Moosewood Restaurant's Cooking for Health

Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts

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Chowder is helping rip up the bedding materials.

For the first time since I got my worm bin, for Christmas last year, its time to clean it out and start over.  It hasn’t been that long, because I didn’t order the worms until around February or March, and it’s a pretty big bin so it’s taken a while to fill up.  Still, the worms have multiplied beyond reason (quadrupled, at least) and have eaten most of their bedding and all of their food by now.  The hardest thing about all of this, though, is that the pace of things around here hasn’t slowed as much as I’d like.  All of the afternoon naps, hot tea, and scary movie marathons I have been longing for are still, for the most part, on hold because my schedule is just too hectic.  Needless to say, I don’t have the time that cleaning out this big ol’ system requires.  I devoted a couple of solid hours the other night and only managed to harvest about a gallon of compost and a pound of worms, which I sent right over to Turby and John for their own backyard compost bin.

Getting ready for their journey to Turby and John's.

When I started my bin I started with around that many worms (a pound is roughly 1,000 worms), but they have multiplied by this point to at least five times that number.  At this point I’m realizing that what I need to do is get a tarp and an entire day free and I’ll lock the cats in the kitchen (they love to sniff the worms, and Chowder has actually licked one or two to death) and go to town.  I may lure some friends over with family dinner.  So far cleaning out the bin is a kind of tedious process, but it has been very educational as well.  By digging through the entire system I’m learning what the worms like best (they love eggshells as well as egg carton cardboard and coffee grounds and filters) and what takes longest to break down (peanut shells).  The whole thing, though, defied my expectations as far as smell and cleanliness–after all, I had been putting rotting food in there a few times a week for six months up until a couple weeks ago when I let up so they could finish digesting (the plan to clean out my bin has been in the works for a while).  There was very little left in the way of food scraps.  The fact that I gave them some time to eat everything up combined with the fact that I puree all of my scraps in a food processor is a likely explanation for this.  I think that for outdoor systems throwing food in whole is an okay practice because, in general, those systems are a lot roomier.  Breaking things down, though, makes the food itself more accessible to the worms because they don’t have to wait for the food to begin to decompose before they can eat it–something that I particularly appreciate since I live in an apartment and my bin stays inside year-round.  (I first read about this blender method at Red Worm Composting, which is actually the place I ordered my worms and my definitive source for all things worm-related.  This feeding method is called Homemade Manure, and while I have amended the process a little I think my results are still relatively the same, although the stuff I feed my worms is more like a thick sludge than the texture I think manure would have–take that however you will.)

With ample space left, as you can see.

So, anyway, I worked on separating the worms and compost for upwards of two hours and I barely made a dent. However, I did come to the realization that there’s actually a lot of room left in my bin, so I gave them some more food and bedding and decided to worry with it on a day when I have more time. I may continue to separate it out a bit at a time, but Thanksgiving break is coming up relatively soon so, if anything, I should have at least one day to myself then (I’m keeping my fingers crossed about this).

My sorting method is less than scienfic and highly inefficient--I made piles of worms, uneaten bedding, and compost.

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Only 75 cents each!

One large spaghetti squash is enough for three to four people; we made two for eight people and that was plenty.  Spaghetti squash can be cooked a number of ways.  We chose to microwave one and boil one, partially to test which method was better, and partially out of necessity since neither my microwave nor my biggest stock pot could hold two squashes at once. 

To microwave: wash and cut the squash in half, and microwave until the flesh is tender and easily separated from the skin (20-25 minutes, though some sources I read recommended as little as 12-15; mine just wouldn’t cook in that amount of time). 

To boil: fill a large pot with enough water to completely cover the squash (it won’t stay submerged, though, so don’t worry about it) and boil for around 15-20 minutes, until the skin is easily pierced with a fork.  No matter what cooking method you use, tongs are helpful in separating the noodles from the skin (especially if you’ve got a bunch of piggies waiting on you and don’t have time to let the squash completely cool off).

Both methods took about the same amount of time, but in the end I felt that boiling produced better quality “noodles” that were more completely done and much easier to separate from the skin.

You can't really see the noodly texture in this picture...

My favorite way to eat this is covered in The Best Spaghetti Sauce Ever (I swear, it’s good on everything!) with garlic bread on the side.  To me they are a wonderful replacement for pasta because of their vitamin and fiber content, which regular pasta lacks.  I also think they just plain taste better.

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Don't hate: tasty things come in gross packages, sometimes.

This recipe is roughly adapted from a recipe card I picked up a Wal-Mart a couple of years ago (an unexpected source for such culinary greatness, but I’m okay with it). To make this, you’ll need:

1 C fine dry breadcrumbs
1/2 t salt
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
2 medium (or 1 large) eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/2 in thick
3 eggs
the best spaghetti sauce ever, recipe doubled–1 14oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles should be added to this sauce recipe to make it a little more Mexican
oil for frying
4 1/2 cups of shredded Mexican/fiesta blend cheese
1 t paprika
1 t chili powder
1 t minced onion
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t garlic powder

Lightly coat your desired 3 qt baking dish with nonstick cooking spray (I’ve had great success in using a dutch oven sprayed with olive oil in an atomizer) and set aside.  In a shallow dish combine the bread crumbs, spices, Parmesan cheese, and salt.  In another shallow dish lightly beat the eggs.  Dip each slice of eggplant in the eggs, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture.  Place on a baking sheet, cover, and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large skillet, heat 1/2 C oil over medium-high heat.  Fry the eggplant slices until they’re golden brown (around four to five minutes).   Spread 1/3 of the tomato mixture on the bottom of the prepared baking dish, then top with eggplant slices, then cheese.  Repeat this pattern until the dish is full, making sure that the last layer is sauce.  Reserve some cheese to sprinkle on top at the end.  Bake uncovered for 30-45 minutes, depending on the depth of your dish, until heated through.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and serve.

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As usual, my favorite foods are less than photogenic.

If I’m not in a hurry, I typically follow this Pasta Sauce #1 recipe from Recipezaar.com pretty closely since I’ve had tremendous success with it.

1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic
1 t kosher salt or sea salt
olive oil
1 24 oz can of whole tomatoes
1 C vegetable stock
1/4 – 1/2 C tomato paste (depending on how thick you like your sauce)
2 – 4 T sugar (depending on how sweet you like your sauce)
1/2 t crushed red pepper
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 t dried basil, or a couple of sprigs if fresh
1 t dried parsley

The original recipe recommends to smash the garlic and salt with on a cutting board with a knife.  (If I’m not in a big hurry I do this, but in my mortar and pestle, though sometimes I skip this step altogether with no adverse affects.)  Once the garlic and salt are mashed up together, cook them in a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until they’re pretty brown (around 10 minutes).  Pour in the vegetable broth, making sure to scrape all the onions from the bottom of the pan.  Next, crush each tomato into the saucepan with your hands  (you can use diced or crushed tomatoes if this step is too messy for you, but the resulting spaghetti sauce will be slightly inferior).  Next add the tomato paste, sugar, and black and red pepper, stirring until everything is combined. Bring the sauce to a boil, cover it, and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Again, if you have the time it’s best to let it cook at least an hour and a half, but I’ve only let it simmer for 30 to 45 minutes when in a hurry with few problems.  Wait to add the basil and parsley until around five to ten minutes before serving.  I’m pretty sure that this stuff keeps very well in the fridge for as long as a week, but we can never keep it around for that long.

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Butternut Squash Risotto and Fried Okra

I love family dinner! My friends come over and we cook huge, sometimes fancy but always wonderful meals and (usually) eat them family-style, sitting on the floor around my tiny table. We always use real plates, silverware, and cloth napkins at my apartment (despite my tiny sink), which may add to the family dinner feel. Last night we used Just Vegging Out’s Butternut Squash Risotto recipe, slightly modified to be made in my rice cooker:

a rice cooker
2 butternut squashes, peeled and cubed
dried thyme (the recipes calls for sage, but they are often synonymous in my book)
olive oil
1 lg onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (rice cooker) cups of rice (and the measurements are fairly different)
enough vegetable broth to fill the rice cooker up to the second line
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper

First, I preheated the oven to 425 degrees.  I spread the butternut squash out on a cookie sheet and poured olive oil, thyme, and salt and pepper over it and kind of stirred it around with my hands until the squash was fairly covered.  Then I stuck that in the oven for 20-30 minutes.  While it was cooking, I sauteed the onions and garlic in a skillet with some butter until the onions were translucent.  I then poured the stock, then the rice, and finally the onions into my rice cooker and pressed the cook button.  By the time the squash was ready to take out of the oven and mash with a fork (until it reaches the texture of mashed potatoes), the rice was about halfway done.  I put the mashed squash and parmesan cheese into the rice cooker and stirred it all up, making sure there were no white patches, and let it finish cooking.  This dish tastes so fancy and fallish, and it’s ridiculously easy.

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