Tofu Stir-Fry

Surprisingly enough, I made this 4 or 5 times before I was able to nab a picture of it. Why? Probably because I eat it so quickly.

So, the cool thing about stir fries is that they are really easy to make and you can use basically any protein (I dumpster tofu most often) and any vegetables that you have on hand or froze.  It's especially good for mixing frozen veggies with fresh, since it hides the freezer taste that sometimes accompanies veggies that have been in the freezer a little too long. It's a dumpster diver's paradise.  The stir fry below features marinated tofu, previously frozen green beans, orange bell pepper, corn, zucchini, and red onion.

TOFU (or meat) MARINADE

<u>Ingredients:</u>
- 1 block extra-firm tofu - best when previously frozen, thawed, and then pressed to get out all the liquid with paper towels (I'll cut it up first and then squeeze it to get out even more moisture before marinating it)
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Mirin (find it in the Asian section of your supermarket - it's pretty much a dumpster chupacabra.  Don't hold your breath for this ingredient)
- 2 Tbsp Rice vinegar (same as the mirin)
- 1 Tbsp honey (vegans can use agave nectar or some other sweetener)
- 2 Tbsp grated ginger
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil (I've dumpstered this once)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1 tsp sririacha sauce (or other hot chili sauce you have - more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
- Scallions (optional)

Thoroughly mix all these ingredients, then fold the tofu into it so it's liberally covered with everything.  Let it sit for a minimum of 20 minutes (time to cut your veggies) or overnight in the fridge.

ACTUAL STIR-FRY

<u>Ingredients:</u>
- 2 tbsp canola, safflower, or vegetable oil (I like using veggie oil the best)
- VEGGIES

Put oil in a pan or wok.
Get your pan or wok super-hot.
Put in your marinated tofu - you want a browning sear on the outside, but you don't want it to burn.  Stir fry for about 2 minutes, making sure each side gets browned (otherwise the tofu is in danger of falling apart).  Then, push it up to the side of the wok (if you're using a pan, just shift it to the outside edge). 
Add your veggies in the order of which take the longest to cook (carrots, mushrooms, peppers, bok choy stems, etc.) to whichever take the shortest (frozen pre-cooked veggies, corn, bok choy leaves, etc.). 
Once they cook up a bit, add the remainder of your marinade for extra flavor.  Keep cooking until the veggies are cooked, but still have a bit of crunch (taste testing is a great way to tell if they're ready).

You can eat a stir-fry straight (I do this), or make it last a little longer by putting it over rice or pasta.  It's a large initial investment of buying ingredients from the grocery store, but once you buy those basics (which are all pretty cheap), they last you MANY, MANY more meals, so it's worth it.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Ginger, garlic, sesame oil, mirin, rice vinegar, vegetable oil

Thai Mushroom Ginger Coconut Curry

I first ate this dish when I was living in Prague.  My Danish friend and schoolmate Nicolai had me over for dinner, and was trying to explain to me how to make the dish since I thought it was so delicious.  Unfortunately, he didn't know the words for some of the mushroom types, but I eventually deciphered his recipe, which is actually quite simple once you know what mushrooms you're looking for.

Very rarely will you dumpster ALL the mushrooms that are in this soup, so don't feel horrible if you're missing some.  I just lucked out and happened to dumpster most of the ingredients prior to making it.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 pkg white mushrooms
- 1 pkg shitake mushrooms
- 1/2 pkg baby bella mushrooms
- 1 pkg oyster mushrooms
- 1 yellow onion
- As much ginger as your puny mouth can handle
- 1-3 cloves garlic (you can do more if you want)
- A handful of 3-minute noodles (rice noodles or ramen are ideal, but I've used spaghetti and it's worked out fine - spaghetti is pictured above since I was saving my rice noodles for a batch of pho)
- 1 can sweetened coconut milk (If it's unsweetened, just add a teaspoon or two of sugar) (coconut milk is a rare but exciting dumpster find in my experience)
- Water
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Fresh basil
- Fresh cilantro (optional)
- Green or red curry paste (optional)

Cut up the ginger into very small chunks (but don't grate it or mince it).  Throw pieces into about 2-3 cups of boiling water for 15 minutes (you don't want it all to evaporate, though or else you'll lose the gingery flavor the water takes on).
ADD SALT.  This step is important.  If you don't, your mushrooms and pasta won't be as flavorful.
Add your onion, garlic, and mushrooms to the water and let it reduce a little bit - until there's about 1 cup left.
Next, add coconut milk and bring to a low simmer again.  If you're using real noodles vs. quickly cooking ones, you'll need to bring the liquid to a bit more of a boil.
Add your noodles.  If you're using real noodles, cook until the noodles are tender.  Otherwise, just drop your ramen or rice noodles in for about a minute, then take it off the heat.
Add to taste - go overboard on the basil and add maybe just a teaspoon of green curry for the best results.

Ingredients not dumpstered or donated: Ginger, salt & pepper

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

Pizza

Pizza is one of the easiest dumpster food options EVER.

Why?

1. It's super-easy to dumpster or make pizza dough.
2. If I get a huge haul of tomatoes I'll make and can tomato sauce (which stays good for a long-ass time). Voila! Tomato sauce for your pizza whenever you want. (p.s. I'll put up my recipes for a few sauces I make soon). Tired of tomato sauce? Use homemade pesto instead!
3. Pizza toppings are endless. Types of cheese are endless. Therefore, whatever you get from the dumpster automatically becomes a pizza topping! One of my favorite dumpster pizza concoctions involved pork loin (still cold when we dumpstered it and used that night), 3 types of goat cheese, fresh basil, tomatoes, onions, baby portabella mushrooms, & dumpstered whole wheat dough. Not things I'd necessarily put together, but it tasted great! You can also get creative - why not have black beans, cilantro, and hot sauce on your pizza? Or Indian pizza made with dumpstered naan as the crust and curries or chutneys as the sauce? The pizza world is your oyster!
4. Pizza is really easy to make - put dough down, put olive oil/pesto/tomato sauce/whatever down on the pizza. Put toppings on the pizza. Bake at 425 in the oven until your pizza looks like pizza. Eat the pizza.

The pizza I made in the picture above was a little too packed with toppings (beware!), which made it kind of feel like a quiche, but otherwise it was yummy too. GO PIZZA!

Items not dumpstered or donated: Olive oil, oregano (from garden)