What’s In Your Crisper?

Kim posted about the produce in her rotation, which I thought was a neat idea. I think any time you stop and take a closer look at what you’re doing, you’re bound to find a few problem areas to work on, and of course, some good things to keep doing. (Then again, I’m a consultant, so of course I think intense analysis will solve anything). I suppose you can kind of tell what kind of produce I eat based on the recipes I post, but I’ll show you my list anyway.

Heavy rotation items:

• Apples: I normally eat either an apple or a pear every morning as my mid-morning snack at work, but it’s usually apples. We have a lot of farmer’s markets in the city that sell yummy local ones too.
• Bananas: our kitchen has no natural light (neither does our living room, thanks to the temp wall we put up to convert it into a third bedroom), which may be why our bananas go bad ridiculously quickly. Like, two days from green to inedible. As soon as I buy bananas, I peel them, wrap them in aluminum foil, and toss them in the freezer. Then I eat them like ice cream when I’m craving sweets! Delicious.
• Raw carrots, celery, and/or bell peppers: frequent afternoon snack at work.
• Garlic and onion: for cooking.
• Tomatoes: sometimes fresh, sometimes canned, but they make a frequent showing in a lot of my soups especially.
• Mushrooms: I absolutely love mushrooms, so I’m often looking for recipes to include them.

Light rotation/new items:

• Beets: these are new; I picked them up at the Lincoln Center farmer’s market this weekend, and I’m loving finding things to do with them. Expect to see them frequently in the next few days.
• Cucumbers: whenever I make a salad, I normally slice these up and toss them in.
• Collard greens/kale/spinach/other dark leafy greens: usually once a week or so (well, more like 3 times one week and then not again for a few weeks, because I cook for myself and need to use them up).
• Squash: love it for soup.
• Potatoes: I try to eat them sparingly, but a lot of recipes will call for them.
• Broccoli, asparagus, and green beans: good go-to veggies. When a meal doesn’t come with a specific veggie pairing, I’ll usually add one of these.

Wow, making this list made me realize that I don’t eat nearly as many veggies as I think I do! Time to mix it up and start buying and eating some new things.