Aug 15 2012
Parting Gifts
Before Mark left on his East Coast Adventure, he pretty much emptied his refrigerator into mine. Having been brought up with a horror of wasting food by a father who endured stringent rationing both during and after World War II, it was a challenge to come up with a way to use up the motley assortment:
– Slightly tired tomatoes
– Two onions
– A bag of tortillas
– About a dozen limes
– Some tomatillos
– Mysteriously, two bags of pre-made coleslaw mix (cabbage and carrots sliced up)
I used up most of the tomatoes in curried chickpeas, which is also where some of the onions went.
Besides the obvious use for countless limes (vodka and tonics), I used some to marinate shrimp, with ginger, garlic, and coconut milk. And I used some to make salsa with the tomatillos. I have never worked with tomatillos before, but it turns out that it’s pretty easy to make salsa verde. Just chop up the tomatillos, some onion, garlic, cilantro, and jalapeño, throw it in the food processor with some lime juice and sea salt, and purée. Voilà! I’m thinking of making it into chicken enchiladas later this week, which will use up some of the tortillas Mark also gave me. Fortunately, they freeze pretty well.
I’m open to suggestions on what to do with all that shredded cabbage, though!