Hunger is the Mother of Creativity

In case you haven’t been privy to my not so wise wisdom tooth whining, I had all four of my teeth extracted on Friday.  Save for nearly killing my husband with embarrassment when, in a  post anesthesia daze, I walked into Price Chopper to find and alert him to an apparent emergency egg deficiency looking a little like something from Night of the Living Dead, I had a reasonable, easy surgery and normal recovery.  Yet tonight, when I just couldn’t possibly eat one more egg, drop of yogurt or spoonful of cottage cheese, I went into a total meltdown when my sweet and patient husband announced that they were out of Gluten Free mac and cheese.   Not my proudest moment.  As I reached for  chocolate pudding and Pirates Booty to make  my evening meal, I thought, what would 1870’s me do?  Well to start I would not have a fridge so there goes the pudding.   I realized, that I was talented enough to come up with something Gluten Free and Tooth Loss friendly if I dipped into my stores.  Sure enough, I was able to raid the fridge and call upon my inner Ina (or Barefoot Contessa for those of you not in the Food Network know) to make this delicious Mushroom Lobster Mac & Cheese:

1 lb Imitation Lobster Meat (or the real deal or Crab Meat, what ever rings your bell)

1 cup uncooked elbows (I use Corn/Quinoa Pasta for the GF Approach)

2 Tbsp  Butter

2 Tbsp  Flour or Starch

1 Cup Broth (reserved pasta water will work in a pinch too)

1 can mushroom slices (or 1 cup fresh, whatever you have)

1 onion coarsely Chopped

2 cups of shredded cheese (whatever you like, I used Mild Cheddar)

3 Laughing Cow Triangles

1 Cup Milk

Garlic Powder To taste

Salt

1 tbsp oil

Bring your Pasta to a boil and set aside when done.  Reserve water if using in the sauce.   While pasta is boiling saute onions and mushrooms until soft/tender, about 10 minutes.  Add lobster and cook for another 5-7 minutes until lobster is hot and flaky. Set aside.

In the same pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Once melted, sprinkle in flour and whisk until smooth and bubbly.  Add stock  and stir until thickened and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes.   Whisk in Milk and simmer until thickened.   Add the laughing cow wedges and whisk until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth.  Add remaining cheese and seasonings and whisk until smooth.  Add onions, lobster, mushroom and pasta to sauce and stir until blended.  Serve with a salad or in my case not.

You can also sub in any meats or vegetables that you happen to have in your larder.   The moral of this story:  It is easy to forget how to be creative with what we have, when it is just so easy to get what we want.   Part of becoming a localvore (as clearly illustrated by my use of lobster and canned mushrooms), is becoming inspired by what you have.  Some of the best meals I have served were created with what I had on hand vs. what I thought I wanted.   Even though I am far from perfect on the eating local front,  making that shift in my meal time thought process, even in the midst of a meltdown, from wanting to having as allowed me to make preparing food a new and fun daily challenge.   Maybe not always fun for my taste testers, but for right now, there is always cereal in the pantry for nights when my inner Ina is out.

Advertisement