Please help me use up Ingredient X.
Posted by Heliamphora on Feb 13, 2009 · Member since Oct 2006 · 4798 posts
Ahoy folks! I thought I'd start a thread where you can ask for recipes and advice on how to use up an ingredient (e.g. a vegetable, fruit, grain, bean, etc.) of which you have lots and lots and lots; or which is new to you and you don't know where to start with it.
I'll go first. :P I have many, many tasty carrots from the farmers' market which I need to use before they go soft.
Recipes, please.
I know, I know, carrots - simple - should be a no-brainer... but I was not fond of them for a long time, simply because I'd never known anything but raw or steamed carrots with very little flavour. I like to do INTERESTING things with them. They're so adaptable! Gimme your adaptations! :D
Mushrooms are killer. I especially love portabello mushrooms. Marinate them in a mixture of tamari, balsamic, garlic, olive oil and white wine. Roast them and eat them over a salad, next to some greens, as a burger or just by themselves.
Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods! Everything secondbase sounds awesome. Sauteing in just some oil, soy sauce and garlic is divine!!
Here are my two fave comforting recipes with mushrooms lately. The finer you chop them, the less scary they'll be.
Tuna Mushroom Casserole http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=17782.0
Mushroom Gravy http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=27548.0
If you have mushrooms of the dried variety, try soaking them in a dry red wine. I love the way they taste when they are sauteed after letting them sit for an hour or so.
Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods! Everything secondbase sounds awesome. Sauteing in just some oil, soy sauce and garlic is divine!!
Here are my two fave comforting recipes with mushrooms lately. The finer you chop them, the less scary they'll be.
Tuna Mushroom Casserole http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=17782.0
Mushroom Gravy http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=27548.0
I second the mushroom gravy!
Thankyou everyone for the replies!
I definitely think the chili idea is great and also the gravy, but i've never really eaten gravy and i dunno what to have it with aha
The reason I'm so scared is because my grandma used to kind of boil them when I was young and they smelled sooo bad! I really want to get over this fear cause I know how good they can be :)
I still think the portabello mushroom dish sounds great, but more in the future when I'm not so scared hahaha
Nah, don't boil them ( ??? ). Instead stir-fry, grill, roast etc.
Gravy is good on:
spoon bread
biscuits
potatoes of any description
rice
Yummy Nut Roast (to die for!) http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7406.0
or in a large bowl, eaten instead of soup. Particularly the Mushroom Gravy referenced in this thread!! LOL (No, I haven't. OK, yes, I have.)
A good thing I've learned to do with carrots is to slice them really thin and put them in a jar with rice vinegar. I use the seasoned unsweetened, and if you like it sweet you could add some rice syrup. I also use slivers of dikon when I have it but it is fine just with carrots. You can cut them any way you like, even grate them. This is a good garnish or topping for food. I can eat it plain by the bowl, but I really love pickles. This method will store in the fridge for about three weeks.
Gravy is good on:
rice
I have NEVER heard of that! but, surprisingly, it sounds really good! I'm definitely gonna try that! thanks for the great idea ;)
And as for the gravy-come-soup, i mean, gravy's nice and all but really? It must be really really good! Here's hopin'!
I have a strong love for gravy, I could definitely eat it as soup. But I can also eat salsa with a spoon too.......
A good thing I've learned to do with carrots is to slice them really thin and put them in a jar with rice vinegar. I use the seasoned unsweetened, and if you like it sweet you could add some rice syrup. I also use slivers of dikon when I have it but it is fine just with carrots. You can cut them any way you like, even grate them. This is a good garnish or topping for food. I can eat it plain by the bowl, but I really love pickles. This method will store in the fridge for about three weeks.
Oooo this sounds yum.
Oh, and HJ? Do not, no matter what anyone tells you (or who tells you), peel a mushroom under any circumstances! The flavour is mostly in the outer skin so if you peel them what you get is just "meh." Not to mention it's a weeny job.
Thanks for the heads up yabbitgirl! I had no idea how to prepare them xD
oh oh! I bought a lentil and mushroom pie from the health food store near where I live! It was sososoooo good! seriously, I can't wait to get me some mushrooms and try something out!
oh and the significance of my buying that pie was because I've never bought anything with mushroom in it before, so its a little milestone :)
Well done! My husband is sooo wary of new foods, every time we go out to eat he orders the same thing...he has one dish at each restaurant that he always orders. I have taught him to enjoy Chinese, Thai and Indian dishes but it's uphill. He has to "like the look of it" before he'll taste it.
Just take one bite. If it's awful, OK, you learned that. But so often it's, "Well....I dunnno....MMMmmm!!"
I have a strong love for gravy, I could definitely eat it as soup. But I can also eat salsa with a spoon too.......
me too. We are twins. I swear to god.
I have a strong love for gravy, I could definitely eat it as soup. But I can also eat salsa with a spoon too.......
me too. We are twins. I swear to god.
<-- salsa fiend x 3, although gravy grosses me out
as for mushrooms, go with SB or camillus' suggestions- they also go well in almost any italian style dish (tomato sauce, lasagne, pasta, whatever), in stir-fries with broccoli or other veggies, and I actually love them in a BBQ or sloppy joe-type scenario.
I like oyster mushrooms way better than regular ol' buttons. (So far I have yet to see portobello or criminis here.) I love to grill whole oyster mushrooms on the stovetop grill and make sandwiches on wholegrain bread with roasted red peppers and mayo. Or add the grilled shrooms to a grilled veggie plate.
Baby bok choy!
I have some that's going to go bad soon if I cant find a use for it. My first thought was the baby bok choy from V-con, but I have no sesame oil so I don't really know what to do with it.
Just put bok choy in a stir fry. Add it last, and cook until it's just wilted. I like it with the Orange Chicken-Style Tofu on this site or a szechuan sauce that my DH made up, but it really goes well with any type of stir fry.
Or in an "everything" salad. I slice it very finely and toss with lemon, olive oil, and whatever spices seem to want to play.
Bok choy would also be good tossed into an oriental soup
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