Kitchen Sink Palette

I have a very peasant approach to food. I often make thick, hearty concoctions all mixed up together. I know some tricks, but few recipes. I work hard to make meals full of flavor and nutrition but give very little attention to presentation. (In fact, I used to sneer at people who value food presentation--I thought I was all about substance, but I realize now that there is a substance to style. I still don't understand garnish, though. Why buy something only to add a visual dimension to your plate and then immediately throw out? Seems wasteful to me. And who can eat curly parsley? It gives parsley a bad name.)

I abhor throwing out food, so its a challenge to keep fresh items at home that are versatile enough to use over and over before they go bad. I prefer to keep items that are easy to build meals out of--onions, garlic, potatoes, eggs, beans, usually tomatoes. I rotate in a "fresh item of the week" which is not on that list. This week, its mushrooms. They will appear in everything I eat this week but probably won't make an appearance again for a while.

I like having recipes where these foods serve as the base, but where there is also a lot of flexibility to add new items. However, the meal will go on if it is limited to only those basic items.

For a while, I subsisted almost entirely on burritos, omelets and soups. I called it the "Three Brothers of the Cupboard" (since the Iroquois already coined the term "Three Sisters"). Take the omelet, for example. The basic part is rather straightforward and eggs are common in my fridge. The fun is that you can add just about anything. I'd have virtual salads in there or a Mexican fiesta. Burritos function in the same way: Once you got a nice fluffy, whole-grain shell, the palette is open for you. Chopped onions, garlic and tomatoes are a no-brainer. Beans, meat, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, corn . . . you can have a complete meal and you're never missing an ingredient, since the items are so interchangeable.

The same is true for hash browns, which are quickly becoming a staple. It starts with shredded potatoes and onion, with simple spices. Last night, I threw a large handful of chopped (not curly!) parsley as well as generous amount of mushrooms. Cheese decorates them often. You can really throw in just about anything This helps for late night cooking when the cupboards are getting bare and its time for some creative experimentation. Open a can of something and toss it in. The good thing is that the meal will go on even if I can't find anything extra to go in.

I like recipes that start off with simple, nutritious elements that are easy to keep around, but which also have the flexibility for an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-dump-in-all-you-got approach.