The Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl

The other night, I cooked (well, chopped) for the first time in the apartment where I'm staying on the Upper East Side. Since I was cooking for just myself, I figured a salad was the right move. There was a cucumber, there was a box of cherry heirloom tomatoes, half of a red onion (sliced thin), a red pepper and a yellow pepper. The dressing had balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil. At the end, I crumbled blue cheese over everything. It was a good salad.

Only, while I was making it, I found it frustrating that the garbage can was a tiny one under the sink. I didn't want to have to swivel and pull out the can to make the top go up ever time I wanted to throw away an onion peel or red pepper seeds. Which is when I recalled the famous Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl.

It's true that Rachael Ray sells garbage bowls that are marketed as Rachael Ray Garbage Bowls. This post isn't about that.

This post is just about the idea that Rachael made famous on her show. Simply take a large bowl and put your garbage in it. I went one extra step and lined the garbage bowl with a plastic bag so I could just throw the bag away without having to clean the bowl.

It's pretty remarkable that something so simple can make life so much easier in the kitchen. And I'm sure Rachael Ray doesn't deserve full credit for this idea...something tells me Julia Child and Martha Stewart probably invoked a garbage bowl back in their day. But Julia and Martha never branded a garbage bowl and sold it at Target, did they? So give credit where it's due.

As for my salad, I overdressed it slightly but I'm not one to ever really complain about too much dressing on a salad.

A healthy dinner--the first one I've cooked in New York in over a year--made ever so easy by a bowl lined with a plastic bag. Thanks, Rach.