Leftover Tuesday: Green Gumbo

This week we have so many leftovers that I think every night might wind up as leftover night. We've got a little bit of beef, marinara, a wee bit of alfredo sauce, a few ounces of ricotta, lettuces, salsa, chips, nubs of cheeses, and greens. Lots and lots of greens. Apparently, I was a little delusional the last time I went to the store (maybe I have a second personality who actually believes people other than me in my family will eat greens) and went a little nutso in the greens section. And yesterday, when I was making our leftover meal, that second personality must have taken over again because greens were what called to me. I have to admit that in some ways this isn't the perfect leftover meal. It takes time to prepare. It calls for a Cajun spice blend. It's not a slap together in 12 minutes kind of meal. Yet it can be the vehicle to use up lots of leftover meats, vegetables, and greens, greens, greens.

Which is why I think this dish might be really helpful to you, dear readers. Because sometimes at this time of year (and definitely in the fall) CSA baskets start to overflow with greens--weird types of greens that none of us who spent our childhoods in the '80s (motto: iceberg iceberg rah rah rah) have any idea what to do with. Well, here's an idea. And it's a really really good one.

Besides being a really great idea, this meal is totally cheap. It uses water, not broth and the fat you use for the roux can be peanut oil or any old cheap fat you've got hanging around. In fact, it's the type of meal that your grandmother would be proud of because it's one of those meals you can just start throwing things into (hamhock, sure; bacon grease, perfect; random bits of meat from random leftover meals; what could be better).

Of course the other thing I love about this meal is that it allows any yankee white chicks among us to pretend we're from the deep south, cooking from the garden out back, using the resources given to us, and even scouring the bounteous earth for any wild greens we might have found along the way. As we posers sit in our cool houses using greens from a bag.

Unfortunately, there is one thing I dislike about it: It takes a bit of time. There's the chopping and a slightly time-intensive roux and a long cook time. I still think it's worth it, especially when I stop to consider how many cups of greens I've eaten in the last couple of days.

Green Gumbo
from Simply Recipes
Makes: A Whole Heck of a Lot--probably 14-16 servings (I halved it--it's my lunch for the week)
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1.5 hours
Cost: $5.00 (or about $.30/serving)
oil: .20, flour: .10, sausage: 1.00, onion: .20, pepper: .40, celery: .10, greens: 3.00 or less depending on how resourceful you are

Note on oil: You can use any old oil, but I got the best results when I used the fat from the sausage and some bacon (I also made this once with canola oil, which was still good, but not quite as good). Simply Recipes says that peanut oil or lard are traditional and give a great flavor.

Note on greens: You can seriously use whatever you have. Simply Recipes says that traditionally you always add an odd number of greens and that for every green you add, you'll make a new friend. I used collard greens, Swiss chard, parsley, spinach, and kale. You could use dandelion greens, the tops of carrots, beet greens, arugula, mustard greens, the tops of turnips. Seriously, this is a greens gone wild kind of a recipe. And if you've been a little hesitant to try some of these, this is a really friendly way to introduce them because the broth is super flavorful and the greens don't have a chance at staying bitter and because it has sausage.

1 C oil or fat
1 C flour
2 C chopped onion (about 2 medium small onions)
1 C chopped green pepper--1 small pepper or 1/2 large pepper (I used red)
1 C chopped celery (2-3 stalks)
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning (recipe below for more than you'll need in this recipe)
1 ham hock (optional)
10 C hot water (you can simmer it as you prepare the roux or just use really hot tap water)
3 pounds greens (about 14 C--that's what I'm talking about)
salt
1 pound sausage (I used smoked sausage, cut into rounds; I bet that any sausage would do)

Cajun Spice Blend

1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp sweet paprika (I used smoked)

Prepare your Cajun Spice Blend unless you've got one from the store.

Next you probably want to chop all your vegetables. Unless you are a very good multi-tasker and can chop and stir a roux at the same time. I'm not that good.

Add your oil to the pot. Whisk in the flour. Cook this on medium. And here comes the trickiest part of this recipe. Normally for a roux you cook it for about a minute. Not here. Here you're going to cook it until the flour becomes the color of chocolate. Simply Recipes says the darker, the better, but the darker is also the riskier. I tended to go with a mild chocolate color because I was afraid to go anywhere darker. Oh--and I forgot to take a picture so I'm going to refer you to the pictures in the Simply Recipes post. (Yeah, I know that's lame, but it's what I've got.) So keep stirring that roux until it's nice and brown. You might get a little nervous. I know I did. It might even start to smell a little almost-burny. The first time I made this I thought I'd burned it and was going to have to throw it out, but have faith because...

Once it's nice and milk-chocolate colored you'll throw in the onion, peppers, and celery. And then the best smell in the universe will suddenly burst from the pot and you'll know that all will be well in the world.

Stir the onions, peppers, and celery until they begin to get tender. Then add the chopped garlic and stir it for a couple minutes.

Add the Cajun seasoning and bay leaf and stir. Add the water and hamhock (if using). If the water makes it seize up (i.e. get lumpy), just keep mixing until it's nice and smooth.

Add those lovely greens.

Stir it all up. Put the lid on and simmer for a good hour. (When I halved the recipe, I got away with simmering this for less time, but the fuller your pot, the longer you'll want to simmer.)

About 20 minutes before it's done, cook your sausage in a pan. (Bacon is also good.) 15 minutes before you want to eat this add your sausage.

When done, taste for seasoning. (If you haven't used a hamhock, you're going to need some salt.)

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Granola Balls (Raw, gluten-free, potentially vegan)

You know what the problem is with high-energy snacks? Those for whom they were designed--those with metabolisms approximately equivalent of 150 pound hummingbirds--forget about the snacks you've made and wander about the house wondering what they can possibly eat and then decide to just go to Rural King instead so they can get to work on the yard. You, on the other hand, you who have every bit the metabolism of a very nearly 35-year-old woman, do not forget. You know what's sitting there in your cupboard or refrigerator or freezer. You brush against them as you clean the kitchen. They catch your eye as you gather ingredients for leftover night. They call to you. And then you call to your husband at Rural King and ask why he hasn't eaten the snack you made for him and question whether he really loves you and also whether he thinks your butt looks big in the jeans you're wearing today. And then he says you're butt is just fine and that he forgot about the snacks and that he'll eat them when he gets home and that he has to go because he's carrying 20 pounds of grass seed and the checker is waiting for him. And then you hang up and eat some granola bites and feed some to the kids and by the time he gets home, starving of course because he skipped breakfast and/or lunch, they're all gone.

Note: Although the above story is actually a piece of fiction, there is much truth at its heart. Truth that gets repeated at least once a week in this house. Oh the efforts those of us with lean (albeit strong, tough, and perfectly handsome) husbands go to in order to keep said husbands weighing in a few dozen pounds (or even a good baker's dozen) heavier than us. Tragic, don't you think. The great thing about these being in smallish balls is that you can practically throw them into your husband/teenager/woke-up-too-late-for-breakfast child's mouth as they rush out the door.

So don't give up. Make some healthy, high-energy snacks. Remind your man to take them to work. Eventually it will sink in. Unless the dog/kids/grandmas/neighbor's kids get to them first. Sigh.

Granola Balls
Adapted from Smashed Peas and Carrots
Makes 12-18 1-inch balls(a little sketch on the numbers here; I made a bunch of this stuff last week and it's all smearing together for me)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cost: $1.90
oatmeal: .10, peanut butter: .50, honey: .70, coconut: .60

1 C oatmeal (choose a type that hasn't been processed with gluten-y foods if you're going gluten-free)
1/2 C peanut butter
1/4 C honey (use agave nectar if going vegan)
1 C coconut flakes (I used unsweetened; if using sweetened you may want to cut back the honey by a Tablespoon or two)
1/2 C ground flaxseed (optional; I skipped because we didn't have and threw in some more coconut)
1/2 C chocolate chips (optional)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything until fully incorporated. You can let this chill for easier ball-rolling, but I just go for it and roll them into balls.

These keep very well refrigerated or frozen.

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Lemon Doodles

I hadn't had snickerdoodles for--oh, 15 years or so. and then someone in my church gave us a few. And all the sudden... I. Had. To. Make. Snickerdoodles. I don't know what it is about them. They're a fairly simple cookie, and there isn't a chocolatey chip to speak of within. Still there's something so satisfying about biting through that crispy sugar edge into a nice chewy cookie.

I decided to do a little recipe testing and planned to take advantage of the innocent participants of our Friday night singing group to use as tasters. I made 2 different (surprisingly different) recipes--one from Smitten Kitchen and one from Simply Recipes. I had planned to force everyone to try the different kinds and tell me which they liked best, but when the cookies came out of the oven, they were startlingly similar. Not identical, no, but much more like each other than I thought they would be. And then, as I was finishing up the dough for the last batch, I saw a lemon in my fridge.

In a rush of (purely humble, I assure you) creative genius, I created the best cookie of them all. No offense, cinnamon, but--wow--those lemon ones were good. The lemon sugar gets all crystally and perfect on the outside and...maybe it's my own humility tainting my memory of Friday night, but I'm pretty sure the singing group liked the lemon ones best too.

Lemon Doodles
cookie recipe from Smitten Kitchen (which, by the way, was my favorite of the 2 I tried, but only by a smidgeon. However, if you don't have cream of tartar on hand, the Simply Recipes recipe doesn't use it, so it's a nice one to have in your box as well.)
Makes 30 cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes (and not a minute more, people)
Cost: $2.20 or about $.14/cookie
flour: .30, butter: 1.00, sugar: .35, lemon: .35, eggs: .20

2 3/4 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 C (2 sticks) butter, very soft
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
1-2 tsp lemon juice

For rolling:
zest from 1 large lemon or 2 small ones
2/3 C sugar

Beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until creamy. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Add lemon juice, beat. Add salt and beat.

Combine remaining dry ingredients. Add dry to wet about 1 C at a time, stirring in between until incorporated mixed.

Roll dough (refrigerate if necessary, but I didn't need to; of course I'm not afraid of a messy hand, nope, not even a little) into 1-inch balls.

Combine lemon zest and sugar. Rub together until fragrant.

Roll balls into lemon/sugar mixture. If necessary, pat the sugar/zest onto the ball so it adheres.

Put balls onto lightly greased cookie sheet. (You don't need to press them flat; they'll flatten on their own.)

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. I did one minute more and regretted it just a tinge.

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