In general, I eat pretty well. I eat a lot, maybe (well, for sure) too much but I eat very little processed food and I have a varied diet. My danger is the nighttime! I get home from work and tend to not always make the best decisions. I think having lots of vegetables, ready to go, will help.
My plan is on the weekend to do all kinds of prep so I there are fewer decisions to make and fewer options, which might lead to better choices.
Needless to say, I always have beans. I can do that in my sleep. This morning I started by boiling tomatillos and their husks in water. This way I’d have the tomatillos for salsa and you’ll see where the husks come in handy.
I strained and reserved the tomatillos and left the husks in the water with some Sal Mixteca, a land salt that helps soften vegetables and keeps them extra green. I then added diced cactus paddles and let them simmer until they were done, about 20 minutes.
The husks help absorb some of the “slime” they produce. It’s no worse than okra it really doesn’t bother me, but some people have a problem with it. The husks help as does cooking them in copper. But a plain pot is fine.
I picked the husks out and now I had cooked tomatillos and cooked nopales. I love the nopales with scrambled eggs and salsa but I also love a spoonful in a bowl of beans.
Next up was greens. I started with garlic and some fermented jalapeños. You could use fresh and be very happy.
When the garlic was soft, I added washed and chopped kale. I also do this with dandelion greens. I suppose you could do it with spinach.
Normally, the water left on the greens from washing are enough to cook them but I like them a little more wet so I added some bean broth I had in the refrigerator. You could also use some of the cooking water from wild rice.
They cook down a lot but there’s plenty here. It’s great with beans, of course, but just plain rice and greens are good. I should add, I’m not in love with plain old everyday kale. I much prefer lacinato kale. Chard or spinach are also good.
The tomatillos, some leftover onions, garlic, Oregano Indio and more fermented jalapeños went into the blender with some salt for a salsa. After the blender, I added some lime and chopped cilantro.
I also roasted and peeled four Poblano chiles. I cut up a really fresh jicama. It was consumed within minutes. I also sauteed some puslane, but that got eaten with eggs for lunch.
So the plan is to bring a little of this to work each day and eat it with wild rice, brown rice or tortillas. I’ll probably still go a little nuts at night, but with decisions made, deliciously, I think I’m on firm ground.
Hi Steve-I do much the same thing but in the morning before work, one day a week. My energy and focus are lots better in the a.m. plus it’s a relaxing, satisfying thing to do before “work”, you know?
Sidenote: While recently visiting my sister in Colorado we slow-cooked a batch of black beans from the RG Gift Pack I’d sent her last year and ate them with a slow-cooked rabbit stew—what a treat!