Nothing Wasted

A Philosophy and Business Idea?

I have a dream that I open a shop or offer a service that uses the languishing fruit and wilted veggies that are standing idly by in all of our fridges and turn them into nourishing meals.

I’m not a fan of, “Everything Happens for a Reason” ( neither is Kate Bowler, whom I love forever and ever amen). But there’s something inherently redemptive about the idea of nothing wasted.

I hope to live my life that way. Nothing is ever wasted. All the trials and the joys and the suffering and the hardships may not have had a purpose, but they can still have value. They still made me who I am. They can, perhaps, give others hope. The way a floppy carrot can be the perfect vehicle for the best carrot cake.

March is always a time of reflection for me. Winter is drawing to a close and things are beginning to grow once more in ways they haven’t for a long while. Some of them, for the first time.

I’m evaluating how I want to live my life- not simply the roles I play to show up in it. And I keep returning (literally and metaphorically) to a rotisserie chicken carcass, a carton of stock, and some limp, fresh herbs as holy ground.

Nothing wasted, indeed.

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What’s Nourishing Me

1. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to be asked to have a conversation for public consumption. This has been one of my favorite ones. (Here’s the other one, that was referenced.)

2. A friend called after having listened to the aforementioned podcast and said it reminded him of Ani DiFranco’s “32 Flavors”. There is no higher compliment in my book (and real fans will notice the subtle nod to this very song in my Substack name:)

3. Friends took my eldest and me on a pilgrimage to find the best Indian in the area. I think we found it at Cinnamon. I didn’t get the chai, and I deeply regret it the way I still regret tossing my favorite zip-up sweater from Delias in ‘99.

4. Parker J Palmer shouldn’t be a voice I’m just discovering now, but that’s the truth of it. Man, I would have been so much healthier had I read him sooner- but better late than never, right?

5. I’m obsessed with the tom kha gai from our local spot Pandan Room but I really can’t afford to grab it every day for lunch. So, I’ve been making my own variations with whatever’s left in my fridge. Here’s my favorite iteration this week:

Not Tom Kha Gai

Ingredients:

2 Quarts of Chicken Stock (or two boxes, no shade)

1 can of coconut milk

1 tbsp Thai curry paste

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp ginger, minced

1 shallot, sliced

Shredded Rotisserie Chicken ( or chicken cooked at home, you do you)

A handful of fresh spinach leaves or kale

Sliced mushrooms

Or literally any other vegetable lingering in the veggie drawer

Fresh herbs: my favorite combo Is Basil, Cilantro and Chives

Instructions:

Sweat the garlic, ginger, and shallots in a pot in a little coconut or avocado oil. After 5 minutes, add the Thai curry paste. Stir until combined. If you have root vegetables or nightshades you’d like to add, do so now.

Pour in the stock and the can of coconut milk. ( This is to preference- if you like a creamier soup, add more coconut milk. I prefer more stock than cream, so this is the ratio I stick to).

When the soup is at a simmer, add the chicken and the greens until just wilted. Move off heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

After dished out into bowls, top with fresh herbs and a squeeze of lime juice.

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With that, friends, I’ll leave you with Ani herself:

“Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am 32 flavors and then some.
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
Cause someday you might find you are starving
And eating all of the words that you said.”