June 9, 2010 Economy AND Ecology

Here's my kitchen tip for today. You've probably heard that if you wash your lettuce and then roll it into wet paper towels you can keep it fresh for longer and it won't wilt. Well, I've made a meager little investment in terry cloth cotton bar mops. I bought them at Big Lots for super cheap, maybe a dollar for a two-pack. I wash and wrap ALL my vegetables and fruit in these little cotton wonders, and they last for weeks. When I need a piece of pepper or cilantro, I have a bowl of clean, ready veggies under a soggy towel in the fridge just ready for me to slice up. (Note: Cucumbers don't do so well with this method.) When the towels get dirty, I just throw them in the wash with the other kitchen towels. Cotton is a renewable resource.  I very seldom use paper towels. Why? To save trees and reduce landfill. 

Today's Find:  A lime that needed to be used before it went bad.

Using my smallest-cut grater, I zested the entire lime down to the white skin and saved the zest in one of my smallest plastic containers. This went into the freezer for use in pies, mojitos, or whatever comes up in the future.  Then I sliced it in half and juiced it (got about 1-2 tablespoons).

(Newbie Notes: Zest is the grated-off skin of a citrus fruit.  You can zest lemons, limes and oranges and save the zest for recipes, such as cranberry bread, which requires at least one teaspoon of orange zest to come out great.  One of the best ways to have things to discover in your fridge is to put them there in the first place.)  


Lime Zinger
~1-2 Tbsp lime juice (juice from one lime)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
4 tsp Tamari soy sauce (I use the wheat-free kind)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp honey

The juice went into a tiny bowl along with balsamic vinegar, Tamari soy sauce, minced garlic, and honey.  Stir.  This is a really tangy salad dressing that'll knock your socks off!  Dip broccoli, celery, lettuce, any vegetable in it for a zinger taste.  Of course, the flavors really mix together if you let it be for about half an hour before using it, but it's awesome right away, too.

P.S. If this dressing is too tangy for you, then mix all the ingredients together except the lime juice, fix yourself a salad, and then use the lime juice to make a Mojito to go with it.  You can't lose.  It's also a fabulous dip for chicken or cold cuts, and I'm sure would make an excellent marinade.