Waste Not, Want Not

When I came back from Haymarket last weekend with asparagus, mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and broccoli, I needed to prove to myself that I didn’t overbuy, that I didn’t get lost in the magic and randomly buy vegetables because the price was right. I would use all the produce. Despite the fact that it didn’t cost very much, only $5.00 in fact, I wouldn’t waste it. So I set out, in a (childless, non-emaciated) Robin Miller kind of way to plan meals that would use it all. And I did. Only I did even better than that. I used other leftovers too.

On Monday I boiled enough pasta to have leftover meatballs and sauce from last week (and share some with Amy), and to have later in the week with some of the veggies. While the pasta cooked, I roasted a bunch of asparagus. I tossed the extra spaghetti in a little olive oil and put it in the fridge for another day. After snacking on a few of the delicious asparagus spears, I packed that away too.

On Tuesday, I made halibut. Before I cooked the fish, I sautéed mushrooms—enough for dinner and for that pasta sitting in my fridge. While the fish cooked, I warmed the asparagus in the same pan. I halved some grape tomatoes and tossed them in the pan too.A few minutes later I enjoyed my fish and asparagus topped with mushrooms and a few cherry tomatoes.

After dinner, I cut up the leftover asparagus and added the pieces, along with the mushrooms and leftover tomatoes, to the pasta. I decided to add some protein to the dish, and quickly thawed and sautéed some shrimp. There, I thought, lunch and dinner for later in the week.

The pasta was my lunch on Thursday and my dinner last night.

Thursday night I made a quick and easy dinner after a long and taxing day.  I took a little help from Trader Joe's and added some steamed and seasoned broccoli to their mandarin chicken.

Today I used the remaining broccoli in a family favorite dish that I will bring to Meredith’s birthday party at her request.

So there.