Cluttered Refrigerator = Working Blogger

Albert Einstein was quoted “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” In other words, a cluttered desk means a working brain.

In my less than Einstein-y world, cluttered refrigerators are like cluttered desks. Lots of ideas, errors, experiments, inspirations and old projects in need of archiving. So, once a week I clean out our refrigerator, mostly on Mondays. Weekend leftovers, past blog posts, vegetable candidates for the compost pile are all evaluated, organized and shifted around according to their nutritional viability.

I hadn’t really planned on cooking or writing a recipe today, as the overwhelming hodge-podge of wilted radishes and hairy carrots were far from photogenic, and even less desirable as my lunch. But as always, a quesadilla seemed like a good idea, and there was this one chile poblano that was leftover from the amazing Poblano Vichyssoise I shot last week. A little wrinkly, but at my age,  I sympathetically forgive wrinkles. After a 5 minute roasting, and 15 minutes of sweating, the wrinkly poblano was part of our lunch.

Take Quesadillas From Blah to BLAM!

I threw together broccoli, spinach, boiled eggs and feta into a salad, made a quick red pepper dressing of leftover salsa criolla and mayonnaise. I might try to develop a recipe from that haphazard conglomeration, as it was quite good. Even though our vegetable selection on Monday is less than fresh, and I serve up unlikely amalgamations of past recipes,  I always remind myself these wilted veggies are way fresher than any fast food burger or frozen pizza. And sometimes my mess actually inspires me.

Making a quesadilla are always a good call, as they are hot, and filling. But you have to change them up, so that you or your lunch date doesn’t feel cheated out of a better meal.  Just like a grilled cheese sandwich,  a quick addition of one ingredient can reveal your true culinary genius (or in my case, my intellectual gift of turning wrinkly, past-their-prime veggies into the star of a blog post.)