Come On, Sing Along: We’re Strong to the Finish…

Last week, Andy and I decided to be fancy and have our groceries delivered from King Soopers.  For only $10 plus the cost of the groceries, we soon had a full ‘fridge without having to worry about little things like steering a shopping cart or wearing pants.

The downside, I soon found out, is that when you’re doing your grocery shopping online it’s more difficult to gauge how much of each item you really need, especially produce…

Long story short, I have two huge bags full of spinach and a ginormous bag of kale.  I wanted to start eating more green leafies, but sheesh!

Now you might have noticed that I used the kale in last week’s Polenta Lasagna, but that was last week when everything was all fresh and new.  Then I went on a four-day trip and returned last night, only to find all the greens still in the bottom of the icebox waiting for me.  I keep forgetting, Andy only seems to eat Stouffers’ Macaroni and Cheese and frozen pizza while I’m away–seldom does verdigris vegetation pass his lips that wasn’t cooked by yours truly.

So today, out of sheer panic, we brunched on:  tofu scramble with SPINACH, and buckwheat pancakes.

The tofu scramble was improvised, as always: a block of extra-firm tofu, nutritional yeast, liquid smoke, cornstarch, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, saffron (thought I’d try it), broccoli slaw, and plenty of spinach.  And a few bits of sundried tomato on top.  We have mushrooms but I forgot to add them–doh!

I make pancakes maybe once a year, so I’m hardly an expert.  So what if I used a mix, and the edges were a little dark?  They were still good.  Don’t tell anyone but I would have put spinach in them if I thought I could get away with it.  :)  I topped mine with Earth Balance, dried cranberries, walnuts, and maple syrup.  Yummers!

(Andrew wants to thank his friends Steve and Dyan for sending him the Starbucks mug, below, with the old-school logo that shows the mermaid’s boobies.  You don’t know how much joy that mug brings him every single day.)

Dinner was more spinach along with butter beans and tomatoes, served over cornmeal mush.

First I made the mush–easy peasy!–with vegetable broth/water and a couple scoops of Earth Balance, and set it aside.  The instructions on the package called for 3 1/2 cups of liquid for 1 1/4 cups of cornmeal, but I found myself adding a lot of water to keep the slightly-runny consistency I desired.

Next, I sliced two large cloves of garlic and sauteed them in some olive oil…

Once the garlic started to brown, I added a drained can of butter beans, and once they looked “cooked” I added 3-4 (?) cups of spinach and some salt and pepper.  While that was cooking down (sorry, no picture of that magical process), I heated some canned diced tomatoes slightly in the microwave.  I put it all in bowls and there ya go!!

For the small amount of work involved, I loved this dish so much.  The garlic, the buttery creaminess of the beans, the, um, mushiness of the mush, the tartness of the tomatoes, and the fresh green goodness of the spinach…

Now I only have 1 1/4 more bags of spinach left to go.  Looking forward to it!