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Do you ever look around your house and want to get rid of everything?
I’m in that kind of mood. I want to purge.
Not things in my kitchen. I find use of almost everything in my kitchen. Not much out of my closet. I have spent years cultivating a wardrobe that can last season upon season and still look in style and fresh and not tattered.
Mainly I want to purge from my bathroom and my office. Beauty supplies and books.
Why do I have hair spray that mimics the salty sea air. Couldn’t I just mix salt and water in a squirt bottle and have saved the fifteen bucks. And, am I really going to re-read “Secrets of Life, Secrets of Death”? It is filled with notes and 15+ year old post-its that were invaluable to me when writing my graduate thesis. Do I need now? I don’t think I do.
I am starting to feel suffocated by unnecessary items.
You know what’s interesting about this, though. I just started reading Tamar Adler’s book, An Everlasting Meal. In it, she espouses the virtues of not throwing away parts of food that could be used in a number of magical ways.
I will admit, I never knew that a delicious broth could be made of pea casings. Did you? (No fair to answer yes, if you read the book.) It never occurred to me to repurpose food in such magical ways… breads, leftovers, boiling water, and more. Prior to this book, if I boiled broccoli, I dumped the water it was cooked in.
Never more. I think a huge wave of guilt would envelop my every last essence of spirit and I would never forgive myself.
So, in this, I find it interesting that I want to dispose of things in my house for no reason that they “take up space” and at the same moment, look at each item in my fridge with ideas of how I can extend it and not be so wasteful.
For example, in this recipe, use the stems. Seriously, use them.
I would normally be the kind of person that would de-stem the kale and toss them. Using excuses of “too-fibrous” or “the recipe didn’t call for it!” In this case, I implore you to please use the stem. I cut off a bit at the ends, they just seemed a little past their prime. But, otherwise, I used everything. It added new dimensions of flavor and texture… and that’s why we cook and eat, anyway, right?
You want to be excited about food!
Well… in this case, the stems added just a wee bit of excitement in the form of a CRUNCH!
Some notes about this recipe: I did not include a recipe for the vegan béchamel. There are a lot out there and you may have a favorite already. This is my recipe in case you want to use it or have never made a béchamel before. Just plan on whisking the entire time…. Heat 2 T olive oil and 2 T flour, whisking continuously, let it bubble and boil for a couple minutes. You will add 1 cup unsweetened soy milk, but do it a little at a time, 1/4 cup at most. Whisk to blend flour mixture, until all milk has been added. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and big pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg. Can be used for a lot of things from gratins to mac’n'cheese to vegan croque monsieur. Possibilities are endless! Lastly, when you are done baking the kale casserole in the oven, if you want to throw it under the broiler for a few minutes to make sure the bread crumbs are good and toasty, by all means do. Just be careful not to burn it!
I’ve been thinking the exact same thing about wanting to get rid of everything! Sometimes I just look around and feel like I’ve outgrown my apartment – the furniture, my clothes, etc. It happens once or twice a year, but quickly passes when I realize how much it would cost to start fresh.
I used to always toss the kale stems, but recently I’ve been either juicing or cooking them. I’m a big fan!
This kale dish looks wonderfully comforting!
We just bought a bunch of Kale. Yay. Hubby says we’re trying our hand at it for dinner. Thanks for the béchamel recipe. Never made it before. Excited to make this. Blessings Shelley.
You know, I just tossed some kale stems today. Look what I could have done with them! I went on a spring cleaning spree a couple of months ago and stopped at my closet. Now I have a bunch of junk piled up in a corner that needs to go to the thrift store and I keep wondering when it’s going to get up and leave… maybe this weekend?
It’s funny that you put it that way because I just realized that I am guilty of the very same thing! I will go through cleansing fits, de-cluttering every inch of of my house and feeling good about it while at the same time feeling tremendously guilt ridden at the thought of unnecessarily having let food go to waste.
I would’ve never in a million years thought about a kale gratin dish but I love kale and this looks so good. Definitely going to give this a try!
Yes… you must! I never thought of using greens in a gratin style meal, but wish I had long before now. It is amazingly delicious!
I don’t know about you, but for me, I think it’s simply cause I have more of a connection to food and what it takes to grow it. The drama and stress that is present when I am just trying to grow a tomato, or the like, has given me a lifetime’s worth of appreciation for farmers and what it must take to grow food for all of us on this planet. Also, with clothes and books, we can donate that and feel like the item will live a second life. Not so much with the broccoli you forgot was in the back of the fridge. Oh well… I guess just try to do your best everyday. That’s all its about.
HAHAHA! Now I have this imagine of our extra ‘junk’ as an unwelcome houseguest that just is not leaving… ala, Randy Quaid in the Vacation movies, or something… I’m inspired to clean up this weekend, too! It must get done.
Try it! You’ll be amazed at how it’s a nice blend between stick to your bones comfort food and healthy cause of all the greens!
It is costly, right?!?! When I became vegan, I was criticized for still having leather items in my closet. I wondered where all these people got their money that they could so haphazardly get rid of so much and replace. I just don’t have that kind of budget… plus, if they’re still functional…seems like it’s more harmful to the planet to use its already limited resources. Anyway… I digress. I think it is nice, when it makes sense, to clean up and purge what is no longer of use to you and leave it not-replaced, free of clutter…. for a while
[...] cheese, I also have a little trick for you to make this easier. Many recipes call for making a béchamel sauce, which is fine if you want to do that. To save time, however, what I have learned is that instead [...]
i just made this tonight!…so simple, yet delicious!…i had some cauliflower sitting in the fridge so i chopped it up and included it in this meal…i made your easy bechamel sauce…added more Nutritional Yeast…my kids even liked it (10 & 8)–saying that my vegan dishes are getting better and better..this goes into my permanent file…thank you for the inspiration
Eva! I am so happy to hear you liked the recipe… and for it to be kid approved is even better! xo shell
Can I leave out the nutritional yeast or sub something else for it?
absolutely… modify any way that suits your tastes. Are you vegan? If not, just substitute for parmesan or some other cheese. If you are vegan, sub with another kind of vegan cheese you may like… daiya is good, or even an almond parmesan!