When I go grocery shopping I often pick up ingredients I’ve never seen before. That’s how I ended up with the bunch of East Asian Brown Beech Mushrooms (also known also as Buna-shimeji, Hypsizigus tessellatus, or Brown Clamshell). Sure, it can be a risky habit but it keeps shopping fun – which is something I need these days. The older I get the more I find shopping to be a chore. Even grocery shopping. I used to love the grocery store. I’d make a list, cut the coupons, look for all the extra-special “double-deals” and make an afternoon of roaming the aisles.
However these days just the thought of gathering up all those re-usable bags makes my stomach churn in knots. Forget making a list – that’s gotten way too depressing.
But I gotta eat, right? That means I’ve gotta shop for food. So I’ve developed a few tricks to help make the job less of a drudge. The first is the Farmers Market. I still enjoy walking down the hill to the Hollywood Farmers Market when I can. Fresh food. Seasonal energy. Celebrity sightings. The Farmers Market is a once a week foodie excursion that never bores me.
Still, I live a fast-paced, big city life. There are a lot of staples we in the big city need that aren’t available from a local farmer. A lot. You know things like ChapStick, LED light-bulbs, and Kit Kat bars. You can’t live a fast-paced, big city life without Kit Kat bars, and they don’t grow on trees so farmers can’t grow them and they’re not really kats, so hunters can’t shoot them.
All this means that I need to stop by the grocery store once in a while. So, rather than resist I now do just the opposite. I go to the store EVERY DAY. It just takes a few minutes to grab the few things I need for my dinner (or score something like these East Asian Brown Beech Mushrooms for my blog). I know that seems odd. How can going to the store MORE help me deal with my shopping phobia?
Well, partly because I fool myself just a bit. By not planning to go to the market, and by not making much more than a mental list, I can be 80% finished with the job before I remember how much I hate it. Besides it’s more of an “in the moment” exercise. Meaning my inner psyche can connect with the zen side of grocery shopping much more directly. And, it doesn’t take 4 hours.
Although I wonder sometimes if I pay more for the things I buy. I don’t cut daily coupons or spend a lot of time looking for deals. I tend to go to specialty markets too, which are pricier. But the other side of the coin is this: when I go more often, I buy less. Which (I think) makes me spend less money because I waste less food. As evidence there seem to be fewer and fewer shocking alien sightings in the veg drawer these days because it’s never so full that the carrots have time to morph into black-bearded intruders.
My last little trick is this: I try to buy things that are unfamiliar. It keeps shopping fun. Instead of ALWAYS reaching for brands I know, or vegetables we love I force myself to try new things. In fact, today’s Brown Beech Mushrooms came about because I came across a pile of these unusually perky little fellows in my local Asian Market. I love the way they stand up in a big crowd and giggle “notice me” as you roll your cart past them in the produce aisle.
So, what do you do when you’re faced with a countertop of unfamiliar Asian mushrooms? You make a stir-fry of course. GREG
Tofu Stir-Fry with Veggies and Beech Mushrooms
Print This Recipe Yield 4Source Adapted from Centennial KitchenPublished
Ingredients
- 16 ounce firm tofu (cut into 1 ½‑inch cubes)
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
- salt and pepper (as needed)
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 5 green onions (sliced)
- 1–2 red chiles (sliced and seeded)
- 3 cup broccoli florets
- 3½ ounce beech mushrooms (separated)
- 1 red bell pepper (seeded and sliced into strips)
- 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
- 2 limes (1 juiced, 1 cut into 8 wedges)
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
Directions
In a medium bowl, toss tofu with cornstarch and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Set aside.
Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add almonds and sesame seeds; cook and stir 30 seconds or until golden. Transfer to a small bowl; set aside. Add oil to the hot pan; heat over high heat. Add tofu; cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes until golden and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer tofu to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Drizzle tofu with honey and toss with the toasted almonds and sesame seeds.
Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic, ginger, green onions, and sliced chiles; cook for 1 minutes. Add broccoli, mushrooms, red bell pepper, and corn kernels; cook and stir 4 minutes. Add lime juice and soy sauce; stir to combine. Add tofu-almond mixture and toss well before serving.
What a fun post! I love picking up different things while grocery shopping and figuring out what to do with them. It always encourage creativity! Btw, the recipe looks delicious!
I’d definitely pick up these gems if I spotted them in the market, but I’d probably do something mundane like add them to my omelet. Though I wouldn’t say no to your stir fry if you passed that plate my way!
I thrive on buying things that are unfamiliar. It is one of the best ways to stretch my imagination with my culinary skills/or lack of skills. Unfortunately, it usually involves another trip to the grocery store once I decided what I want to cook with my “find”! Stir-fry is the perfect solution for your fungi finds.
We used to do coupons, but stopped when we realized we were buying things we didn’t really want. Or didn’t usually buy. We always take a long daily walk, and often include a supermarket in our route. So although we don’t shop every single day, we do a lot of daily shopping. Fun way to plan dinner — just walk into the store, see what looks good, and buy it. Anyway, neat recipe. I need to take a walk and buy these mushrooms! 🙂
You are shopping like a European, their fridges are small and therefore cannot hold more than one or two day’s worth of food so they tend to shop each day. In fact, when we were on vacation in Budapest at my Aunt and Uncle’s house when I was 8, I remember my dear Mom and my Aunt going to the baker every morning to get fresh bread. Then my Aunt would go to work and pick up that night’s dinner on the way home, and I don’t mean fast food. She would stopped by the butcher and the green grocer and dinner was born. On the weekends, she would make the more labour-intensive meals. I do a bit of both, we live a 10 minute walk from the butcher, baker and green grocer but I like to plan for 2–3 days at a time, because it keeps us on track (health-wise) and I like that I don’t have to think too hard to determine what is for dinner that night (plus, there are some really grey days I simply do not want to go out). There is always room for impromptu purchases and inspirations from the blogs I read. My personal dilemma is that our fridge is not usually chuck-full and that makes me uneasy. I like a full fridge because it gives me comfort that we will get by without having to leave the house. Also, I have some handy pantry items that allow me to make a meal on the spot without too much planning (beans, pasta, dried mushrooms, couscous etc), so I guess I should relax.
The stir-fry looks great, I love tofu but have yet to find organic (the GMO soy products freak me out). The flavours in your stir-fry are perfect with those adorable mushrooms. I haven’t seen them in our markets as yet, but will keep my eyes open for them. They would be perfect in the mushroom and bean ‘risotto’ that I am making tonight.
I am lucky, we have some great grocery stores here in Santa Cruz and different farmer’s markets I love. Your stir fry looks great, especially those mushrooms, I have to try them soon.
That is one beautiful stir fry! Fabulous mushrooms. I’m not going to give you shit about hating grocery shopping when you live in Southern California??!!!!! OMG, come out to Oklahoma and see how depressed you can be. But honestly, I love the whole process, I just don’t tell anyone that I do.
I shop like you. And I love it. (Although I don’t get Kit Kat bars… I’m a Dove boy…)
I love new discoveries at the grocery. And I love the farmer’s market in the summer. However the only celebrity sighting I might spy is a perfect tomato. As for this stir fry…seems like a great way to use up all the veggies I over buy.