Ginger: an affordable luxury.
I've bought fresh garlic for daily cooking ever since I first had my own kitchen. But fresh ginger seemed exotic and expensive: something I would buy just for special curries. As I started tracking costs per serving as part of the Cook for Good experiment, I was delighted to find that fresh ginger is affordable enough to be a kitchen staple too. In November, conventionally raised ginger was just 20 cents a teaspoon while organic ginger was just 40 cents. Many recipes that serve four use just a teaspoon of ginger, so you can get a tropical tingle for just a nickel or dime per serving.
Use a spoon to peel ginger without waste. Hold the ginger in one hand and a spoon in the other, with the spoon curving away from the ginger. Scrape to remove peel: it comes away in tan strips. This method lets you scrape the flavorful ginger knobs. Don't worry if you don't get every shred of peel. Some cooks don't peel ginger at all, but the peel adds a light brown color and slightly rough texture to dishes.
Ginger keeps in the fridge for a week or two. To keep it for a month or more, rinse it and put it in a freezer bag. Press out the extra air. To use frozen ginger, cut off thin slivers or grate while frozen, returning the rest quickly to the freezer before it thaws.
Help send a $1,000 donation to Feeding America.
Our friends at DrGreene.com will give $1,000 to a charity supported by one of six guest bloggers, including yours truly. The donation will go to the charity that receives the most comments. Please comment now on the Cook for Good charity: Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, which is helping over 9 million children avoid hunger this year. The organization estimates that it serves 25 million low-income Americans each year through over 200 food banks and 63,000 food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and other agencies that feed the needy. Ask your friends to comment too ... and of course, make your own direct donation. The contest runs through noon December 31st, but why wait? Do good today!
Last minute gifts
Give Cook for Good ebooks to your friends and family members. One reader bought copies for her family and printed out the ebooks for those without computer access, tucking them into three-ring notebooks.
 Beautiful, fast, delicious, thrifty, and good for you. What more could you ask of a soup? Ginger and hot sauce add zing while the swirl of yogurt makes it look like a fancy restaurant dish. If you remember to tuck a few sweet potatoes into the oven while you are baking something else, this soup comes together in just a few minutes. Or microwave the sweet potatoes just before you need them.
I love serving a soup course at a holiday meal. The right soup will help keep your budget and your weight in check during this season of indulgence. A soup course makes the meal seem special. It also starts to satisfy appetites before the more expensive and calorie-heavy main dishes.
|
