stir-fries and scrambles

By this point in the season, my fridge is full of an assortment of vegetables.

One thing I've learned over the years is that some vegetables lend themselves well to just using the whole thing up at once and making one side dish starring that vegetable. Also, this can be convenient and simple - plain sauteed greens with a little bit of seasoning, sauteed turnip, boiled zucchini dressed with olive oil, steamed green bean salad, sliced cucumbers with sour cream and yogurt - all take fairly little effort.

But no matter what, some vegetables will wind up being left in small quantities in the fridge, or will come in small quantities to begin with. Or you wouldn't want to eat them on their own - we've gotten one small jalapeno pepper, for instance! (The one small green pepper that arrived twice, on the ther hand, got eaten raw.)

One of my favorite things to do periodically to clean up the stragglers in the fridge drawer is to mix a small amount of a lot of vegetables up into a stir fry or a scrambled egg dish.

This morning's breakfast was a breakfast burrito - scrambled eggs with the last of some arugula, a scallion, a tomato, and some chopped jalapeno pepper, which I put into a tortilla with cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Tonight for I will be making a stir fry with yellow squash, one tiny Asian eggplant, a few turnips that I hoarded a bit too long, the rest of the scallions, a few carrots, and the bok choy that came in this week's share. And whatever else I find in the drawer that makes sense.

I also try to make sandwiches that use our vegetable bounty - roasted eggplant or pepper plus pesto, a slice of tomato, cheese, and plenty of lettuce, or even a little leftover meat if I have some handy. But this time of year, the vegetables can be the stars of the sandwich!