Our Favorite Convenience Food : It’s Not What You Think

Back when our kitchen was looking about like this:

Martin and I started looking for a lot of convenience foods.

We needed something that was quick to make.  It couldn’t create a lot of dishes (I was using the bathroom sink), and it couldn’t require a lot of preparation area (I only had the top of our half-sized washing machine to work on).  We ripped out the old stovetop, and then we needed to find foods that also didn’t require cooking.

We’d been reading a little about the raw food movement at the time.  So it seemed only natural to give it a shot.  Instead of turning to convenience foods that are packaged and full of sodium and preservatives, we took the cheaper route.

We started eating meals like this one:

In fact, we’re still eating this type of meal all the time.  I love cooking, but I’ll be honest.  I can’t do it for every meal every day.  One huge advantage to living in a city is having access to such fresh food.  I understand all too well if you live in a place where you don’t have access to foods so fresh you’re okay with eating everything cut up and raw.  (We couldn’t when we lived in the house made out of tires in the US.)

As it turns out, eating meals of fresh fruits and vegetables, cheese, bread, and pesto have done several things to our relationship. Never would have guessed that a carrot could do that!

So try preparing a simple meal like this for your family.  They may be shocked at first.  But only at first.  Here’s why:

1.  You cannot gobble a meal like this down.  It involves a lot of chewing and different tastes and textures that slow you down.

2.  Oddly, these meals lead to more conversation than any other. Our best conversations have taken place over a plate of carrots and cheese – no question about it.

3.  No one can say you’re not getting your veggies. I’ve read a lot about raw diets, and while I’m not going to make any claims about meals like this, I will tell you that we don’t get the same exhausted feel we can get from eating a lot of heavy carbs and sweets.  It’s a very interesting meal to ponder.

4.  The kitchen keeps cool. I love this in summer.

5.  Cleanup is simple. Put scraps in the compost.  Wash the cutting board and knives/peeler.

6.  You can try new foods. See an interesting looking fruit?  How about a different cheese at the market or quinoa salad?  Since people are eating slower and tasting more, it’s the perfect chance to try something new.  The cheese pictured above has dandelion in it!  I love it; Martin calls it “weed cheese”.

How are you at incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet?  Any attempts at eating raw or close to it?  Or maybe you have another trick for a simple spring meal.  Whatever it is – you know we’d love to hear it.  We eat this stuff for dinner.  Right next to the weed cheese.