No Food Left Behind (Warning: Disturbing Images Included)

Have you ever wondered if food is happy with its lot in life?  Does it yearn to achieve greatness?  Well, of course food cares.  Do you really think that an egg would choose to be used in bread or dropped in the supermarket?  No, they want to be the star.  Egg drop soup, hard boiled eggs, egg foo young, or a Denver omelet probably top the list of ways an egg would choose to be eaten.  Becoming an Easter egg would be the equivalent getting drafted into the NBA for a young egg.  I think every food would desire to go out in a blaze of glory.

 These are just a few of those foods that society has ignored.  Once young and full of life, they now seem like a burden more than a blessing.

Unfortunately, many foods in our society never reach their full potential and fall between the cracks.  Many factors lead to food becoming a drain on society.  For some food it's all about where you live.  Food living in the opaque crisper at shin level will likely not be seen by those that can make a difference.  Perhaps the little yogurt in the back of the fridge just has a hard time living in the shadow of the gallon of milk that seems to dominate the limelight.  I once knew a young Parmesan cheese that, despite it's potential for flavor, was forgotten and ignored until it was too late simply because it was "difficult to work with."  Truly the saddest story is the bag of carrots that was only purchased because we felt like that is what responsible people have in their fridge.  Never really intending to care for the carrots, the owner subjects young vegetables to his or her own vanity that drives many shoppers.  Those carrots end up being tossed out and become a ward of the state.

 Here is just one example of a squallier unit that many foods live in.  Overpopulated, dirty, and the new food seems easily corrupted by the spoiled food that lurks in the shadows.

The reality of our society is that we give preferential treatment to certain privileged foods, while other foods seem abused, forgotten, and just become another statistic.  It would seem like a social injustice to not act to save a raw steak from going bad, yet we don't shed a tear when we throw out an expired salad dressing.  True, some salad dressings make a bad salad (thousand island), but there are many wasted dressings would be delicious if given a chance, yet when we look into the fridge, it is as though we don't see them because it's easier to ignore them than face the guilt of our own insensitivity.

I too am guilty of such treatment of foods.  It seems  despite my best intentions, I can never really get through to my sack of potatoes, and I ignore them until they start getting into trouble by sprouting in the seedy parts of the kitchen.  When I finally bother to find out how they are doing, it's as if I don't even recognize them anymore.  I know that potatoes are great, but for me, I just don't find the time to give them the proper attention they deserve.  They require cleaning, peeling, cutting, and long cook times.  My kitchen seems to have a revolving door for young underprivileged spuds. 

What can you do?  There are a few things we can do to avoid all the waste in the kitchen.

1. Buy appropriate sizes:  Stop buying perishables on a $/per pound mentality.  Just because another $0.25 will double my sack of potatoes from 3 lbs to 6 lbs, doesn't mean I really need the extra potatoes.  It may seem like I'm being frugal with my money, but if I waste the food, I waste the money.
2. Reduce Variety:  There is no need for a family of 2 adults and two small children to have 4 open salad dressings in the fridge. 
3. Plan Ahead:  Shopping around planned meals is much better for a small family than stocking your kitchen like a 5-star restaurant.  No one is going to be ordering strange foods in your kitchen, quit keeping strange foods if you aren't going to use them soon.
4. De-clutter the fridge:  Food seems to spoil fast when you can't see it.

Rice, Rice Baby

Most of the world eats rice.  It is a staple that sustains many developing nations.  Although not our favorite grain, it finds its way onto kitchen tables quite a bit.  Yet somehow rice has become a food that we eat with our family, but we seldom serve it to guests.  I too am guilty of treating rice like the ugly shirt in our closet, great for around the house but not when anyone is looking.  Perhaps this is because rice is unpredictable, bland, or considered cheap.  Undaunted, I have challenged myself to make better rice.  Over the past year I have had some major misses, but I've learned a couple of things along the way.  One thing I know for sure, "ricery" (my new word for the art of cooking rice) can be challenging, but it opens up the door for all types of ethnic cuisine.

Know Your Rice

When I was a kid there were only four types of rice that I was aware of: (1) white rice, (2) brown rice, (3) Uncle Ben's, and (4) fried rice.  Not to say that my mother didn't use multiple varieties, but for a teenager this is basically all the mental capacity we have rationed off for rice knowledge.  The rest of our brain is reserved for more pressing teenage matters.  Sadly I took this limited knowledge into married life for a few years until I started cooking.  Then I discovered there was more to rice than color or speed.  Check out this simple rice guide that mentions some of the big hitters.  By-the-way, if you haven't guessed by now, the internet is my source for cooking basics.  I use websites like the previous link any time I'm cooking.  Here are a couple that are not mentioned on that guide:

1. Jasmine Rice: I like this rice for any dish where you are likely to actually taste the flavor of the rice and the rice isn't simply a vehicle to deliver some other sauce or flavoring.  This means I don't use this for soups or anything like that.  I do this because Jasmine Rice is very aromatic and has more flavor than American long white rice.  It is more expensive than regular white rice, but I will pull out the jasmine if I'm going to serve stir fry or some type of curried dish.
2. Wild Rice:  One of my favorite dishes that my wife makes is a chicken and wild rice soup.  Although wild rice is actually a grass, it traditionally falls into the rice category.  Try mixed with other varieties as a side with chicken or fish.

Know How to Cook Rice

This one is simple.  Every type of rice is different.  Some need to be rinsed, others soaked.  Look up the type of rice you are using and follow the directions found on the interwebs.  You may find that the old 2-1 (two parts water, one rice) recipe for rice may leave you less than satisfied if that is the only thing you do.  If you need sticky rice, make sure you have the right rice and prepare it the right way or you'll just have mushy rice.

Blake's Tips Learned from the Ricery Trenches

1. Fried Rice?  Don't plan on making good fried rice with a freshly cooked batch of rice.  Cook it in the morning, chill it, and then use it for fried rice that night.  The rice will have a much more appealing texture like you would find at your local take out place.
2. Cooking with Vegetables?  If you are going to cook other foods in with your rice, like meats and vegetables, make sure that you decrease your water or just plan on eating mush.  Meats and veggies (and I guess fruits too) will release water throw off your 2-1 ratio.  For some reason this is the lesson that took me too long to figure out.  My wife endured plenty terrible all-in-one rice dishes before I started to get the hint.
3. Mix it:  I am not particularly fond of brown rice, but I have learned to like it when mixed with white rice.  We keep a container of premixed rice in the cabinet to use at home.  Try it if you know brown rice is better for you, but prefer white.  It certainly has helped me adjust.
4. Leave it alone.  Checking on the rice will not help.  Stirring it certainly wont help.  Follow the recipe and you will be fine.  Rice is like a zit, playing with it will usually make things worse.
5. Try Chinese Black Rice (Forbidden Rice):  I hear it cooks up purple with the consistency of brown rice.  It is the final frontier of ricery.  Once illegal to have unless you were the emperor, it is now available in specialty stores.  Sadly, black rice is too powerful for me to wield without more training.  I fear I would become corrupt like Frodo Baggins when he wore the ring.  One day I will be man enough, but that day has yet to come.

Finally, while growing up I had a tendency to eat leftover white rice like cereal in a bowl with milk and a little sugar.  It seems to disgust my wife, but it tastes really good to me.  Try it and see if you taste some of the nostalgia with me.