Rubbishy Cookery

  When I was a young idealistic vegetarian, I was obsessed with this book: I was obsessed with the personal 20th anniversary introduction, the part of the book called “Recipe for a Personal Revolution” (note: there was a chapter within, which almost inspired me to drop out of grad school and become Frances Moore Lappé’s groupie)(additional note: I met FML at a book reading and signing event in Toronto during this time, and she cautioned me to not make any rash decisions about grad school, which actually convinced me to continue my studies. Sigh.), the parts about food insecurity and the real reasons for hunger in the world (spoiler alert: it’s poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, and powerful corporations and governments keeping the status quo), and, of course, the recipes! Today’s blog entry is a distant relation to a recipe in this book. It’s so distant, I’m not sure which one it was based on. I think it may be this one, because it has a few of the same ingredients and there ...

  Do you ever have friends over for dinner, prepare some nice appetizers and a main, only to be left with a fridge full of bits and bobs of leftovers?  Well today I’m going to show you how to turn your leftover BBQ kebabs and nacho chips and dips appetizer into nachos that are reminiscent of 1990s “Mexican” restaurant fajitas! Ingredients: Directions: First, we’re going to donate the mushrooms to another meal. Luckily I have someone nearby who wanted them for a pasta dish. Next, chop up the leftover cold kebab beef, onions, and red peppers into bite-sized pieces: The fact that the beef is too rare for my liking becomes irrelevant in the process of recooking that follows, and is, in fact, an advantage. Heat some neutral flavoured oil in a nonstick pan and add the chopped kebab pieces when hot, then stir fry until nicely reheated and browned up: Meanwhile, get your nacho chips ready and lay them out on a parchment paper-lined tray. I’m making a serving for one, so using the...

  Here is another homage recipe to the gone-but-not-forgotten favourite restaurant of my youth, Latinos of Guelph, Ontario (see Recipe #6 for more back story on this beloved El Salvadoran restaurant). One of their appetizers was a dish called Nachos Deliciosos , but it was nothing like any nacho dish I’d had before or have had since. Rather than the common nacho dish of chips slathered in various toppings and melted cheese (not that there’s anything wrong with that! See a future post for my version), Latinos served their version in a shallow oval ramekin. The ramekin contained their beautiful black beans covered in homemade red salsa and a layer of melted cheese, served with a few homemade tortilla chips poking out of the hot beans-salsa-cheese ramekin like shark fins, and many more crispy chips around the ramekin for dipping. Sour cream was optional. And that was it. So simple, and yet so… deliciosos!  Ingredients: Note the leftover basic black beans from Recipe #4.  Not...

  Today we’re going to make basic black beans, which are an incredibly versatile base for many Tex and/or Mex style dishes. Making a big batch of beans means lots of easy meals in the days ahead with the leftovers and the addition of some two dimensional corn-based products. More on this in future recipes! I’m sure I didn’t actually invent this recipe per se , but I can’t remember how or when I learned this particular combination of ingredients and method of preparation. It is probably a composite/bastardization of multiple other real recipes, pared down to the minimal amount of time, energy, and ingredients necessary to make it still taste good. And isn’t that what rubbishy cookery is all about? Ingredients: Don’t panic about the Instant Pot! I am only using it because I have one. I used to make this exact recipe on the stovetop for decades before I got an Instant Pot. Yes, decades. I’m that old. Directions: Chop up your onion (or in my case, half onion because it was quite large)...