Healthy, penny-wise practices great for any kitchen
Gholam Rahman
A long time ago, I used to listen to a rather cerebral game show on the radio where contestants had to guess the name of an object with the host supplying some clues, and among them was the objects’ “connection” to several broad areas of existence, such as “animal,” “mineral” or “vegetable,” and so on.
The long-forgotten show popped up in my mind as I was mulling over the crucial connection that vegetables and beans have to a healthful daily diet. As I started the fifirst sentence, I initially wrote that I had “watched” the show, until I remembered that in those early midcentury days we did not have TV in my erstwhile home East Pakistan.
Back to the present, the role of vegetables and beans is being constantly dinned into us in the television shows on health, such the Dr. Oz show, and even during newscasts. To us though it all sounds like preaching to the choir.
The diet of those from the Indian subcontinent has always been based on the veggies – even for the so-called meat-eating Muslims like us. Meat is treated more like a side dish, perhaps even as a flflavoring rather than the main course, even among those who do not eschew meat.
Parsimony, in its best sense, has also been one of our traits – not only vis-à-vis money but in all aspects of life. In our belief system, we fifirmly subscribe to the dictum that “a waster is a brother of the Shaitaan,” Arabic for Satan. We never deprive ourselves, though, but do look for the best, but fair, deal.
My wife Kaisari does the bulk of her grocery shopping at Publix, making good use of the BOGO (buy one get one free) offfffffffffferings. A week or so ago, she bought a lot of fresh and frozen vegetables on sale at Publix. But now we are just two in the household, and bulk buying can often be penny-wise and pound-foolish – that is unless you know how to manage the bulk; it is particularly true if you shop at stores like Costco, which we do.
I love walnuts, Kaisari loves almonds and we buy both in giant bags from Costco. The fifirst thing I do is take out about a week’s worth of each nut and store the out-takes in zippered bags in a cool cabinet, then reseal the big bags by pleating the open end in multiple folds and ease rubber bands on to hold the folds tight. Thus sealed, the bags are then promptly put in the freezer.
From her Publix loot that day, Kaisari promptly returned the bags of frozen veggies to the home freezer – a no-brainer – and prepared the fresh vegetables for immediate use as well as for later. Some were lightly simmered, drained and stored in zip bags in the fridge as well as in the freezer. Some of the green beans, sweet potatoes and zucchinis she traygrilled in the oven, to keep them sweeter, and then stored them similarly.