Eating for Sustainability: An Experiment Pt. 4

Meals kept truckin' along this week, and I think I'm about out of the woods when it comes to heavily processed foods in my pantry. Super Bowl Sunday should take care of that once and for all, don't you think? As for my grocery bill this week....$150! Yes! And that even included a store-bought carrot cake for Kyle's birthday dinner, because, frankly, presentation just isn't my thing. All in all, I feel good about the food we ate this week.

Our CSA share contained lots of interesting items but the funny thing is, eggs and sprouts were the only totally unprocessed items.

Bread, cheese, eggs

Pesto (local ingredients from summer, frozen), Whole wheat gnocchi (frozen)

Old fashioned bologna, sunflower sprouts, minestrone soup (frozen)

I was really excited to see a frozen soup choice from Saint Louis University (SLU), but the family reported it was bland (it had seemed like the perfect thing to serve on a cold night when I had to leave for a meeting). I will try it myself before passing judgment. I really hope it can be spruced up, because one of the major issues for viable small-scale food systems is processing. The other biggie that I see is packaging. We need processing and packaging operations that accept product from small farms and distribute to local retailers. So, even if nutrition trumped flavor in this instance of locally grown and processed, I'm still glad that SLU has emerged as a leader to fill some gaps in St. Louis's emerging local food system.

 Most of my favorite dishes this week were meatless (as usual), but the carnitas made from a pork roast were divine so I'll include that recipe at the bottom. Another that I've included is Chick Pea Stew--really nice, and very inexpensive. Scroll down for recipes of dishes that turned out much better than this, this...dear God, what is that? Seriously, when I look at the picture below I feel sick (or like laughing hysterically), and I wonder why in the world my family ever requests that I cook more meat. I'm so sorry, cow--I wish I could've done you justice!

 Stuffed shells were much nicer, I must say--in both looks and flavor!

The sides that went with the carnitas were also lovely and delicious. I was very excited to learn that ricotta can be used with Mexican-inspired dishes and not just Italian. We like to mix it up a lot.

And finally, simple salads and roasted root vegetables (this week, just two kind of taters) have become staples around here. They're just so fast to put together, I like to have the greens, and the kids like the roasted veggies. No mutinies on these yet, so that's a good sign!

So, I'm wondering from those of you who have read this far (thanks!) and already minimize unprocessed food in your diet, what have you used to replace processed snack food like chips or energy bars? Do you have any gems that aren't too time-consuming to make, affordable, and/or purchased but you feel good about? We have been eating a lot of popcorn cooked on the stove, but I'm sure that will get old one of these days.

Thanks for reading, everyone, and I hope your week ahead is full of fun food adventures!

Chickpea and Spinach Stew (from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone  by Deborah Madison)

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 pinches red pepper flakes
1 t. paprika
1 t. fresh or dried minced rosemary
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1 c. peeped, diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
3 c. cooked chickpeas or 2 15-0z cans, rinsed
salt and pepper
2 bunches spinach, stems removed
garlic mayonnaise (the cookbook calls for making the mayo from scratch but I just mixed about 1/3 cup low-fat mayo with 2 big cloves of garlic that I put through the ringer with my mortar and pestle)

In a wide saute pan, heat the oil over high heat. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, paprika, rosemary, and half the parsley Saute for 2 minutes, then lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft, about 12 minutes. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas, season with salt and pepper, then over and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the spinach to the chickpeas, taste for salt, and season with pepper. Plate it up, add a spoonful of mayonnaise to each dish (this is key, kicks the flavor WAY up, and garnish with remaining parsley (also key, helping tone down the garlic breath!).

Oven-Fried Pork Carnitas with Guacamole and Orange Salsa (from Food & Wine An Entire Year of Recipes 2006)

I made this dish by the recipe, which used a lot of oil to cook the meat. It was good, but next time I will totally throw the pork roast in the slow cooker after marinating. Less fat, and less oil to figure out what to do with when it's all said and done.

1/2 c. tamarind concentrate
2 T. honey
2 T. sherry vinegar (I used white whine vinegar)
2 1/2 c. vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
2 1/2  pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
salt and pepper
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 Hass avocado, pitted and peeled
3 T. fresh lime juice
2 navel oranges
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c coarsely chopped cilantro
1/2 habanero chile, seeded and finely chopped (I just used a little jalapeno, that's what I had)
1 c. ricotta cheese
1 small plum tomato, chopped (I used up a little canned tomato I had in the fridge, drained)
1 jalapeno or serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
12 flour tortillas

1. In a large bowl, mix the tamarind concentrate with the honey, sherry vinegar and 1/4 c.  of the vegetable oil. Add the pork shoulder, season with salt and pepper and stir to coat. Let the pork marinate at room temp for 1 hour. Drain the pork and pat dry.
2. Preheat the oven to 375. In a cast-iron skillet, heat 2 T. of the oil. Add half of the pork and cook over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until the meat is brown all over, about 6 minutes. Transfer to baking dish and repeat with 2 more T. of oil and remaining meat. Add two-thirds o chopped white onion and 2 c oil to the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for about 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.
3. Meanwhile, wrap the garlic cloves in foil and bake for 1 hour, or until softened. (This seemed unnecessary--garlic flavor mellowed so much not sure how much it added to the guacamole. Next time, I'll just make my regular old guacamole which just mixes a little minced onion, some lime juice, S&P, and the avocado.) Let cool slightly, then peel the cloves. In a small bowl, mash the avocado with the garlic. Stir in 1 T. of the lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
 4. Using a sharp knife, peel the oranges, removing all the bitter white pith. Working over a bowl, cut in segments. Squeeze the orange membranes to extract the juice. (For this step, I just peeled a few "Cuties", and chopped them up. Much easier than what this step sounded like.) Stir in the red onion, cilantro, and habanero chile and the 2 remaining tablespoons of lime juice. (Again, I changed it up. Didn't use habanero--I want the kids to at least try things!)
5. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta cheese with the tomato, jalapeno and the remaining one-third of the chopped white onion. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Brush the tortillas lightly with oil, then stack and wrap them in foil. Heat the tortillas in the oven until warm. Drain the pork on paper towels. Pork, ricotta stuff, and guac in the tortillas. Orange salsa on the side. Delish!