Mushroom Compote and Bounty

Ingredients:

- 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil (if you want it to be vegan) - 1 onion, thinly sliced

- 1 bell pepper (I used yellow) - 1 pound mushrooms, sliced (I used baby portabella and white button mushrooms mixed in together) - 2/3 cup red wine vinegar - 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard - 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (substitute soy sauce if you want it to be vegetarian) - 1 dash Tabasco sauce - 3 tablespoons brown sugar - 3 tablespoons seedless raisins
- 1-2 potatoes (if you want to serve the compote over something to make it a heartier meal instead of a side dish)

- Bread (if you want to serve the compote on toast instead of potatoes)

- Salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a pan. Add onions and sauté over medium-low heat until soft. Add mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms begin to soften. Mix remaining ingredients together and add to the pan. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat and cook, stirring often, until mixture becomes thick and syrupy. Season with salt and pepper to your liking!

While you're doing this, boil water and boil some potatoes until they're soft and smash up the potatoes to serve the compote over. Either that, or toast some bread and serve the compote over that!

Items not dumpstered: Butter, vinegar, worshteshire, tabasco

I went dumpstering alone on my way home from work on 2/7 and came up with enough food to last me 2 weeks!
- 1 pound 93% lean ground beef
- Brew-n-Brats (made with beer)
- 3 pkgs strawberries (2 large, 1 small - gave small one to Kevin, one to Steve)
- 1 pkg baby portabella mushrooms
- 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 4 ciabatta rolls
- 1/2 loaf sprouted flourless whole wheat berry bread
- 1 pkg pomegranate seeds
- 1 small bag English peas
- 1 gigantic eggplant
- 1 pkg chives
- 7 kiwis
- 1 baby watermelon
- 8 gala apples
- 7 granny smith apples

Vegan Tofu Sloppy Joe

I rarely dumpster tofu, so I was extra-excited when I did recently. I haven't really cooked regularly with tofu since I was in college, but this is a pretty easy tofu recipe for beginners (and super-easy if you want a vegan barbeque option). So, I re-acclimated pretty fast.

VEGAN TOFU SLOPPY JOES

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. extra-firm tofu, pressed (basically, you press all the liquid out of it. It's easier if you freeze it first then re-thaw it) (those who are new to tofu, YES the consistency matters. It will be labeled on the packaging).
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- Soy sauce to taste (I used a few tablespoons)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 1/4 cup ketchup (or you can use tomato paste/tomato sauce and apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tbsp brown mustard (optional)
- Cumin, sugar, cayenne, salt, & pepper to taste - be careful with the salt since the soy sauce has salt in it too...
- Some kind of bread or bun (I used a ciabbata roll sliced in half)

Press and crush up the tofu.
Put olive oil in a pan and soften your onions and garlic on medium heat.
Throw in the tofu and soy sauce on high heat for 3-5 minutes (until it's kinda golden brown).
Throw in the tomatoes, turn to medium.
Add the ketchup, mustard, and spices until it all tastes delicious and something like a Sloppy Joe should.
Simmer for at least 10 minutes so the flavors can meld and work their magic.
Donezo!

I ate this as leftovers at work, and I had all these hardcore carnivores asking me what I'd made because it smelled so good! Epic win!

Items not donated or dumpstered: Olive oil, spices, mustard

Eggplant Parmesan

This recipe was made for me on a first date in college. We helped make it together, assembly-line style, which was a cool, interactive way to get to know each other. The guy was a vegetarian and totally won me over (with the recipe). The eggplant was perfectly cooked - not mushy or gross at all like it can be if cooked poorly. Although things didn't work out romantically between the vegetarian and I, we're still buds and I still make his Eggplant Parmesan at least once a month. I have since dated many more culinary vegetarians.

Ingredients:
- 1 large eggplant (the vegetarian told me it's better if the eggplant is uniform in shape because then the medallions cook more evenly. I've experimented with lots of different sizes and it doesn't seem to make a difference to me as long as the slices are the same height).
- 1-2 eggs (depends on size of eggplant)
- Enough flour to cover a plate (about 1 cup, maybe a little more)
- Enough Italian bread crumbs to cover a plate (about 1 cup) - bonus points for homemade dumpster bread crumbs (recipe forthcoming)
- 3/4 jar of tomato sauce (extra bonus points if it's homemade and canned from dumpstered materials)
- 2 cups of shredded skim milk mozzarella cheese
- 1.5 cups of shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Basil, oregano, salt, & pepper to taste

It's easiest to think about this recipe in terms of chunks of actions, I think...so I'll put them down as such:

CHUNK ONE: PREP

Pour flour & breadcrumbs on two separate plates so they thinly cover the surface.
Take a baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil.
Beat your egg(s) in a bowl.
Slice eggplant into about 1/4-1/2" slices.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Start heating olive oil in a large pan at medium/medium-high heat (but not so high a heat that the oil will burn).

CHUNK TWO: COVERING EGGPLANT WITH YUMMY STUFF/COOKING IN THE PAN

Press your eggplant slices in flour so there's a light dusting on each side.
Next, dip the eggplant medallions into your egg, followed by pressing them into the breadcrumbs so they're evenly covered on both sides.
Once a medallion is covered with all the ingredients, throw it in your olive oil. You want a nice golden brown crisp on each side, and ultimately want a fork to barely go through your eggplant if you stick it in near the edge. That's how you know it's ready for...

CHUNK 3: PUTTING THE EGGPLANT ON YOUR BAKING SHEET

Hopefully you'll have started this next step as your eggplant medallions are cooking in the pan or else things will be really awkward (chunks 2 and 3 overlap if you're being efficient). In the picture below, you can see the eggplants cooking in the pan on the right and a few eggplant medallions ready on the baking sheet on the left, with my tomato sauce already prepped for my medallions to be placed on top of...in the middle is the beginning of my ratatouille - recipe forthcoming).


So, you take a teaspoon of sauce and put it on the baking sheet, using the bottom of the spoon to spread it around in a circle (about as large as your medallion).
Place a medallion on top.
Put another teaspoon of sauce on top of your medallion, along with any extra spices you want to add (I use a pinch of basil, oregano, sea salt, and black pepper).
Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan on top.

Repeat with all your medallions.

CHUNK 4: THE OVEN AND EATING

Stick that shit in the oven for about 10 minutes (as long as it takes for the cheese to melt and brown a little on the top).
Take it out and enjoy!

The magic of this dish is that the leftovers are just as amazing days later as when you first took the pan out of the oven. You can use a medallion on a burger bun for lunch at work (highly recommended), eat them as a savory late night snack cold, or you can just reheat them normally and eat some with a salad.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Flour (from the now-defunct Beet Food Co-Op), mozzarella, Parmesan, salt, pepper, egg, basil (from garden), oregano (from garden)

Pesto Grilled Cheese Flatbread

So, I know I've already given you my home made pesto recipe, but here's one more thing you can do with it - add it to sandwiches for a punch of flavor and wetness (you can also mix it with mayonnaise to make a pesto aioli for cold sandwiches like turkey or cucumber).

PESTO GRILLED CHEESE FLATBREAD



Ingredients:
- Home made or store bought pesto
- Bread (I used some old frozen naan I had dumpstered, but you can really use anything)
- Some kind of cheese (I used a mild white cheddar)
- Tomato, onion, whatever (optional)

I'm sure you all know how to make grilled cheese. If you don't, I'm sure the internet can teach you. Basically, just make a grilled or baked cheese sandwich with pesto, adding your favorite fixin's.

The pesto takes what would normally be kind of a boring lunch and adds more flavor and nutrients. Plus, you can really put anything on a grilled cheese - fresh tomatoes, prosciutto, onions, sprouts - you name it! You can get pretty creative and elevate your grilled cheese sandwiches without too much extra effort.

My pesto grilled cheese pictured here includes raw mild white cheddar, naan, red onions, and a little pepper to taste. I stuck everything in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese was melted (not my usual m.o. for making grilled cheese, but it was faster than usual. Also, this method made the onions aromatic and a littttle soft, but they still retained their texture and crunch). I really liked the naan instead of thick bread, because it made the sandwich function like a flatbread, which is ALSO more exciting than a plain old grilled cheese lunch!

Unrelated: I just made some dank pesto cheesy sunnyside up eggs for breakfast this morning! Just one more use for pesto!

Ingredients not dumpstered or donated: pepper

Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms

Portabello mushrooms are exciting when you dumpster them. They're usually sealed in plastic wrap with very little wrong with them (if they're baby portabellas it might be because one or two are squishy).

Stuffed portabello mushrooms are a great addition to a barbeque or pot luck, and are extremely versatile. You can use regular sized portabellos, baby ones, cremini mushrooms for a different flavor, keep the recipe vegan, vegetarian, or ULTRA MEAT styled....plus, you can add pretty much whatever you have in the fridge that you've dumpstered recently. There are a million ways to make these, but they always come out delicious regardless because portabella mushrooms are so freaking good.

I'll give my favorite combination of ingredients...my co-worker and one of my BFFs Matt has an even better rendition of this basic recipe that doesn't use tomatoes, but he told me the recipe is an ancient Chinese secret. Basically, you only get to eat his version if you are at a BBQ he's attending. So, you'll just have to settle with my version:

STUFFED PORTABELLA MUSHROOMS


Ingredients:

- 2 portabella mushroom caps, de-stemmed (unfortunately - if they aren't de-stemmed, chop up the stems and add them in with the onions)
- Handful of diced red onions
- 12 Cherry heirloom tomatoes, quartered (any tomatoes will do, though)
- Shredded mozzerella cheese (would have preferred Parmesan in there, but whatever)
- 2 slices of bacon, crumbled (optional for vegetarians)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh sage
- 1/2 tsp fresh thyme
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp lemon juice (preferably fresh)
- Fresh ground pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes to taste
- Sprinkle of fresh parsley
- 2-3 tbsp unsalted butter or earth balance
- Italian seasoned bread crumbs (you can make them yourself from dumpstered bread if you're feeling adventurous - recipe forthcoming)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make bacon. Set aside on paper towel to be crumbled once dry.
With bacon grease still in the pan (or butter), sautee onions and tomatoes on medium-low until soft. Throw in the garlic for the last 30 seconds so it keeps its flavor.
While that's cooking, mix the olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme, and red pepper flakes in a bowl thoroughly. Brush the mixture onto your portabella mushroom caps (or marinate them in it if you have time to let them sit).
Once the tomato/onion/garlic mixture is done, put it aside in a bowl.
Add butter to your pan, turning the heat to medium.
Cook your portabellas, brushing your liquid mixture onto them frequently until they are mostly cooked (you can also do this on the grill for better flavor). Once you're finished this part, put them on a baking sheet with tin foil.
Stuff the caps with your tomato/onion/garlic mixture. Add your bacon bits, then top it off with a liberal amount of shredded mozzarella cheese and bread crumbs.
Melt 1-2 tbsp of butter down in your pan, then drizzle it over the breadcrumb top of your mushrooms.
Throw in the oven for about 7-10 minutes until your cheese melts.
Turn your oven to broil (550 degrees) and keep a close eye on your mushrooms - take them out once the tops begin to brown. BEWARE - they will burn quickly!
Take them out, sprinkle with parsley, and you're done!

Items not dumpstered or donated: Bacon, garlic, rosemary (from garden), sage (from garden), thyme (from garden), parsley (from garden), mozzarella, butter, olive oil, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, pepper & salt

BANANAS!

I have the good fortune of dumpstering bananas often, usually in large numbers. Even dumpstering 1/8th of the bananas in the dumpster will usually yield up to 10 bunches.

Bananas are great, because they're pretty easily frozen and keep for a long time, regardless of how ripe they were when you got them initially. You can use them for smoothies, vegan banana ice cream (just mash up with a little cinnamon, brown sugar, and nutmeg. Freeze it and you're set), or one of my personal favorites: banana bread.


Banana bread is great for a lot of reasons.

1) I'm poor. Gift-giving times like pot lucks, birthdays, or Christmas can be difficult on the rent money, so finding cheaper, home-made alternatives to give as gifts is awesome. If you make a seriously yummy loaf of banana bread and wrap it with a jar of Nutella (less than $3) to spread on top, you just made someone's tummy very happy.
2) As stated before: banana bread + Nutella. GREAT.
3) Banana bread can be used as breakfast food AND snack food AND dessert food. Look at that versatility!
4) Overripe or defrosted bananas are actually ideal for making banana bread, so it's a dumpster diver's dream!

I'm still experimenting with finding the best banana bread recipe, so I'd encourage you to find one online or through your family that seems to be popular or to your liking (vegan, gluten-free, low-fat, etc.) until my recipe is fine-tuned enough to post.

To prepare you, most (non-vegan) banana bread recipes call for:

Ingredients:

- 3-4 bananas
- Butter
- Sugar (brown or white)
- 1 Egg
- Vanilla
- Baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- Flour
- Chocolate chips (optional)
- 1 loaf pan (most grocery stores will sell recyclable/disposable loaf pans if you're giving the bread as a gift or taking it to a pot luck).

If you're defrosting the bananas - be forewarned - there's usually some liquid at the bottom of your container once they defrost. This is NORMAL. Just discard the liquid and add maybe 1 more banana than your recipe called for (like, if it says to use 3, go with 4).

Also, I usually freeze bananas with their skins on. This just means that you need to cut them off before you put them in a smoothie or make vegan ice cream.

Also, don't be afraid if your bananas have brown spots. This is also normal.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Butter, egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt, flour (from the sadly now-defunct Beet Food Co-op)

January Bounty

After work one night (1/12), I went to Trader Joe's again with Mark (my co-worker and friend). It was freeeeeezing! It's hard to untie bags with gloves on, so I'm pretty sure we got frostbite in the process of looting. Afterward, we went to my house to divide the plunder.

This particular evening, we lucked out and got shopping carts outside the dumpster again (this happens a lot in the winter when the grocery staff are too cold/tired to throw bags in the dumpster at night).

It turned out to be a bread night - every kind of bakery goods imaginable were ripe for the picking - ciabatta, sourdough, french baguette, cakes, tarts, dinner rolls - you name it. There was also a pretty healthy selection of other types of food as well, but the amount of baked goods was unfathomable. Bread is great, because it keeps for a VERY long time if you freeze it. You just need to pop it in the toaster oven or microwave, et voila - perfectly good bread. (a note about larger loafs/bagels/etc. - you need to cut them prior to freezing, or else the defrosting process takes forever and you'll have a cold center to your bread, which is gross).

Usually grocery stores will throw out certain items on certain days. If you watch/pillage their dumpster regularly and start making a list of what you get on certain days of the week, you'll start to notice trends. Then, when you're low on a certain type of item (bread, veggies, dry goods), you'll know what days you're more likely to come out a winner. I'm in the process of making a really pretty monthly calendar to track my trends.

The plunder was a little more modest in scope compared to my last dive, since I was a little more discerning this go-round:

- 2 avocados
- 1 bag of sweet "kid-friendly" apples
- 1 red pepper
- 1 orange pepper
- 1 bag of mixed greens
- 3 red onions (yes, more onions. I thought red onions would make it better. But I still have a million onions).
- 1 loaf ciabatta (I froze this)
- 6 individual, small ciabattas (I also froze these - they're perfect for sandwiches)
- 3 limes

Mark came out with a little more than I did this time (his plunder included lemons, oranges, ONIONS, potatoes, hot peppers, etc). He ended up making a potato stew with it that sounded delicious. I asked him to take a picture so I could put it up on the blog as part of soup month, but apparently he ate it too quickly!