Making Room for More

I pick up another box of vegetables tomorrow. So today I counted up what was left over from my delivery two weeks ago. Before dinner tonight, I had one half of a red onion, one kohlrabi, and one head of cabbage. That was easily transformed into my second coleslaw of the season.

I’m a bit competitive, even with myself, so I feel as if I failed if I haven’t eaten up all the vegetables over the two-week period or if any have gone to waste. So seeing the leftover cucumber yogurt dip in the refrigerator gave me a great idea. Instead of making the Asian dressing I had planned, I decided to use the leftover sauce instead. After dipping a piece of the cabbage and kohlrabi into the prepared dressing and finding the combination tasted good, I poured the rest over the bowl. I have to say I felt quite satisfied with my thriftiness.

That left me with only the rest of the dill and walnut sauce, which I also ran into in the refrigerator. It had tasted good on the green beans two weeks ago and a tilapia filet in the meantime, but how would it taste now? I dipped my pinky finger in and was relieved that it was still good. I put it back in the refrigerator, where I would see it tomorrow, when I would possibly get another bag of beans. If not, I'm sure it will taste good with something else in the box.

In addition to beans, I’m also expecting: lettuce, broccoli, a white pepper, cherry and/or slicing tomatoes, summer squash, cucumber, eggplant, onion, garlic, basil, and parsley. My plan is to make pesto tomorrow night, to use the herbs before they wilt. I also have big plans for the tomatoes, and hopefully I’ll get enough to fulfill all my dreams. A BLT is the first thing on my list for dinner, not only because it is one of the best things about summer, but also so the bacon, left from the salad a few weeks ago, doesn’t go bad.

Beyond that, I’m looking forward to making eggplant, zucchini and tomato tian, a recipe I saw in the June issue of Cooking Light. It has layers of vegetables topped by bread crumbs and cheese. It sounds similar to the zucchini casserole my mom made when I was a kid, which I will make before the season is over.

I don’t have any firm plans with the rest of the vegetables, but I’ll think about that later. That’s the best part. I wouldn’t want to have all the fun in one night.