the joy of eating eclectically
A box of heirloom tomatoes started the fun. Plus: a favorite snack hack of mine.
A strange and wonderful thing happened to me on my way to the kitchen.
I live in a condo with a good group of sharing neighbors.
One day, one of those neighbors came back from a farm visit and left a box of heirloom tomatoes in our foyer for everyone to enjoy. They ended up being the most delicious tomatoes I’ve tasted in my life. They also introduced me to a new way of thinking about meals.
I’m the vulture in my home. I will fly in and make wonderful little snacks or meals from things some people might unconsciously hork1 down or throw away. I don’t know why. I had plenty of food in my life and was born well after the Great Depression.
I’ll share with you one of my favorite snack hacks at the end, but first, my recent lesson in breaking free from the usual.
With my lady out of town, I wasn’t up for cooking one of our standard dinners, so I thought I’d nosh my way through a few tasty but somewhat healthy treats that made no sense. It was rooted in a tomato salad inspired by something I remember eating in Jersey as a kid at my grandmother’s house. Same grandmother with that kid in the attic I mentioned recently.
The meal put a smile on my face.
It was fun and unconsciously healthy—meaning I wasn’t intentionally thinking about making a nutritionally balanced meal. I gave the meal to AI the next morning and asked for an evaluation on it.
🟢 Verdict:
Yes, this is a healthy, balanced meal — especially for a light dinner. It covers all the major macronutrients and provides fiber, micronutrients, and healthy fats. Nicely done!
I cut those tomatoes into bite-sized, oddly shaped chunks, added some thinly sliced Vidalia onions, olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. I set the wide bowl aside and spooned up some cottage cheese that needed eating in a smaller bowl.
Then, I put a frozen slice of homemade olive sourdough in the toaster oven (to use as an edible bulldozer with the tomatoes) and I got to work on a new hankering I get every once in a while—seasoned stovetop popcorn. It was sparked by the food writer, Michael Ruhlman’s words a few months ago. My slightly different version is below.
Tomato salad with a slice of homemade olive sourdough bread paired with a side of cottage cheese and popcorn—seriously‽ A tasty, fun, and meatless meal that opened my eyes to a new approach. I’m a meat eater, so it was a pleasant surprise how satiating it was.
It’s funny to me how we learn and embrace the way things are sometimes without much question. When I was a child and into adulthood, there were only 4 food groups. I don’t remember ever asking why two of them had two items (Breads & Cereals, Fruits & Vegetables) while the group that included meat, beans, and nuts was just—Meat. Lobbying wasn’t something they taught schools back then.
A fun personal side note—
As a kid, my clothes were washed for me after one use regardless of how clean or dirty they were. Lucky kid. (Was I?)
When I got to college, I was the only roommate of 4 who was in the laundromat a couple times a week. Someone eventually let me in on the secret to minimizing my pain.2
And now, one of my favorite snack hacks—
It’s for those chip bits in the bottom of your bag—regular or tortilla chips. You can do it with crackers too.
I call it a Pedacitos Delight.
Pedacitos is Spanish for bits.
Spoon a little of your dip of choice into a small bowl or plate. Sprinkle in your chip bits—your pedacitos. Mix it up and enjoy.
Even better is when your chip bits time out with your last little bit of dip. You can sprinkle those pedacitos directly into your tasty pasty remains, give it a little mix, and go to town.
A grand finale for your chip bits and tasty pasty. Use a spoon to get all of it!
Mmmmm.
On popcorn—
I think it was the nostalgia of Michael’s piece on stovetop popcorn that hooked me. But, it also might have been his use of the words hankering and toothsome. Hankering is a word I’ve always enjoyed. It’s like lollygag and dilly-dally. Fun. Toothsome was new for me. It means ‘temptingly tasty’.
My go-to method inspired by Michael’s—
Heat 10-15 ml or so of avocado oil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes and garlic powder. Then dump in a quarter cup of popcorn and lid that thing.
Shake it around just off the burner—keep it low and over the heat—for maybe 15 seconds to coat everything. Then set it down and leave it to go nuts. When you feel it’s about halfway done, hold the lid on, lift and shake the pot up and down and side to side. You want those last little kernels on the bottom. Put the pot back down. When the space between pops slows to a second or two, cut the heat and move to another burner.
Wait another 10 seconds to be sure there aren’t any late bloomers. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Remove the lid. Pour half into a bowl to start. Sprinkle lightly with a flaky salt if you have it. I do butter sometimes.
Eat with your fingers if you must. I like a spoon for ease. On my night of eclecticism, I finished my tomato salad before my popcorn, so I dumped the remains into that bowl for a little oil and vinegar kick. Another good reason to eat it with a spoon.
Do I bring a spoon to the movie theatre? Maybe.
What? It’s a better user experience—less clumsy. I don’t do it out of a concern for how clean my fingers are or how clean the hands were that handed me the bag. Really.
Please email me with typos, thoughts, comments, or suggestions (or put them here in the comments). Please don’t be shy or worry about my feelings. Quick, blunt, and maybe interesting or helpful3 is always welcome.
Sadly, hork is not a dictionaried word yet. Remember Remy in the movie Ratatouille? Should start at 0.46.
In case you’re a college kid who grew up in the rare situation that I did, you can wear your clothes several times before washing them. Do they smell bad? Are they dirty? Do you want them to smell fresh for a date? Then run a load.
“Maybe interesting or helpful” is meant to free you of concern.
I’d rather you risk sharing something with me than being concerned it might not land well. If your thought implies I’m stupid or an asshole, you might be right. If so, I’d like to try to fix it.