Baingan Bartha, Bounty, & Food Stamps

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned.  I went an entire month without dumpstering.  How is this possible?!  I'm pretty upset about it.  Still, I think I have some decently good excuses why I haven't been as active in the trash lately:

I moved a few months ago and haven't found good dumpsters close to my new house. I was going to the dumpsters near my work...until I left that job in August (explaining why I didn't dumpster at all in August). 2: Leaving my job allowed for me to get food stamps again (I need the money for non-dumpster-able items like olive oil, etc, I just also started using it for everything else too)...now, I know this makes me a lazy dumpster diver and probably shows you that a big motivation for my dumpstering is saving money as opposed to saving the planet. Still, that motivation is there.
Bottom line is this: I have decent excuses for not dumpstering a whole lot lately. I have some friends who are showing me some new spots, soon, though...so hopefully I'll resume my normal dumpstering routine in no time. Since I got food stamps, I've been taking the leftover amount of funds I have in the account and have been buying dry or canned goods and have been donating them to a food shelter so they don't go to waste (shh, don't tell)! I think a good idea might be to start dumpstering again so that the amount of food I can donate increases (I've also been cooking for starving artist friends a lot lately, so that sort of counts as donating food to a worthy cause too).

July Bounty (really out of date, I know, but:)

7/24/12 – Food Lion

-       Bag of broccoli

-       2 pkgs cherry tomatoes

-       1 red bell pepper

-       1 loaf honey wheat bread

-       2 pkgs kiwis

7/26/12

Tried a new Trader Joe’s during the day – nothing good this time.

7/29/12

Chamomile tea, morrocan mint tea left in a "free" box by co-workers.

 BAINGAN BARTHA



I had gotten really tired of making my usual eggplant dishes: eggplant parmesan, ratatouille, baba ganoush...and then I dumpstered another eggplant.  So, I tried going WAY outside my comfort zone to try an Indian dish out.  I'm really unfamiliar with Indian cooking, so the picture looks pretty gross below.  However, it still tasted pretty good, even if it was a little off from the baingan bartha I'm used to having at restaurants.  Hopefully this is my first and worst foray into the land of Indian cuisine, and that practice will be on my side with this one.

Ingredients:
-  A few cups of brown cooked rice to put the mixture over (pasta will suffice, but will be weirder)
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1-4 jalapenos (depending on how you like your spiciness), chopped & seeded
- 3-4 chopped garlic cloves, minced
- 1-2 inches chopped ginger
- Olive oil
- Yellow curry powder - optional
- Coriander to taste

Step one: roast your eggplant.  Here's a nice video with instructions here.
Step two: take the pulp and put it in a saucepan with about a tbsp of olive oil.  Add the onions until they're soft, then the jalapenos, garlic, and ginger, then tomato.  Keep at a medium or medium-low heat until you start to smell the aromas mixing together.
Step three:  Add salt, coriander, and curry to taste.
Step four:  Taste and adjust flavors until it tastes right, then serve!

Ingredients not dumpstered or donated: Spices, olive oil

Spicy Slow-Roasted Tomato Hummus & Pita Chips

It's been a while since I posted an actual recipe, so here goes:
Sometime in 2010, I made an incredibly delicious spicy tomato hummus that looked like vomit but tasted like heaven (coining the term heavom).  Since then, I've been on a quest to recreate the recipe since I didn't write the original down.  Finally, two years later, I think I've approximated it (more or less).  I give you: Spicy Slow-Roasted Tomato Hummus with Homemade Pita Chips!

STEP 1: SLOW-ROASTED TOMATOES

Slow-roasted tomatoes are really very easy - it's kind of the same process as making raisins out of grapes - you're just slowly drying the tomatoes out.  They range from hot and flavorful to sun-dried, depending on how long you leave them in the oven for.  Basically, you just put those suckers on a baking pan, coat them in olive oil, salt, and pepper (you can add other spices or garlic if you want to get fancy).  Then, you leave the tomatoes in the oven for a very long time (2-3 hours) at a very low temperature (around 200-250 degrees Fahrenheit).  Just check on them after the two hour mark and take them out when they're at the desired chewiness.  I'll usually use 1 package of dumpstered cherry tomatoes for this, but any type will suffice.  You can also use slow-roasted tomatoes in breakfast dishes (divine with a poached egg), bruscettas, tomato sauce, etc.  Add some garlic in the pan to roast for fun. 

STEP 2: SLOW-ROASTED TOMATO HUMMUS

 Using the slow-roasted tomatoes, the next step can either be very hard or very easy, depending on whether or not you have a food processor.  If you do, you're in luck - you get the easy road.  Otherwise, get ready - you're in for a lot of cutting, mashing, and pain.

Ingredients:
- 1 can chickpeas
- Your slow-roasted tomatoes
- Juice from 1/2 an orange (or OJ from the carton in a pinch) - this is crucial as it brightens the flavor of the hummus considerably
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon or lime
- 2 tbsp tahini (the first time I did this, I made my own tahini, which involves roasting sesame seeds and painstakingly hand-crushing them while adding olive oil.  I don't recommend making your own tahini unless you're a sadist)
- 2-5 tbsp olive oil
-1-2 cloves roasted garlic (optional)
- 1-3 cloves fresh, peeled garlic
- 1-3 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
- 1 tsp cumin (to taste)
- salt & pepper to taste
- If you're not using tomatoes, sometimes a tsp or two of water will be needed.

Throw it all in the food processor.  Otherwise, have fun mashing and mixing the ingredients.  If you choose this route, there's a high likelihood that you will be crying by the end of the process.

Makes roughly 6-8oz. 

STEP 3: HOMEMADE PITA CHIPS

Homemade pita chips are perfect for when your pita bread is starting to go slightly stale, or if you got way too much from the dumpster.  You can use pita chips like any regular salty snack by themselves, or you can use them for dipping in hummus, salsa, or cream cheese based dips.  It's really simple (I wonder why people buy pita chips at all): cut your pita into 8ths, then use a brush to brush olive oil on each side of each chip, laying your chips on a tin foil-covered baking sheet when you're finished.  Add salt, pepper, and whatever else (garlic powder, basil, oregano) to taste.  Next, put your pita wedges in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10-20 minutes, depending on your oven.  Check on them every so often to make sure they aren't burning, and flip them about half way through.

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

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

Zucchini Noodles

My favorite vegan/raw food restaurant does a mean zucchini noodle dish that I'm super into.  So, when I dumpstered 5 zucchini and didn't feel like making zucchini bread or ratatouille, I decided to try making zucchini noodles for the first time instead.

<u>Ingredients:</u>
- 4 zucchini
- flavorful sauce of some sort (I used my pesto cream sauce recipe, but substituted peanuts and a little sesame oil in my pesto instead of cashews, since that's what I had)

Zucchini noodles are painfully easy to make.  There are cool contraptions you can buy to make it look more like pasta, but you basically just need a vegetable peeler and some time to accomplish a more fettuccine-type noodle.  You peel the skin off, then just keep peeling around the whole zucchini longways until you get to the seeds at the core.  At that point, you can cut the core up for a salad, stir fry, or ratatouille so you're using the vegetable in more ways than one!

Once you've made the zucchini noodles according to the directions above, you can make up some kind of sauce (I made a pesto cream sauce to keep it in the raw food category.  If you're vegan, you could just do pesto plus a tomato or something).  It's a pretty flavorful dish.

One thing to mention, though - the zucchini noodles lose their moisture if you salt them and leave them in the fridge over time, so try to eat them all up after one or two meals or they can get kind of gross...

Items not dumpstered or donated: cream, sesame oil, garlic

Ratatouille

One of my favorite things to do with squash and zucchini is make ratatouille with it. Ratatouille is traditionally a rustic French dish that packs a lot of flavor and is considered an art to execute perfectly. The dish has become a hallmark of lauded French chefs, and can make or break a restaurant (they even made a movie about it).

My Mom made a version of it when I was growing up that was far from haute cuisine - It normally consisted of cooked veggies with some kind of Ragu sauce thrown over it. The fact that my Mom called it "ratatouille" probably would've made Julia Child turn over in her grave, but it still got me to eat greens I otherwise would've skipped.

So, there's definitely a ratatouille spectrum out there that you can get creative with. Ratatouille can take a few minutes or a few hours, depending on how fancy you want to get with it. I'm going to give you a pretty basic (i.e. non-traditional) version of it to try. If you like that, I'd suggest googling more extreme recipes.

Now, one major difference between the ratatouille that I make and a traditional one: 99% of traditional ratatouille recipes include eggplant. Mine doesn't. Don't get me wrong, I love eggplant, I just prefer to use eggplant as the main component of a dish instead of as a supporting character. A lot of traditional ratatouilles also use alcohol and take a long time to cook down. I don't always have time for that.

And so, on to the recipes. Both are fast, but taste a bit different since one uses a home made veloute-like sauce (with stock, butter, and flour) and the other uses previously canned tomato sauce. I'll give you the option to choose your own adventure in a second...

Ingredients:
- Squash
- Zucchini
- Onion
- 2 tbsp Butter or Olive oil
- Tomato (optional)
- Eggplant (optional)
- Lemon, juiced (optional)
- Flour (optional)
- Chicken or Vegetable stock (optional)
- Tomato sauce (optional)
- Salt & pepper & parsley to taste

Throw all your favorite chopped veggies into a pan with some butter (olive oil if you're vegan) on medium heat with some salt and pepper and cook until everything's soft.

Here's where the 2 possibilities diverge...choice one is a lemon veloute sauce (one of the five French mother sauces) that requires SLIGHTLY more work, and choice two is over in another 30 seconds...

1) Add about a half cup of stock (chicken works best in my opinion, but veggie works too), turn your heat to medium-high, and let it boil down just a little. Take a tablespoon of flour (maybe a teeny bit more than that) and sprinkle slowly into your sauce, stirring the whole time to thicken it up. When everything's sticking together pretty well, add the juice from 1/2 to a full lemon. Continue stirring, taste it, add some fresh parsley, and you're finished. (This option is the one pictured above, with a tomato in there, which adds to the sauce as well).

2) Open a jar/can/whatever of tomato sauce (bonus points if it's home made and home canned), pour just enough in the pan to cover your vegetables until the sauce heats up, taste it to see if it needs anymore salt or pepper and you're finished.

This can be a side dish or put over rice or noodles for a heartier meal.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Butter/olive oil, Salt/Pepper

Vegan Banana Coconut Milk "Ice Cream"

My friend Gerry served this at a dinner party. I was so jealous I didn't get any (it went fast) that I decided to try my hand at making a batch of my own! This is a great way to use up bananas that went straight into the freezer when you dumpstered them. Also, it's a healthy dessert since there's no added sugar and potassium galore! Now that the weather is getting warmer, I don't feel quite so bad about posting an "ice cream" recipe...there's a few more sorbets coming up in the future too...

Ingredients:
- 6 bananas, pre-frozen
- 1 can coconut milk (I hardly ever dumpster this stuff, but I got a few dented cans/boxes recently, which got me really excited!)

Stick it all in a blender until it's smooth-ish (no more banana chunks). Stick it in a container. Stick it in the freezer in an air-tight container. THE END. Makes roughly 1 pint.

When I went through my pint, I would drizzle a little honey and made a blackberry reduction (literally just sticking blackberries on the stove and cooking off the liquid until it's a sauce. You can easily do this with pretty much any berry) to put on top of it with some mint since I was eating this stuff for a long time and wanted to spice it up, but it's really nice plain too, or with a little nutmeg.

A warning about not eating the "ice cream" right when you make it: this stuff hardens up like a rock in the freezer since there's no added sugar or liqueur (the stuff that makes sorbets easily scoop-able), so you'll probably want to leave it out to thaw at the beginning of dinner so it's scoop-able by the time dessert hits. I also had some luck with putting it in the microwave to thaw it out, but that method was less reliable.

Items not dumpstered or donated: ZERO!

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

Fried Plantains & Plantain Chips

I lived for a time in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, a small to medium-sized tourist town next to a volcano (volcan Arenal), a very large lake, and a very famous waterfall. I was there fulfilling my near lifelong dream of working in the rain forest as a zipline canopy tour guide. My life there ended up being much less and much more than I had initially imagined. I lived in a small boarding house room with concrete walls and a tin roof. I loved eating in town since the open air "kitchen" in the boarding house was comprised of a sink, a propane stove that got stolen when one of the other tenants skipped town about half way through my stay, and a refrigerator that was never plugged in, therefore serving as a place to store food away from bugs, but not really a place to keep food cold. Needless to say, it was hard to cook food in that kitchen.

Many of the restaurants in town were expensive tourist traps, but my two favorites were called "sodas." Basically, a soda is the Costa Rican equivalent of a soul food joint. It serves good local food for cheap. One of the sodas (pictured above) was on my way to work in the jungle and served the best hamburger I've had in my entire life (the man pointed to a cow in the field and basically said "you're eating one of those. we killed it a few days ago"). The other was on the main street going through town, right on the plaza (town square). It was here that I ate my first plantain, fried up as a side dish with some beef tongue and rice.

To say I love fried plantains would be understating the truth. Every time I think about, let alone eat fried plantains, I'm transported back to the Soda a la Parada in the heart of La Fortuna, looking out onto the street, trying to overhear and translate conversations at neighboring tables, enjoying the humidity, and missing home.

This was the first time I ever dumpstered plantains, so I was obviously pretty elated.


FRIED PLANTAINS or PLANTAIN CHIPS

Ingredients:
- 1 plantain
- 1/2 cup(ish) cooking oil - I used safflower because I had it leftover from an old roommate, but I'd probably use veggie oil normally. Olive oil or canola is fine, but it will make the taste a little heavier.

Heat your oil in a pan.
Peel your plantain - the browner the plantain skin, the sweeter it will taste when fried up. If the skin is green at all, it will taste a little starchier.
Cut slices a little thinner than 1". (If you want crispy chips, slice them SUPER thin).
When the oil is hot enough that it spits at you when you sprinkle water on it, add your plantain slices. The oil should come about half way up your plantains.
After a few minutes, flip them over. They should have browned but not burned. This will make the outsides nice and crispy.
When both sides are browned, move your slices to a paper towel to drain some of the oil off.
Enjoy!

Items not dumpstered or donated: ZERO!

Kale Chips

So, I love kale. This is not a secret. It's really good for you and tastes amazing. It turns out, my friend Justin ALSO loves kale. He gave me a sticker from this website that lives on my tea thermos now. He also brought kale chips to the climbing gym one day to share. A bunch of the kids that I coach tried them with varied reactions. Some thought they were the weirdest thing ever, some couldn't get enough of them and went back for seconds and thirds.

In my experience, this volatile range of emotions is typical for folks trying kale for the first time. Some people just aren't used to its slightly bitter flavor. Still, there are ways to cook it where it's not as bitter as it's cracked up to be. Kale chips are often cited as a "great way for kids to eat their vegetables" because they have a consistency and flavor similar to a potato chip...but aren't deep fried in oil and are much healthier for you.

I had never made kale chips before, so I asked for Justin's recipe. I had planned to munch on them as a snack throughout the week, but unfortunately I ate them all within an hour of making them...they were just too good. Oops?

The other bunch of kale I dumpstered from the same trip I used to make my sweet & savory kale for dinner this week. In hindsight, I probably should've just made more kale chips...omnomnom.

KALE CHIPS

Ingredients:
- 1 bunch kale
- A few tablespoons olive oil (enough to coat the kale)
- Salt to taste
- Red pepper flakes & garlic powder to taste (optional)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cover a cookie sheet in tin foil.
Rip kale into about 2-3 inch pieces, removing it from the stalk and placing the pieces in a bowl. Note - I really like to eat the stalks raw while I'm preparing the rest of the kale chips. They're a sweet, yummy snack that're a little like the texture of raw asparagus in your mouth (which I love). So many people throw out the stalks instead of cooking them for a little longer than the leaves or eating them straight. That's wasteful and stupid.
Pour enough olive oil in the bowl so that when you toss the kale with your hand, it coats everything.
Put however much salt you want in there with the kale. I also added garlic salt and crushed red pepper to my kale chips as an experiment for some extra flavor, but plain salt & pepper is also really great.
Another note: If you're suddenly struck by laziness and don't want to make kale chips, the oil-doused kale is actually incredibly delicious at this point before you stick it in the oven. I could probably eat the kale just like this and be completely happy...but, if you want kale chips, continue...
Place kale pieces in rows on your cookie sheet (you'll probably need more than one). Be careful that they don't touch at their edges.
Stick them in the oven for 20 minutes, taking them out about half way through to flip the chips over.
Watch your chips carefully. They should brown at their edges, but not burn. If they need a few extra minutes, let them hang out in the oven. I took one of my batches out too early and they were a little oily/chewy still, which still tasted fine but wasn't very crispy and chip-like.
Store in a tupperware so they don't crumble. They don't need to be refrigerated and will last a few weeks to a month on the shelf.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Olive oil, spices.

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

Sweet Potato Fries with Spicy Garlic Aoli

I made this recipe to bring to Thanksgiving at my Dad's last year. My nieces and nephews (all under the age of 12 and averse to veggies) loved these, and the aoli elevated the dish so that all the adults were impressed with my "culinary expertise." My family asked me to make these again this year, so I figured I'd share the recipe. At home, I'll usually pair these with a black bean burger or my quinoa burgers (and put the aoli on top of the burgers too)!

SWEET POTATO FRIES WITH SPICY GARLIC AOLI

Ingredients:

Fries:
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled (don't have to peel them, but it makes them more crispy if you do. Also, a good rule of thumb is to ration about 1 sweet potato per person if you're cooking for more than just yourself or a friend).
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt, pepper, paprika, and cinnamon to taste

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
While you wait for it to heat up, peel and cut your sweet potato into 1/2" thick sticks. Try to keep really pointy ends from being there, as they burn easily.
In a ziploc bag, put in your olive oil and spices.
Throw your sweet potatoes in and give the bag a good shake so that everything covers the sweet potato (this step is especially fun if you're making this with a kid as your helper. Put on some music and shake around!).
Put your potatoes spread evenly on a baking sheet with tin foil over it.
Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, turning your fries over in the middle (at 10 or 15 minute mark - different ovens will take different times to make the fries crispy). When your fries begin to brown, it's time to take them out.
Dry your fries on a paper towel, add some extra salt and pepper, and serve!

You can make oven fries with regular potatoes too. Just bring down the cooking time to like 10-20 minutes because regular potatoes will burn more easily.

Aoli (don't use this if you're vegan unless you have vegan mayonnaise):
- 1/3 cup Mayonnaise (bonus points if it's homemade)
- 1-2 tbsp sriracha sauce
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp Lemon or lime juice (I used lemon)
- pepper & salt to taste (I used about 1 tsp pepper and 1-2 tsp salt)
- 1-3 tbsp cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like it)
- 1/2 tsp cumin

So, the funny thing about aoli is: it's just a fancy word for mayonnaise. You put stuff in it to make it taste better, but it's usually just mayonnaise (yeah - all those fancy restaurants that have "aoli" somewhere on the menu? It's because they're too chicken to just call it what it is so you're actually willing to pay more money and think it's healthy or high-class or something).

To make it, you just mix all the ingredients together until it tastes good. Up the quantities of everything if you want more aoli to dip into or if you're putting it on top of a burger.

Items not donated or dumpstered: olive oil, garlic, spices, sriracha sauce

Vegan Radish Greens Soup

It's happened.

SOUP MONTH has returned. As it's gotten colder, I've become obsessed with soups again. I forgot how easy and delicious they are.

So, quick Soup 101:

Almost all European-style savory soups begin with what's called a mirepoix (a French word pronounced meer-ah-pwah), which basically means onions, celery, and carrots sauteed with butter or oil (and usually with some combination of spices added). They create this bangin' set of flavors that create the base to most soups, stocks, and sauces. Without them, your soup just won't taste as hearty unless you're making an Asian-style soup or curry, in which case the flavors are going to be coming from other ingredients (like ginger, chili, curry, garlic, etc).

Next, you just add your main ingredients to your mirepoix, add some water or stock, blend it up, and go. Super easy.

So, this next dish isn't 100% from the dumpster because I had the chance to go to a pick-your-own farm near my house. I ended up getting pumpkins for my curried pumpkin and potato soup (and to put out at Halloween for the kiddies), sweet potatoes, beets, broccoli, and a bunch of daikon radishes, which I had never used before.

I ended up using all the daikon radishes (typically used in Asian dishes) for my first experiments with kimchee (a Korean fermented snack/condiment) and pho (a Vietnamese soup)...however, I was left with a bunch of daikon radish greens that I didn't know how to use. I came up with this recipe, which you can actually apply to a lot of different types of greens if you're over-stocked. The radish greens are especially great, though, because they have a nice peppery flavor to them already. Plus, I had all the ingredients for soup that I had recently dumpstered, so this was a perfect solution for using them.

Unfortunately, there's no picture for this soup because I threw it in a container to take to work right after making it...and then promptly ate all of it for dinner with some bread. Several people saw me eating it and asked for the recipe, so I figured it was worth the share. Plus, my boss is really allergic to dairy, so he appreciated the fact that it was vegan (bonus points)!

VEGAN RADISH GREENS SOUP

This soup makes like 5-6 cups with these proportions, so you'd have to double or triple them if you were going to make a lot for a family:

Ingredients:

- 2-3 tbsp olive oil or butter (vegan with oil)
- 1 medium-large potato
- 1 red onion
- 2 long celery stalks
- 1 medium carrot
- 4 cups daikon radish greens (or chard, kale, spinach or some other kind of yummy leafy green - if it's beet or radish greens, there'll be more flavor since both of those are kind of peppery. For other kinds of greens, you'll probably need to adjust the seasoning of the dish)
- 1-2 red or daikon radishes (optional - I didn't use them because I had used them all up in my kimchee)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh sage
- 1 tsp fresh parsley
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 bay leaf (remember to take it out before you blend it up)
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock or broth, warmed up (I used 4 cups water with chicken bouillon because I was out of everything else)

On medium-high heat, heat up the onions, celery, carrots for a few minutes. Add the potatoes, radish greens, garlic, and spices.
Warm up the broth in a separate pot while the other stuff is cooking.
Add the broth, then boil everything. Turn to medium-low and simmer for 5-20 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf.
Put everything into a blender. DONE.

Ingredients not dumpstered, donated, or picked/grown myself: Olive oil/butter, bouillon cubes, bay leaf, garlic, salt/pepper

Vegan Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

It snowed. At the end of October. Unfortunately, I was out in it more than I had wanted to be all day (if you know me you know that cold weather is not my cup of tea). So, when I got home after a full day of work I needed something to warm me up - badly.

I ended up starting a cooking session that lasted a few hours (my housemates were at a Halloween party, so I had the quiet, peaceful house to myself). I ended up using almost all the food that was about to go bad in my fridge, prolonging the life of it a little longer.

To warm up, I decided to make a soup I'd never tried before from scratch, using as many ingredients as I could from my fridge. I had a lot of tomatoes, so I decided to go with tomato soup. It turned out I had a red pepper too, so I threw that in there as well.

Soup in general is an awesome dumpster chef's tool because you can freeze most soup for a few weeks up to a few months (depending on if it has dairy, what's in it, etc). This makes it pretty easy to polish off the rest of the dumpstered food in your fridge before it spoils. Plus, reheating your frozen soup in the microwave takes no time at all on days where you just want to eat without any prep work because you're freaking hungry.

RED PEPPER & TOMATO SOUP

Ingredients:

- 1 large tomato
- 3 small roma tomatoes
- 1 medium red pepper
- 2 long stalks celery
- 1/2 large red onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock (bouillon is also fine to use if you don't have any previously frozen or bought stock)
- A large bunch of fresh basil
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- Ground cumin (2 dashes), nutmeg (2 dashes), salt (a crap-ton), pepper (a smaller crap-ton), yellow curry powder (very small pinch), cayenne pepper (2-4 dashes), & cinnamon (very small pinch) to taste.

Makes about 2 dinner-sized servings.

Put olive oil in the bottom of a pan. Heat onions, celery, red peppers (you can roast your pepper ahead of time, which can give it extra flavor), tomatoes, and garlic at medium-high heat until they all soften up (you can leave it covered to keep some of the moisture in).
Add the bay leaf and a bit of salt.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add basil about 5 minutes before you take the pan off the heat.
Remove bay leaf (it will suck if you don't).

Put it all in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Put the mixture back into a pot and put it on medium-low heat.
Heat up chicken or vegetable stock (if you use vegetable stock, this recipe is vegan). Add it to your pot and thoroughly stir it in.
Add your spices to flavor the soup as you like. I like mine with a BIG punch of flavor (and the spiciness gives a little heat on those cold days), so I added a bunch (quantities delineated above). Garnish your soup with a little sprig of fresh basil and you're set! I also like to eat my soup with a piece of buttered toasty bread so I can dip it in the soup and savor it even longer.

Once everything's finished, it's time to curl up with the cat and savor the soup's warmth before I'm forced back out into the cold again.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Olive oil, garlic, basil (from garden), stock, all other spices, butter (on bread)

Granola with Dried Cherries

Driving to a coffee shop to hang out with my Stepmom Maryann, we got to talking about what I had recently dumpstered and how I was going to use it...

"I have no idea what I'm going to do with 6 packages of cherries. Maybe freeze them for smoothies or make cobbler? I have to think fast..."
"I'll take a package," Maryann offered.
"What?"
"I'll take a package" she repeated.
"Wait. Since when are you okay with eating dumpstered food?"
"Since now, I guess. I love cherries. I've been really curious about your dumpstering. Your Dad isn't into it, but I'd love to go with you sometime and see what it's all about as long as we don't get arrested. It's like an adventure...and we don't have to tell your father where the food came from."
"It's mostly late at night..."
"That's okay. I'll take a nap or something."

This is REALLY exciting for me. One of my parents interested in DUMPSTERING? Up until now, the only people I've known who dumpster are under the age of 35. For some reason, I had just assumed older people weren't into it. I assumed they have the luxury of affording store-bought food and aren't as invested about landfill usage (or something silly like that).

So, my mind is blown and I'm completely looking forward to opening the world of dumpstering up to my Stepmom. Keep your eyes peeled for an ultra action-packed SENIOR CITIZEN edition of Trash to Table coming up soon!

In the mean time, here's what my Stepmom Maryann recommended I do with my extra cherries - dry them out. Dehydrating fruits and vegetables is a great way to make them last. In the case of cherries, you can add them to granola, cereal, or trail mix, or just munch on them for a snack! I ended up putting them in some home made granola.

DRIED CHERRIES

Ingredients:

- However many cherries you have

Cut your cherries in half (composting the pits) and put them skin side down on a baking sheet covered with tin foil or an oven rack where the cherries won't fall through.
I have a confectioner's oven (which is ideal for dehydrating foods), since it keeps a constant temperature and flow of air going through the oven. However, if you don't have one, you'll need to get a very accurate thermometer for your oven and keep it at a constant temperature of 135 degrees Fahrenheit.
Keep the cherries in there for 8-10 hours (overnight is usually a safe bet if you rotate trays and make sure things aren't burning about halfway through the night).

GRANOLA

Granola is great for breakfast, or you can add chocolate chips and turn it into trail mix (I did this to take on an overnight climbing job and it was awesome).

Ingredients:
- 4 cups rolled oats
- 2 cups flax seed meal
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (unsalted, unroasted, shelled)
- 1 cup almond slices
- 1/2 cup pecans (chopped)
- 1/2 cup cashews (chopped)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 + 1/4 cup raisins and/or dried cranberries
- 2 cups shredded coconut
- A sprinkle of nutritional yeast (optional)
- (I also added some leftover toasted pumpkin seeds I had)


I ended up putting freshly dumpstered strawberries on top of my granola too!

So, start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and covering a large baking sheet with tin foil.
Next, combine all the nuts, seeds, oats, and flax seed meal.
In a small pot, combine all the wet ingredients as well as the salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Bring it to a boil at around medium heat, then turn the burner off IMMEDIATELY.
Pour it over the nut mixture and stir it around, then spread the stuff on your baking sheet.
Bake it in the oven for around 20-30 minutes, until it's toasted and a bit crispy, maybe stirring once or twice along the way. Take it out to cool down (it will get crispier as it cools).
Stir in your raisins and dried cherries. DONE.
Store in a cool, dry place.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Rolled oats (from the Beet Food Co-Op), sunflower seeds, almonds, honey, spices, vanilla extract, coconut

Curried Sweet Potatoes

My good friend Kendall and I made this dish for a birthday pot-luck a few months back which mostly had vegetarians and vegans in attendance (we also made some vegan jalapeno corn bread with a spicy mango-ginger chutney, which I'll hopefully post the recipe for soon). Unfortunately, Kendall and I don't get to see each other as often as we'd like to since we live kind of far away from each other and are both incredibly busy folks. Making this dish doesn't require a lot of prep time, and you have to wait around 40 minutes for these to finish in the oven. This leaves ample time to catch up and commune with your friends, which is exactly what Kendall and I did before heading to the party. Our dishes were gone minutes after we placed them on the table, and folks lamented that they couldn't come back for seconds. As the demi-god Charlie Sheen would say: winning.

I re-made this dish after dumpstering sweet potatoes the other day, and it was just as good (and easy) as the first time. This time, I ended up hanging out with my housemate (who was about to move to NY) while I waited for the sweet potatoes to cook. I got a little engrossed in the conversation, so the potatoes got left in the oven a bit too long, which is why they look a little TOO crispy in the photo above. In the end, they still tasted yummy and I got to have a great time talking to my roommate (and friend) before he left.

CURRIED SWEET POTATOES

Ingredients:
- Sweet potatoes
- Around 1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil (I'm pretty sure we used olive oil both times)
- Juice from 1/2-1 lemon
- Yellow curry powder (a LOT of it)
- A butt-ton of rosemary
- A healthy dose of nutmeg
- An equally healthy dose of cinnamon
- Salt & pepper to taste (I put on a lot)

Wash and cut your sweet potatoes into cubes - maybe around 1"x1". Leave the skins on for extra nutrients.
Throw everything else on your sweet potatoes and toss so the potatoes are covered.
Put them on a baking sheet covered in tin foil.
Bake in an oven at 350-400 (the higher the temperature, the crispier the outside of the sweet potatoes will get).
Take them out and turn them over a bit around half way through.
40 minutes later, and you're done. You can tell they're done if a fork goes into them easily.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Honey, spices (rosemary was from the garden)

Two roasted beet salads

BEETS! In an old Nickelodeon show 'Doug,' Quail Man had a line that beets were "nature's candy." I couldn't agree more. Doug's favorite band was also incidentally named The Beets. Beets are uber-nutritious and delicious (providing vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, and a compound that helps detoxify the liver. Add the beet greens and you also get a butt-ton of iron)!

Beets can be used in numerous ways, from roasted as a side to a fresh ingredient for juices and smoothies to a hearty addition to a salad. You can also use the bitter greens and cook them in the same way you'd cook spinach or swiss chard. Since it's still summer, I decided to give you guys beet salad two ways. Enjoy!

ROASTED BEET & GOAT CHEESE SALAD

Ingredients:
- 1 small beet, roasted or boiled then diced (I like roasting them better because it keeps a lot of the flavor intact, whereas so much color and juice leaks out into the water if you boil it. That said, boiling is a tad bit faster)
- 2 cups greens (I used a baby spinach/baby arugula mix)
- 1/8 cup shaved red onion (white's okay, though)
- 1.5 tbsp goat cheese, crumbled (optional for vegans, but otherwise I think it offsets the aggressiveness of the raw onion really nicely, so don't skimp)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- salt to taste
- Sprinkle with crushed pistachios (optional)

Put it all together. Toss. DONE.

MOROCCAN BEET SALAD

- 1 large beet, roasted and diced
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon
- Parsley
- Salt to taste

Put it all together. Toss. DONE.

And remember - if your urine or poo looks like there is blood in it a day or so after eating a lot of beets, it's probably because you ate a lot of beets, not because you have a kidney infection. Pink pee is hilarious. When talking about this to my friend Emily, we decided that all women pee magenta-colored pee all the time in the minds of men...just like we also burp glitter and fart rainbows.

Items not donated or dumpstered: salt, goat cheese, parsley (from garden)

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

Vegan Quinoa Hippie Burgers

It's not really a secret that I'm a little bit of a hippie dirtbag deep down inside. I was vegetarian for 8 years, 2 of which I was vegan for. Although I now eat meat again, I still have a soft spot for the old classics of my vegan days.

Enter the vegan burger.

There's a lot of different ways to make vegan burgers. Most of the time, changing up the base ingredient is what makes each one special - people use things with lots of protein like black beans, lentils, pinto beans, kidney beans, or quinoa (a grain that is a perfect protein). I like using quinoa the most, since I'll make up a batch as a side dish for dinner and then have leftovers that I want to transform into something else...

VEGAN QUINOA HIPPIE BURGERS

Ingredients:
- 2.5 cups cooked quinoa (I cooked mine with freshly chopped rosemary to give it a little extra flavor)
- 1 cup roasted red pepper hummus (you can also substitute cooked chickpeas and a little water, or any other flavor of hummus, but it's not as tasty) (p.s. EXTRA BONUS PROTEIN!)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2-3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2-3 tbsp flax seed meal (harder to dumpster, but I lucked out with a 3 lb. bag one time, so I'm set for life)
- 2 cloves garlic
- Crap-ton of fresh basil (to taste)
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (this brightens up the flavors of the spices and hummus)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4-5 tbsp wheat flour

Mix everything up in a bowl. Taste it to see if the spices balance in the way you'd like.
Make into big meaty patties.
At this stage, you can freeze the patties for use later by sticking wax paper between them and putting them in an air-tight container - they'll last up to about 3 months.
Fry on high heat in the olive oil so they don't fall apart and get super-crispy (the crispy texture is crucial or else the hummus can make the texture a little weird and the patties will fall apart).
Serve!

Wasn't that easy?

I'm was a total ex-vegan and put goat cheese and spring greens on mine, but you can add anything from avocado to homemade scented aolis (again, bad vegan) to tomatoes. I don't have any bread in my house either right now, so you'll have to use your imagination as to how these would look freaking amazing with burger fixin's on a bun (although, if you're gluten-free, never mind).


These are really great (and easy) to make for BBQs when you have friends who don't eat meat. I can tell you that being on the receiving end of a BBQ that has no substantial food options for you is a bummer ("What?! Just corn on the cob and fruit salad again? Awesome!").

A lot of folks assume that being vegan is really tough, but as long as you have an arsenal of high-protein, nutritionally balanced food, it's actually pretty doable and delicious.

Items not donated or dumpstered: Quinoa (from the Beet Food Co-op), garlic, rosemary (from garden), thyme (from garden), basil (from garden), cumin, paprika, salt & pepper

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)