepper flakes for spice. Then I dip into my produce drawer and pull out whatever I need to use up: the half a bell pepper left over from a salad, canned corn I opened for another recipe, the rest of the onion I chopped for spaghetti sauce last night, leftover cooked meat...anything that you can chop up small and sprinkle on. Add a little more cheese on top, layer on another tortilla and brush it with vegetable oil so it crisps up. Stick it in a 400-degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes, and you've got a meal. I like to mix sour cream with cumin, salsa and the leftover chopped onions for a nice dipping sauce. If you like a crispier quesadilla, coat both sides with vegetable oil and cook in a skillet or griddle as you would a grilled cheese sandwich. It browns nicely this way.
-
Quiche will feed you for more than one day. I like this option because it leaves you with a dish that you can eat right away for dinner and then wrap up for meals later in the week. I don't like to keep pie crusts on hand because they fit awkwardly in the freezer and most of them are very high in cholesterol. I have found that polenta fits easily in my pantry, makes a fairly easy crust and is a lot more versatile than those pre-made crusts. I cook about a half-cup of it in milk, add salt and pepper, along with cheese, cayenne pepper or whatever I'm in the mood for. Then I spread the thickened polenta into a greased pie dish. I stick that in a 350-degree oven while I prepare the rest of the ingredients. Once again, this is a good way to clean out your refrigerator. I usually sauté anything less tender than a leafy vegetable, and stick it all on the polenta crust. Then I crack three eggs, add in any cheese I need to use up, plus some kind of milk product-usually about 1/3 cup of yogurt or sour cream. I beat all of this together, season it to my taste (lemon zest is nice here) and pour over the chopped ingredients. I bake the whole thing in that same 350-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, and I'm ready to eat.
-
No time to bake? Throw it in an omelette. This is another three-egg dish, but it's ready much quicker. Mushrooms, greens, bacon and leftover bits of cheese are all great in omelettes. It's also a good way to use up leftover fresh herbs, parsley and thyme in particular. I crack three eggs into a measuring cup, add in the chopped herbs, salt and pepper. Then I heat some butter in a skillet and pour in the eggs. When they're mostly set, but still runny on top, I add the chopped ingredients. Once again, sauté most vegetables ahead of time. Sprinkle grated cheese, or crumble a softer cheese over the top, and fold the whole thing over. Slide it onto a plate, and it goes great with a simple salad.
-
You don't need a recipe for pasta sauce. Pasta is the go-to dish for most new cooks, but it doesn't have to always consist of cooked noodles slathered with salt-loaded jarred red sauce. If you make a point of keeping onions, garlic, olive oil and canned crushed tomatoes on-hand, you'll have a ready base tomato sauce into which you can toss vegetables, cheeses and meats whose moment is now or never. Or just toss your noodles with butter or cheese and olive oil, and add in any number of finely-chopped veggies.
-
There's always Google. When I have an ingredient (usually a vegetable) that seems to be sadly slipping away from the prime of its life, I turn to a few select tools to get it into a weeknight menu as quickly and easily as possible. First, I scan the indexes of my cookbooks, looking for recipes that will use up the time-sensitive item without requiring major shopping. When I strike out there, I hop online and type the word recipe, followed by the main ingredient, plus other promising things that happen to be in my pantry, into Google. This has saved many a vegetable from the Dumpster. When that's not enough, I turn to the foodies, those obsessive cooks who are out there in droves on the Internet. Several Web sites--including SeriousEats.com, one I have had great success with-run lively discussion forums on food. I am not above sending an SOS like, "You have two sweet potatoes. What do you whip up for dinner?" out to the masses, and have been pleasantly surprised with the creative ideas I get sent back to me.
Emily Battle is a professional journalist who lives in Fredericksburg, Va. Contact her at bylime@hotmail.com.
