Mold. At the first sign of it I tend to throw food out… unless I convince myself that I feel bad for letting it mold (beause it was either expensive or delicious), in which case I put it back in the fridge and hope that magic food fairies will come and fix it so that I can eat it and get my money’s worth.

On fridge clean out day, I always cringe at the sight of the half-full garbage bag filled with spoiled and unwanted food. Am I wasting food items that don’t necessarily need to be wasted?

This article on Boing Boing caught my eye: When is it OK to eat moldy food?

The USDA (that’s the United States Department of Agriculture, not the United Square Dancers of America, of course) recently did a study on moldy foods and released the Safe Food Handling fact sheet.

Surprise, surprise — in the end they do recommend throwing out most moldy foods. But the advice within the chart for how to salvage other foods is great!

Generally I live by the “if it smells bad or feels slimey, I won’t eat it” rule but after reading the chart I’ll never eat a moldy dollop of sour cream again. (Bleh!)

Be sure to check it out for yourself, you scrape-it-off-the-top types.

I know so many people that absolutely hate radishes and I can’t for the life of me figure out how! I have always loved radishes — I remember being 7 or 8 and eating radish and mayo sandwiches and watching Rocky and Bullwinkle after school. Clearly I come from a long line of radish lovers, heh.

If you’re a radish lover too, definitely give this recipe a go. It’s awesome. And what’s better? Grow the radishes yourself! Trust me, it’s super easy.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups washed organic garden radishes
• 1 cup organic garden scallions, chopped
• 1 cup cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons chopped organic garden chives
• Your favorite hot sauce
• Pinch of plain salt, sea salt, or iodized salt
• Pinch of pepper, freshly ground peppercorns

Method:

Dry the organic radishes thoroughly — this is important. Chop by hand or use the food processor to process the organic radishes into the desired texture. Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, organic chives, organic radishes, and organic scallions. Season with salt and pepper. Add a sprinkle of hot sauce (unless, of course, you find the radish dip to be hot enough on its own — radishes can have quite the bite!). Chill the prepared dip in the serving bowl you will be using.

Prepare your assorted organic vegetable dippers, assorted crackers, chips or breadsticks ahead of time, before guests arrive. Chill the organic vegetables.

Rosti night was my absolute favourite night in my first year of university. I’d never had them before then but once exposed to them, I was helpless to their potato-y charms. Now, many years after university, I still make them! For those not in the know, Rosti are traditional Swiss fried potato cakes. And guess what I’ve discovered? They’re even better when made with other veggies.

Ingredients:

3 cups Carrots, peeled and grated
1 cup Beets, peeled and grated
1 cup Parsnips, peeled and grated
2 Eggs
1/3 cup Unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp Sea salt
1/4 tsp Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup Canola oil (for frying)
1/4 cup Sour cream or plain yogurt, full-fat
1 tsp Cumin, ground
1/2 tsp Dill, dried

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, mix sour cream, cumin and dill. Refrigerate until needed. In a large bowl, mix together grated veggies, eggs, flour, salt and pepper until well combined. Divide mixture into twelve patties and put on a large sheet of parchment paper.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to pan and let it heat up, add four patties of carrot mixture. Press patties into pancakes and fry on each side 3-5 minutes or until golden brown on both sides.

Place on a baking tray and bake 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve with sour cream sauce if desired. Yields 12 cakes.