Not being a CSA (community shared agriculture) subscriber this summer greatly changes the way I grocery shop. I continue to shop regularly at farmer’s markets but I also develop a habit of weekly visit to Whole Foods. The nickname Whole Paycheque is not without reason especially if one takes advantage of their prepared food department. Fortunately, my preference for home cooking means my purchases are mostly limited to vegetable, fruit, dairy, meat, and fish. If you know your prices and wisely avoid the overpriced items, it is not necessarily the money pit it may appear at first glance.
It’s funny how my eating habit is so driven by my shopping habit. The Whole Foods weekly sales flyer comes out every Wednesday and they usually have special three-day sales running Friday to Sunday. Every once in a while, there are door-crasher special Friday one day sale. What does it all mean? It means I can usually buy MSC-certified fish and good quality meat at reasonable price on weekends. For this reason, I eat meat or fish on weekends and maintain a vegetarian diet on weekdays.
Last weekend was a perfect illustration of this change in my eating habit. I’ve been taking full advantage of the wild caught salmon this year and immensely enjoy sockeye to coho to keta as the season progresses. At regular price, it would be a splurge purchase but it is so much cheaper to eat food that are in season! I bought a gorgeous glistening piece of keta salmon so I planned a whole meal around it for Sunday dinner.
It all began with crispy skin fillet I pan seared and lacquered with homemade teriyaki sauce. Teriyaki sauce is so simple to make. It’s no more than a combination of soy sauce, mirin, ginger, and maple syrup. Once reduced, the sticky syrupy concoction cling to every inch of the fish.
Steamed rice, pickles, and miso soup are standards in any Japanese meal. Let’s conveniently gloss over my inability to cook rice. I like my miso soup packed with paper thin slices of daikon, wakame seaweed, and green onion. Mandolin makes quick work of all the slicing. Miso soup is something I make so often that I don’t even think about anymore.
I paired salmon teriyaki with two side dishes, something bold and something light. Cucumber salad was made with salted Japanese cucumbers tossed in roasted sesame oil, shichimi toragashi, and sesame seeds. Eggplant smoked tofu with miso sauce was a vegan adaptation of Makiko Itoh’s recipe previously published in Japan Times. The heartiness of miso flavoured the seared eggplant batons and smoked tofu with much savoury depth. It was best enjoyed with plenty of rice.
With the arrival of Monday came vegetarian meals. Obviously I didn’t have any leftover salmon because fish does not keep. The side dishes were great keepers though and they refashioned themselves into a light bento. I added a bit of sautéed kale in addition to my eggplant tofu and cucumber sides. The meal may be light but certainly balanced in nutrition. Protein from the tofu and good variety of vegetable!
I never imagine I would turn into someone with eagles eyes for weekly sale at the grocery store. I even clip coupons occasionally. That’s about as thrilling as waking up one morning and realizing that I turn into my mother. I suppose eating well (actually, very very well) while staying on budget makes it all worthwhile, right? Now finish all your vegetable otherwise you’ll not get any dessert!
