The Economics of Greek Food

I'm hungry. It's 3:30 pm -- more than late enough for lunch. There is food ready in the kitchen.

I'm temporarily too tired to go get it.

When I took Economics in college I learned that "Economics is the study of how people allocate scarce resources among unlimited desires."

My most scarce resource is stamina. Until I typed that sentence I thought it was energy, but stamina is more accurate. It's also sneaky. I can judge my energy level directly and allocate it accordingly. I don't know how much stamina I have until it's gone, and I'm back in my recliner, limp.

As I thought about what to fix for lunch I considered the fact that these are my last few days off a neutropenic diet. I have some corn tortillas, and wondered what I could have with them. I decided I wanted hummus. And olives. And as long as I was planning a Greek lunch, avgolemono soup. There are no greens in the apartment, or I would have added a Greek salad.

The avgolemono would have to be avgo-less: eggs are a treat food. I could thicken it with cornstarch. It cooks for a long time, so I could start it, then rest.

The hummus takes a little more work, but it can be done in stages.

I would be able to enjoy the tortillas, and the olives, and the fresh lemons that I can't have next week.

I did one thing at a time. I didn't commit to something new until the previous step was cleaned up and put away. I thawed some broth I made in December and started the rice cooking. I grated four mini carrots and added them to the soup. I washed and juiced a lemon. I mixed cornstarch in a prep bowl with some juice. I sat down to rest.

I looked at the soup; it was too thick. I used too much rice. I added water and let it cook. I got out the ingredients for the hummus. I sat down to rest.

I put the ingredients in the food processor: garbanzos, almond butter, garlic, lemon juice. No parsley in the house. I put the utensils in the dishwasher. I put the jars away.

I processed the beans. I let the processor run. And run...I like my hummus very smooth.

And all this time, when I wasn't sitting and resting, I was on my feet. I didn't walk very far, I didn't carry very much, I didn't work very hard....

I tasted the hummus. Yuck! Too much almond butter, barely any lemon. Get out another lemon. (Hmm...now I can add more lemon to the (extended) soup.) Juice the second lemon. Add to the hummus, which is now too thin.

Put the hummus in a storage container, so that none is wasted. Put the container in the refrigerator. Rinse the processor and its parts.

And collapse into the recliner. I am beyond limp. I'm beyond wet spaghetti. I feel fine. I don't hurt anywhere. I'm mentally alert.

And my legs are waving a white flag. My arms are pretty limp, too...I am just able to drape them on the laptop and type.

And I forgot to eat the olives!

Note: the lemon hummus recipe is available on the YouTube video clip at the bottom of the right-hand column.