TXEB - If you have the right technique, you can compost entire cows with little to no odor. The Montana highway department composts road-killed elk and deer, and many chicken farms compost the culled birds. They bury the animals in sawdust, roughly one layer of corpses and one layer of equal depth of sawdust or other highly absorbent low-N material. However, most home compost heaps are not large enough and don't have enough "browns" to do a good job. You end up with putrefaction instead of composting. And the vermin problem is increased. Hence the recommendation to not do it is based on the difficulty of doing it in a non-stinky manner, not because the materials are inherently difficult to compost. High-fat materials compost slowly, very slowly, unless mixed into something that can absorb and dilute the fats, spreading them out so the microbes can get at them.

I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen for inspiration, making do with what I had on hand, and using up and abundance of cherry tomatoes. I used regular feta, roughly chunked and just combined everything in the ingredient list and baked at 400 for about 25 minutes. Served with crostini, although I have made the crackers she mentions and they are great - but I was too lazy tonight. DH asked "why haven't you ever made this before?" so I think he liked it. Baked Feta with Tomatoes and Olives Adapted, barely, from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook I don't think anyone would mind if you use more than the suggested amount of tomatoes. Feta is so salty and tomatoes are so delicious and sweet right now, the more the merrier. Now, I don't have a grill but I am sharing the grilling instructions here because most of you do, but with the caveat that I haven't tested this on a grill. My only concern would be leakage. I don't think any harm would come from doubling up on the foil. If you'd like to make this with haloumi (you can buy it here or here or here, btw, and probably a cheese or good grocery store closer to you), I like to cut my block of haloumi into about 1/3- to 1/2-inch slices. I brush the grill with oil and place it gently, directly on the grates, cooking it until it's blistered on one side, then flipping it and doing the other. Lay the grilled slices out on a plate and toss it with a chopped salad made from the non-feta ingredients below, plus a splash of red wine vinegar. I usually skip the garlic (just personal taste) and would only use a tablespoon or so of minced red onion, since the salad will be raw, but otherwise think you'll love it as much as we do. 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1/3 cup chopped, pitted Kalmata olives 1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion (oops, I forgot this) 2 tablespoons finely-chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon olive oil Freshly ground black pepper 1 8- to 10-ounce block feta Crackers, flatbread*, pita chips, or crostini, for dipping In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, olives, onion, garlic, 1 tablespoon of the parsley, oregano, olive oil and a few grinds of pepper. On a grill: Heat your grill to medium-high. Set the feta block in the middle of a piece of foil. Pile the tomato mixture on top of the feta. Fold up the edges of the foil so that it will hold in any liquid as it cooks. Place the packet straight on a grill for 15 minutes to warm it through. Remove from grill and transfer to plate or serving dish. In the oven: Heat oven to 400�F. Check to see that your dish is oven-proof. (I didn�t!) Place the block of feta in the middle of your dish. Pile the tomato mixture on top of the feta. Bake for 15 minutes. Both methods: The feta will not melt, just warm and soften. Serve with crackers; eat immediately. As it cools, the feta will firm up again. We found that the dish could be returned to the oven to soften it again. We did this with leftovers, too.

The soup lakemayor mentioned (thanks!) was mine, I think: Spicy Tomato-Vegetable Soup with Quinoa 2 T extra virgin olive oil One large onion 3 Celery stalks 1 Medium carrot 1 1/2 C Cabbage 2-4 Garlic cloves 1 14.5 oz can tomatoes, with juice 1 lb. fresh tomatoes 5 14.5 oz cans chicken stock OR the equivalent amount of home made chicken stock or chicken stock made from store bought chicken base, not boullion. 1 can water 1 serrano pepper, sliced in half the long way 2 t dried leaf oregano 1/4 dried leaf thyme 1 T dried leaf basil 1/4 t black pepper 1/2 C Quinoa* Thinly sliced green onions for garnish. Dice all vegetables into 1/4 inch pieces...if you use pre-diced canned tomatoes, they will likely need to be cut smaller as well. Heat a heavy-bottomed, 6 Qt saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and when it becomes fragrant, add the onions, celery and carrot. Saute until the onion becomes translucent, then add the rest of the ingredients except for the Cabbage and Quinoa. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil in another pan, and add the Quinoa. Return to a boil, then reduce the heat just enough to prevent it boiling over. Boil the Quinoa for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse in a fine mesh sieve. Add the Quinoa to the soup and simmer another 15 minutes. Add cabbage, bring soup to a slow boil for 5 minutes and turn off heat. At this point, the soup can be served, but the flavor will improve greatly if the soup is allowed to sit at least until it is cool before reheating to serve, and if it sits for several hours or overnight, all the better! Remove the serrano chili halves before serving and sprinkle soup with sliced green onions for garnish. Yield: Appx. 14, one-cup servings *If you cannot find Quinoa at the grocery store, it can often be purchased in health food stores. Rice may be substituted, but the flavor and texture will be different. I have found that Quinoa is a good pilaf ingredient as well. Half rice of your choice, half Quinoa, and use your favorite pilaf recipe. One thing is to be careful you don't overcook it in too much liquid because it can get quite sticky & mushy. A little too much, and you can spread it out in a pan underneath a fan and dry it out a little to save it. A lot too much, and you might just as well throw it into a soup or stew or eat it as porridge. Something to experiment with is toasting it in a heavy pan (dry) before cooking. It gives it a nutty flavor. I often toast half and leave the other half untoasted when I make a pilaf. The same can be done with millet, another under appreciated grain.

This might be a start.... From the New McDougall Cookbook, Quinoa Salad, serves 8-10 Rinse 1 ½ c. quinoa, place in pot with 3 cups water. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, simmer about 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Combine in bowl, chopped: 1 green pepper, 1 red bell pepper, ¼ c. scallions, ¼ c. red onioin, ¼ c. herb of choice (dill, cilantro, or parsley). Add the cook quinoa, toss gently, add dressing of choice, cover and chill at least 2 hours. Dressing suggestions: Honey-Vinegar Dressing Shake well in jar: ¼ c. balsamic vinegar ¼ c. rice vinegar 2 ½ T. honey 1 ½ T. Dijon mustard pepper to taste Savory Salad Dressing Shake well in jar: 1 t. Dijon mustard ¼ c. red wine vinegar ¼ c. water ¼ c. soy sauce Tabasco to taste