I shop a lot at Aldi and their produce is very limited. I have been going to a couple of local Persian grocery stores. Their selection is phenomenal! I made the crispy eggplant recipe from (I think) the Party Grub cookbook, and used lovely small Italian eggplant. I mixed the curry powder with some whole wheat flour… next time I want to try garbanzo bean flour mixed with curry powder. They have like 6 different kinds of cabbage. Everyone shops there now. I lived in Iran for 8 years with my then husband’s family, and learned to cook and enjoy their wonderful cuisine. If you live near a Persian Grocer, check them out. They also usually have a bakery and restaurant… the one near our home, Mission Market. Seems to supply quite a few local restaurants because people were buying large quantities of “special” herbs and stuff. I love your recipes and am grateful you ventured out on your own, I appreciate that work partnerships can be kind of difficult.
I’m lucky enough to live in Northern VA with a large Korean population in the area, so HMart is a nearby grocery option for me. The first time I went to one it blew my mind: multiple types of cabbages and eggplants, bulk rice and spices of many varieties, more types of radishes and leafy greens than you can shake a stick at, things you can’t get at many normal grocery stores (e.g. bitter melon), and the prices usually beat regular grocery stores too.
So if anyone has the opportunity to do so, checking out any ethnically oriented grocery stores are worth it.
Persian food and culinary traditions are always next level. You are so lucky to have had that experience. We’ve got lots of great Persian grocers on the west side of LA. It’s been awhile since I’ve been over there. Thanks for the much needed reminder ❤️
Keep an eye out for frozen chopped herb mixes like for rice (Sabzi pollo) and ghormeh Sabzi (a delicious khoresht which is a pain to shop for, and chop, and needs a lot of sautéing before use). I also like to use the frozen herb mixes for aash, and find that spending $8 on a package of frozen, cleaned, minced herbs in the right mix, works for me. Buying all the right kinds of herbs for those dishes is insane. I live in Orange County and my sons all love to eat and cook favorite foods. When I lived in Iran we noticed most of the best foods were almost but not quite vegetarian. Now I try to use mushrooms or meat or chicken substitutes for the foods I love. Los Angeles used to be called “Tehrangeles” by people in Iran, so many families ended up there before and after the revolution.
I hope you can feature some special Persian meals you veganize! I love using eggplant in many dishes, it need not be drenched in olive oil. I loved your crispy eggplant recipe, I ate it with the skin on and it was delicious!!! Love your recipes.
We eat a lot of rice, but sometimes I want to change it up and not prepare a stir fry or Thai dish. Then I cook the rice in broth (usually bouillon powder such as the Seitenbacher brand) and that makes it a whole new side dish! I’ve also discovered cooking polenta in broth makes it taste a lot better and adding chopped rosemary in the summer really elevates it.
We don't have that much of a stock level issue in Melbourne (but prices are crazy) but I do remember when money was tight, I would live on brown rice. I would saute an onion and herbs/spices, add the rice and once the rice was coated with the onion and spices or dried herbs I would add the stock and make what I called a "cheat's risotto". Sometimes adding a handful of spinach once it was cooked. It made a little go a long way. Got me through the lean years:)
I’ve made a version of that too! I’d throw frozen broccoli in at the end. I remember when I was in Melbourne around 2015 and your produce prices were straight bananas. Loved the city so much though!
I made that Lasagna Stew and it was delicious! We have only two grocery stores in our "area" and I had to go to both of them to find fennel seeds..
Next closest grocery store is over 20 miles away, which would take 45 minutes or so to get there, so we're lucky to have two mostly decent ones near us. (Problems with living rural.)
Not being able to find things? Welcome to my world. Par for the course. Yes, it was much, much worse when Covid first reared its ugly, knobby head, but it's gotten better. Though I still do see an empty shelf or two.
The trouble I have with a lot of recipes is not being able to find the ingredients locally. Fresh herbs? Not gonna happen unless it's basil. Maybe. I have to google herb conversions from fresh to dried.
Rice that isn't long grain white? Eh, it's gotten slightly better. Slightly.
Cabbage? There's green--large and not-so-large.
Shelf-stable tofu? lol My choices are Firm and Extra Firm, packed in water.
What I want is tempeh. I'd have to drive 30 miles to the bougie town to get it. I'm not driving 30 miles, so I do without.
And why would people be all snobby about frozen vegetables? We grew up on them, and canned, because they were cheaper than fresh, lasted longer (of course), and were readily available. Mom could stock up when there were sales. When you don't have much money, you take what you get. Some folks need to get over themselves and be appreciative of the fact they have fresh produce only a block or two away and they can shop two or three days a week. Also, when you grow your own (or run across an excellent deal), how else are you supposed to preserve it besides canning or freezing?
I've even used frozen veggies in pasta salad.
Yes! Bloom your spices! I learned that from you, Michelle, and it makes quite a difference. I try to do it all the time, now.
I am definitely going to try roasting frozen vegetables the way you describe here. It sounds great!
I started making my own soymilk in 2019 and bought a soymilk machine, an idavee. I hated straining it in nutmilk bags. I discovered I can fit a fine mesh slat bottom strainer from Amazon, into a pampered chef silicone mixing bowl it’s a spout. Now I just pour in the finished milk for straining and it strains without the nutmilk bag stuff. I think it would work on almond milks too.
Then I got a little wooden tofu strainer kit on Amazon. I don’t make a lot of tofu to be honest, but it is kind of fun and the results are delicious. Very different from store bought, and one batch of soymilk makes one nice regular sized cube of tofu, without a lot of work. You might try it if you use a lot of tofu or soymilk, I also use soymilk in my vegan cheese like sauces, and add a powdered calcium/vitamin d stuff I got on Amazon, to the cheesey sauce. So, that’s what I do. Sorry for the long post comment here but hey. Not many people are so into this stuff so this is a good way to basically let out all this accumulated thinking about this stuff I guess!
I love this!! I was to get into making my own yuba so this is right up my alley. have you found a difference in the end result depending on the soybeans you buy or is it pretty uniform?
I think not being able to find all the ingredients for recipes ultimately makes you a more nimble and thoughtful cook. At least those fennel seeds will last!!
A lot of the snobbiness around frozen and canned veggies is classism mixed with some kind of purity wellness shit. It’s so hard to break people of that thinking but I’m trying.
Also your username makes me laugh ever.single.time. I love it.
It’s been 15 years since I’ve worked in a supermarket and I still can’t shut off that side of my brain when I’m in a store. The urge to face and level all the shelves runs deep. Hell, I still remember some of the produce codes.
Gonna have to try that roasted frozen veggie method. I use frozen all the time just as backup or sometimes for lazy veggies at lunchtime and when I roast them, especially smaller ones, sometimes they get dried out as heck. But I’ve clearly been roasting on too high a temp!
My son worked in a grocery store before he went away to college. When he's home on break and we go shopping I catch him doing it all the time. That must *really* be drilled into your brains!
I shop a lot at Aldi and their produce is very limited. I have been going to a couple of local Persian grocery stores. Their selection is phenomenal! I made the crispy eggplant recipe from (I think) the Party Grub cookbook, and used lovely small Italian eggplant. I mixed the curry powder with some whole wheat flour… next time I want to try garbanzo bean flour mixed with curry powder. They have like 6 different kinds of cabbage. Everyone shops there now. I lived in Iran for 8 years with my then husband’s family, and learned to cook and enjoy their wonderful cuisine. If you live near a Persian Grocer, check them out. They also usually have a bakery and restaurant… the one near our home, Mission Market. Seems to supply quite a few local restaurants because people were buying large quantities of “special” herbs and stuff. I love your recipes and am grateful you ventured out on your own, I appreciate that work partnerships can be kind of difficult.
I’m lucky enough to live in Northern VA with a large Korean population in the area, so HMart is a nearby grocery option for me. The first time I went to one it blew my mind: multiple types of cabbages and eggplants, bulk rice and spices of many varieties, more types of radishes and leafy greens than you can shake a stick at, things you can’t get at many normal grocery stores (e.g. bitter melon), and the prices usually beat regular grocery stores too.
So if anyone has the opportunity to do so, checking out any ethnically oriented grocery stores are worth it.
Persian food and culinary traditions are always next level. You are so lucky to have had that experience. We’ve got lots of great Persian grocers on the west side of LA. It’s been awhile since I’ve been over there. Thanks for the much needed reminder ❤️
Keep an eye out for frozen chopped herb mixes like for rice (Sabzi pollo) and ghormeh Sabzi (a delicious khoresht which is a pain to shop for, and chop, and needs a lot of sautéing before use). I also like to use the frozen herb mixes for aash, and find that spending $8 on a package of frozen, cleaned, minced herbs in the right mix, works for me. Buying all the right kinds of herbs for those dishes is insane. I live in Orange County and my sons all love to eat and cook favorite foods. When I lived in Iran we noticed most of the best foods were almost but not quite vegetarian. Now I try to use mushrooms or meat or chicken substitutes for the foods I love. Los Angeles used to be called “Tehrangeles” by people in Iran, so many families ended up there before and after the revolution.
I hope you can feature some special Persian meals you veganize! I love using eggplant in many dishes, it need not be drenched in olive oil. I loved your crispy eggplant recipe, I ate it with the skin on and it was delicious!!! Love your recipes.
We eat a lot of rice, but sometimes I want to change it up and not prepare a stir fry or Thai dish. Then I cook the rice in broth (usually bouillon powder such as the Seitenbacher brand) and that makes it a whole new side dish! I’ve also discovered cooking polenta in broth makes it taste a lot better and adding chopped rosemary in the summer really elevates it.
We don't have that much of a stock level issue in Melbourne (but prices are crazy) but I do remember when money was tight, I would live on brown rice. I would saute an onion and herbs/spices, add the rice and once the rice was coated with the onion and spices or dried herbs I would add the stock and make what I called a "cheat's risotto". Sometimes adding a handful of spinach once it was cooked. It made a little go a long way. Got me through the lean years:)
I’ve made a version of that too! I’d throw frozen broccoli in at the end. I remember when I was in Melbourne around 2015 and your produce prices were straight bananas. Loved the city so much though!
I hope you went to Wilson's Prom:)
Looking forward to tomorrow's recipe!
I made that Lasagna Stew and it was delicious! We have only two grocery stores in our "area" and I had to go to both of them to find fennel seeds..
Next closest grocery store is over 20 miles away, which would take 45 minutes or so to get there, so we're lucky to have two mostly decent ones near us. (Problems with living rural.)
Not being able to find things? Welcome to my world. Par for the course. Yes, it was much, much worse when Covid first reared its ugly, knobby head, but it's gotten better. Though I still do see an empty shelf or two.
The trouble I have with a lot of recipes is not being able to find the ingredients locally. Fresh herbs? Not gonna happen unless it's basil. Maybe. I have to google herb conversions from fresh to dried.
Rice that isn't long grain white? Eh, it's gotten slightly better. Slightly.
Cabbage? There's green--large and not-so-large.
Shelf-stable tofu? lol My choices are Firm and Extra Firm, packed in water.
What I want is tempeh. I'd have to drive 30 miles to the bougie town to get it. I'm not driving 30 miles, so I do without.
And why would people be all snobby about frozen vegetables? We grew up on them, and canned, because they were cheaper than fresh, lasted longer (of course), and were readily available. Mom could stock up when there were sales. When you don't have much money, you take what you get. Some folks need to get over themselves and be appreciative of the fact they have fresh produce only a block or two away and they can shop two or three days a week. Also, when you grow your own (or run across an excellent deal), how else are you supposed to preserve it besides canning or freezing?
I've even used frozen veggies in pasta salad.
Yes! Bloom your spices! I learned that from you, Michelle, and it makes quite a difference. I try to do it all the time, now.
I am definitely going to try roasting frozen vegetables the way you describe here. It sounds great!
I started making my own soymilk in 2019 and bought a soymilk machine, an idavee. I hated straining it in nutmilk bags. I discovered I can fit a fine mesh slat bottom strainer from Amazon, into a pampered chef silicone mixing bowl it’s a spout. Now I just pour in the finished milk for straining and it strains without the nutmilk bag stuff. I think it would work on almond milks too.
Then I got a little wooden tofu strainer kit on Amazon. I don’t make a lot of tofu to be honest, but it is kind of fun and the results are delicious. Very different from store bought, and one batch of soymilk makes one nice regular sized cube of tofu, without a lot of work. You might try it if you use a lot of tofu or soymilk, I also use soymilk in my vegan cheese like sauces, and add a powdered calcium/vitamin d stuff I got on Amazon, to the cheesey sauce. So, that’s what I do. Sorry for the long post comment here but hey. Not many people are so into this stuff so this is a good way to basically let out all this accumulated thinking about this stuff I guess!
I love this!! I was to get into making my own yuba so this is right up my alley. have you found a difference in the end result depending on the soybeans you buy or is it pretty uniform?
I think not being able to find all the ingredients for recipes ultimately makes you a more nimble and thoughtful cook. At least those fennel seeds will last!!
A lot of the snobbiness around frozen and canned veggies is classism mixed with some kind of purity wellness shit. It’s so hard to break people of that thinking but I’m trying.
Also your username makes me laugh ever.single.time. I love it.
It’s been 15 years since I’ve worked in a supermarket and I still can’t shut off that side of my brain when I’m in a store. The urge to face and level all the shelves runs deep. Hell, I still remember some of the produce codes.
Gonna have to try that roasted frozen veggie method. I use frozen all the time just as backup or sometimes for lazy veggies at lunchtime and when I roast them, especially smaller ones, sometimes they get dried out as heck. But I’ve clearly been roasting on too high a temp!
I worked at Trader Joe’s in grad school and I too still face things at stores when I am shopping.
I still face!!! My wife worked in a grocery store too so it never stops. We critique each other’s bagging every single trip
My son worked in a grocery store before he went away to college. When he's home on break and we go shopping I catch him doing it all the time. That must *really* be drilled into your brains!
Between the produce codes and facing, etc I’m not sure I’ll ever get the grocery game out of my head
In roasting frozen veggies, you just put them in the oven from frozen?
Yup! The first roasting period defrosts them and dries them out. It’s great!
There's some asparagus in my freezer that will be hitting the oven in the coming days then!!
The link I put in the section shows her cooking stuff in that method if you want the visuals. It works so well!
Great tips, Michelle!