Kitchen Cures

This story begins a couple of weeks ago. I arrived home afterwork and was shuffling through the mail when I came across a flyer for Mama Earth Organics.  While I'd normally dismiss anything named "Mama Earth" as being a little too patchouli for my taste, it also happened on this night that Chris (my husband) and I, had once again run out of basic things to prepare dinner with. 

Chris and I, like many young married couples downtown love to work, love to go out and love to eat. I also love to cook, however making time for shopping isn't always high on my priority list (we run out of toilet paper almost once a month and one of the few sources of tension in our relationship is who will be the one to pick it up).  So when, Mama Earth Organics offered to deliver a big box of food to our house every week (including my favourite bread - olive cilantro from St. John's Bakery), she had me.

And then the box arrived.

The first box came on Tuesday afternoon and contained the following:
- 1 delicious loaf of olive cilantro bread
- 1 large Ontario onion
- 1 2 lb bag of Quebec turnips
- 1 1 lb bag of parsnips
- 1 large daikon from Ontario
- 1 head of live Boston lettuce from Ontario*
- 1 pie pumpkin from Ontario
- 1 2 lb bag of beets from Ontario

*something about the word "live" in the description of the lettuce made me feel bad as a ripped it into a salad for Saturday's lunch.

While Chris made jokes about the basement full of turnips we'd have by the end of the winter, I set my mind to ignoring the box until the weekend when I would have time to cook.

And cook I did.

By Sunday afternoon, despite a cold and an obligation to complete the dining room dry-wall project I began a few weeks ago, I had managed to use up the entire contents of the Mama Earth box as follows:

Chicken Stew with Dumplings

I don't always measure ingredients when I cook. Here's an approximation of what's in the pot:

- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
- 5 sprigs of fresh oregano
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 5 beets, peeled and chopped
- 5 turnips, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 of a pie pumpkin, peeled and chopped
- 6 chicken thighs
- 2 cups of water
- Canadian Living dumplings

1. Heat the olive oil in the pot. Brown the chicken on both sides (approx. 4 min.) and set aside on a plate.
2. Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil/chicken juice until golden brown. Deglaze the pot by pouring in the wine and scraping off all of the delicious bits on the bottom.
3. Add the vegetables, oregano, and chicken back into the pot. Add ~2 cups off water (just enough to cover the vegetables and chicken).
4. Bring the whole thing to a simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer for about an hour or until vegetables reach desired tenderness.
5. Break the chicken up into smaller pieces with two forks. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add in the dumpling mixture per the recipe (if desired).

That my friends, is how you turn 2 lbs of turnips and beets into a cold-fighting pot of deliciousness.

I used the rest of the pumpkin to make the pumpkin red-curry coconut soup below, and finished off the Mama Earth box by pickling the daikon (for future use in bi bim bap).

Pumpkin Red Curry Coconut Soup

Pickled Daikon
(I know...given the lighting and the glass jar it kind of looks like a science experiment - trust me, it will delicious)