Negative Equals Positive

Negative = Positive. I suppose it could be an algebraic equation, one that has yet to be proved. I could prove it to you, but this is not an advanced math class. Neither is it magic, because, well, it isn't, so I'll just tell you a story. This equation is about making do and not throwing away what can be salvaged. It's about those starving children in ------ insert name of third world country. 

Can you believe that this was made with rotten vegetables?
Well, not exactly, but sort of.

The equation explained by a professional chef. What I want to talk about today is how to take vegetables that look as if they're ready to toss into the compost bin and find a way to use them in the way that your great grandparents and my mother and grandmother used to when they managed their home kitchens. Why even New York City's celebrated chef Gabrielle Hamilton talks about (and does) this very thing in her first episode of the "Mind of a Chef" PBS series. Somewhere in the middle, she talks about taking grocery store c#**py produce and transforming it into a swoon-worthy edible creation. That's what I'm talking about! As she says, you can take something that is "fluorescent" and turn it into something that's "incandescent." Bravo!

My mother got creative out of necessity. She grew up in the midst of a depressed economy and a depressed national mindset during the Second World War and the effects of the conflict of Greece's Civil War. People foraged for food, they bartered for vegetables and flour with fine linens and jewelry. I remember my father and Aunt Polly telling me stories of people from Athens and other metropolitan areas coming to their small village on the outskirts of Sparta begging my great grandparents for food to feed their families. My father's family had orange groves, old olive trees, fig trees, and seeds to grow a few vegetables. It's easy to see how resourcefulness, efficiency, and creativity were in high demand during these times, and once learned, these skills transitioned into a more bountiful and abundant lifestyle. Once you've lived through hardship, it's not something you forget, and you're always prepared. And this is the kind of "making do" with what's available to us that many parents all over the world have passed on to their children and grandchildren. I'll explain.

Explanation. Let's use this year's Thanksgiving dinner as our example. I was preparing all of the ingredients for my cauliflower potato salad. (The photo at the top of this post.) I had more parsley and green onions than I needed for the recipe, but they both looked "sad," wilted, yellowing, dry, and lacking in color and flavor. Fortunately, I was able to use skills passed down to me by my mother. I peeled and pulled off the outer layers of the green onion, cut off the greens that were not crisp, and gave the salvaged parts a rinse and dry on my kitchen towel. Perfectly good! I just had to dig a bit deeper. The parsley was a bit tedious. I had to pull out the good stems and leaves. I gave them a quick rinse also and I was ready for my cauliflower.

And the cauliflower? Honestly, I don't see much cauliflower that doesn't have a few spots of moldy-looking blemish. Sometimes it happens after I bring it home from the store. It's just oxidation and, while I'm told it's harmless, just like that less than perfect oxidized lettuce in your crisper drawer, the best thing to do is to get a sharp knife and cut it off. And that's what I did with my head of cauliflower. I also cut off all of the tender green leaves attached at the bottom and trimmed the stem. I cooked them rapidly in boiling salted water and drained them. I dressed them with fresh lemon juice and olive oil and, voila, my side dish for lunch. Have you ever tried this? Such a shame to toss a vegetable that's edible. Again, that's my mother for you! She used to trim lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage stems and give them to me and my sister, Antonia, as a treat. I do this today, and it's one of my treats in the kitchen, and every bit as good as licking the cake batter bowl.

Always take what we cannot eat to the compost bin
so that we can put nutrients into the soil.

Are you a believer? Well, when you're in a hurry and only have wilted vegetables to use for your next recipe, perhaps you'll recall this post and make an effort to salvage what still has much to offer if you'll dig a little deeper.