Less-than-perfect produce yields some delicious dishes

Produce stores, as well as produce departments in supermarkets, are increasingly selling customers their less-than-perfect produce at reduced prices. I first noticed this a few years ago at my local Stop & Shop in Forest Hills. The reduced stuff they sell is more expensive than at the independent produce stores (always $2 for the package) and often the food is close to, if not entirely, rotten. What you're looking for is good quality fruits and vegetables that are just a bit past their prime, which makes them perfect for cooking. In Forest Hills, I get the best stuff for $1 a package at either Yellowstone Farms (102-01 Queens Blvd & 68th) or Eden Farm at 63-31 108th St. All you have to do is trim any bad spots off the fruit or vegetable, wash it thoroughly, and you're good to go.

Today, I found some excellent tomatoes that were too soft for salad. I could have turned them into a nice summer sauce by halving them and gently squeezing out the excess liquid into the sink, and then chopping the pulp roughly and sauteing it in some olive oil with fresh garlic. But since my daughter Emily just called to say she was coming home with a bad cold and wants some TLC, I figured soup was the best thing.

I heated some olive oil and a tiny bit of butter (but you can leave it out without compromising the taste if you are vegan), and added some chopped onion along with the chopped tomatoes. I didn't bother to squeeze out the excess liquid since it will evaporate in the soup. Once it had cooked down, I added a tiny bit of honey to the pot, and then some vegetable broth. If you don't have broth on hand, you can use plain water and perhaps some bouillon powder or cubes. Let the soup cook down a bit, and add fresh dill or Italian parsley, if you have it. Using an immersion blender, I pureed the soup to make it smooth and creamy. I'm adding some cooked barley (but you can use leftover brown rice, if thats what you have on hand) to the pot, and topped it with a large dollop of plain Greek yogurt. This soup will freeze beautifully in a few of those small Ziploc storage containers.

In the coming days, I'm going to offer lots of other fast and healthy dishes that can be made with inexpensive produce before I move on to other strategies for making good food quickly. One product that I find indispensable to the art of parsimonious cooking is Ziploc small containers. Whenever you're faced with bounty in the produce section or garden, spoon portion-sized servings of whatever you've made into Ziploc containers and put them in your freezer. Having a nutritious meal that you made yourself for pennies per serving, and that can be microwaved when you get home from your commute is like money in the bank: comforting and sustaining.

Here's a link to Ziploc - they usually have coupons so you can buy the containers for less.
http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Pages/ContainersSmartSnapSeal.aspx

Til tomorrow!