Good Food Cooking

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The Good Food Box program, where members of the University of Regina community can get a box of fruits, vegetables, and other staples delivered to the Student Union desk every two weeks (and all Regina residents can access at pick-up points throughout the city) can be a staple of healthy and affordable eating while in college.

As someone who loves to cook, I enjoy the challenge of opening up the box and figuring out what I’m going to be eating for the next two weeks – but if you don’t have much experience cooking, or if you’re running out of ideas for what to do with another bag of potatoes, that can be a barrier to getting your full use out of the box. Also, the recipes that come with the box sometimes call for all sorts of extra ingredients, making it harder to cook on a budget.

In this new series of articles, I’m going to give some recipe suggestions for what to cook with the Good Food Box, with a goal of making delicious meals while using as few “outside” ingredients as possible.

Recipes I tried this week: Carrot noodles, potato noodles.

Boxes I got: ‘Mini Supreme’ ($12.50) and ‘Pantry Pack’ ($8.50)

Other ingredients I used*: Canola oil ($3.19 for 473 mL), flour ($3.49 for 1 kg), beans ($1.99 for a 540 mL can), honey ($5.49 for 375 g), vinegar ($2.19 for 1 L)

* All the prices for these ingredients are from Save On Foods – other stores may charge more, or less

Carrot noodles (serves 2):

  • Peel two large carrots (or three small ones) and cut off the ends.
  • Continue using the peeler to create long, thin strips of carrot
  • In a frying pan, heat ~2 tablespoons of oil (or the same amount of butter).
  • Once the oil is hot, throw in the carrot strips, stirring frequently
  • Cook for about 8 minutes (if you keep tasting the carrot strips as you go, you’ll know when they start to get that floppy, noodle-like texture)
  • Add honey and vinegar to taste (if you’re not sure, start off with less – it’s easier to add more flavour later than it is to take it away)
  • Add beans (however many you want – I used half a can, and that was plenty)
  • Optional: Add eggs or egg whites, stirring until cooked
  • Serve hot, or save for later

Notes on the recipe:

I will definitely be making this again. It’s pretty much as versatile as any other noodle, so you can season and top it with almost anything you want. I love everything sour, so the vinegar/honey combo worked great for me, but that’s only one idea. Next time, I might try it with a bit of parmesan cheese on top, which I think would be delicious.

German potato noodles (serves 2-4):

  • Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil
  • Add 3 large unpeeled potatoes (or four medium ones) to the pot – boil for 30-40 minutes
  • Remove the potatoes from the boiling water, peel them, and mash them (this can be done with a ricer if you have one, but I used the bottom of a jam jar and that worked fine)
  • Add 3-4 tablespoons of flour and 2 egg yolks to the mashed potatoes, mix into a stiff dough
  • If the dough still feels too sticky to handle at this stage, add more flour
  • Let the dough rest for 15 minutes
  • Place the dough on a floured cutting board and form a long loaf shape, then cut it into ~20 pieces
  • Roll each piece between your hands until it forms a tapered cylinder (thick in the middle and pointed at the ends)
  • Heat ~2 tablespoons of oil (or the same amount of butter) in a frying pan
  • Add the noodles in a single layer (you may need to cook in multiple batches) and cook on all sides until golden brown
  • Serve hot, or save for later

Notes on the recipe:

When it comes to German potato noodles, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that they don’t behave or taste very much like noodles. The good news is that they make amazing pancakes. Next time I make these, I’m going to grill them in a pancake shape rather than a long cylinder, and eat them with a bit of honey and some fruit. I might even try replacing one of the potatoes in the dough with a peeled, cored, boiled and mashed apple for a little extra sweetness.

Did these recipes work out for you? What Good Food Box ingredients do you want to see me try out next? Email carillonwebwriter@gmail.com with your suggestions. I’ll be back next month with more Good Food Cooking.

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