Travelling plans

It's difficult to be in the homemaking state of mind the evening before you travel. We are leaving for San Francisco tomorrow, and I am unwilling to do anything but eat take-out and pack.

However, I still have produce lurking in the fridge, just waiting to be ignored and go bad. As the children's book of that very title so aptly illustrates, when vegetables go bad, nothing good can come of it. Further, my delivery is scheduled for Friday, and because I will have five (count them!) days of absolutely no cooking in San Fran, I need to stay on top of things now.

So I pulled myself together, pushed the take-out menus to the back of the junk drawer in the kitchen, and put together a meal that killed off some of these darned vegetables.

From epicurious:

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND NOODLES WITH COCONUT, LIME AND CILANTRO SAUCE

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch pieces
1 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoons minced seeded jalapeño chili
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup canned light unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon Thai green curry paste
a package of dried spinach spaghetti
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (recipe called for cilantro, but I didn't have it)

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add squash; sauté 4 minutes. Add broth, jalapeño and garlic; bring to boil. Cover; cook until squash is almost tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, lime juice and curry paste. Simmer uncovered until squash is tender and liquid is slightly reduced, about 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Meanwhile, cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain noodles. Return to pot. Add squash mixture and cilantro to noodles; toss to blend. Serve.

Per Serving: calories, 337; total fat, 7 g; saturated fat, 3 g; cholesterol, 2 mg.
Serves 6.Bon AppétitMay 1998
Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

This wasn't the greatest. The reviews on epicurious warned me, but my love for thai curry and squash blinded me to their cries of danger. It was pretty bland and the squash was kind of weird here. Not horrible, but not great either.

I served it with a side salad of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers that mocked me as I made it. No matter how hard I try, I can't keep up with my lettuce. It goes bad so freaking fast, and the CSA gives me two freaking heads of it every single week. As I pulled the wilted and useless top leaves off, I tried to console myself with the fact that I do compost the stuff we don't eat, but I really do feel sort of like a failure for not getting to the lettuce before it goes bad.

But honestly, who eats that much salad?

You, in the back, shut up.

No one. That's who And you're lying if you say any differently.

We are a family that eats an decent amount of salad a week. Hell, I grew up thinking that if a salad didn't accompany the meal, the meal was incomplete. Now, my husband and I just can't seem to eat enough salad to keep up with lettuce. It's giving me a serious salad complex. I know alternative ways of serving cucumbers and tomatoes, but the lettuce stumps me. What else can you possibly do with head lettuce other than serve is as a sandwich topper or in a salad? I have no clue.

So I continue to waste lettuce each week. I continue to feel like a bad CSA member for this waste.

I so need a vacation.