Building a meal

When Alex and I pulled up to our house on Sunday in the spring-like warmth, our four-foot "car"t packed high with boxes of groceries lovingly hauled from the Coop, I considered the process that goes into constructing a meal. For me, it starts with a spot of inspiration--a movie set in France featuring irresistible cheeses, snowfall at dusk, the cover of a food magazine, a crisp bunch of fresh asparagus at the store--and the first dish follows.

Usually, I have a theme in mind, which could obviously center around a regional cuisine, but which often take its cues from a particular vegetable or spice that I'm craving, and develops from there.

Last night, for example, I wanted something soothing and loaded with veggies, and I had been browsing through this month's Gourmet magazine (courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library), which featured simple takes on flavorful soups. While at the Coop, I loaded up on hearty ingredients-- dragon kale, sweet potatoes, Yukon golds, organic carrots, fresh cilantro--so that when I got home, I'd have lots of options.

As I rooted through our newly stocked fridge, I grasped a bunch of the lush, almost waxy kale, and decided to build from there. A quick search in the index of two fail-safe cookbooks, Moosewood and Crescent Dragonwagon's vegetarian bible, revealed a yummy Italian soup with polenta, beans, and lemon juice and a saute of mixed greens. Option 1 sounded just right.

To begin construction, I usually pull all my ingredients, do a quick check through the recipe for how each should be prepped, and go about chopping, mincing, dicing, and blanching each part in its own container, so that I can easily add each ingredient to the pot in turn. Of course, I can't seem to stick to any recipe religiously, so I ended up substituting French green lentils for cannelini beans (and cooked them with kombu to help with digestion), and then decided that the pasta e fagioli soup on the next page sounded REALLY good. Enter carrots, celery, onions, diced tomatoes, and a whole lot of spices.

What started out as a simple kale soup turned into a "mother's medley" stone soup amalgamation. With the list of veggies running close to ten, and the lentils and polenta adding a satisfying depth, I ended up way over my head with a huge pot of very hearty vegetable Italian-y soupy mush that stood alone as a meal. I threw some grated parmesan on top, popped a bottle of Chardonnay from the Finger Lakes, and plopped on the couch for a cozy evening watching a childhood favorite, Willow. A couple slices of parmesan later, my bowl was empty and the soup beckoned again, in all its muddled glory.

While my soup was not a meticulous study in recipe-following or creation, it was a creative endeavor undertaken with love for each ingredient and a general sense of where I was going.

But I'm curious if I'm alone here. How do you build your recipes and what inspires you?


Vegetable stone soup
For the lentils:
1 cup dried lentils
3-4 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 stick dried kombu seaweed
pinch of salt

Throw it all in a pot, cover, bring to a boil, then simmer 40 mins until almost tender and water is absorbed. Set aside for later addition to the soup.

For the soup:
2 Tbsp EVOO
2 carrots, sliced in half moons
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch kale, rinsed and chopped to 1/2" strips
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
Cooked lentils
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
5-6 cups water or broth, to taste
1/2 cup ground polenta, mixed with 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice and 1/2 c. cold water

Substitute any greens for the kale, any beans for the lentils, any grains for the polenta (like pasta), and you have a new version on this medley.

1. Saute EVOO through onion, 5 mins.
2. Add garlic through basil, saute 5 mins until kale is wilted.
3. Add water and tomato paste, stirring well. Return to a simmer
4. Slowly add polenta, mixing gently to prevent lumps.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add hot pepper flakes if it needs a punch.
6. Serve hot with freshly grated parmesan, or over a bowl of pasta. Buon appetito!

Divorce is the worst

My parents divorced when I was a child. And now the union I work for is headed in that direction.

But this, this goes beyond anything I've experienced. That Prop 8 would effectively "divorce" 18,000 couples in the state of California, that is something beyond tragic. Please watch the video, and take action if you are so moved.

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Making the most of tofu

I get stir crazy in the winter. November and December are okay because I can focus on holiday decorating and feasting, but January is just cold. This year, we went to Cinnamon Bay, returning just in time for February, my favorite month. It's bookended with Alex's and my birthdays, nestling Valentine's Day in the middle. But that said, sometimes I have to spice up the cold, seemingly endless winter days to make it to February, and then to see myself through to the first crocuses in March.

So I made ground "beef" tacos.

Which I turned into scrambled tofu two days later.

And led to the perfect holed-up-in-the-cold game, Scrabble. Check out my hand!

Ground "Beef" Tacos with Guacamole

1 block of medium-firm tofu, drained

3 gloves garlic, as you like it, minced

Tsp or so of each: cumin (for a meaty flavor), turmeric (for the color), curry powder (for spice), cayenne pepper (for fire), and hot sauce or red pepper flakes (if it ain't hot enough)

Soy sauce or Bragg's liquid amino acids

1. Heat a large skillet on med-hi and add the tofu (no oil needed, I found). Spritz the tofu with the Bragg's or soy sauce and mash it with a potato masher. This gives it the crumbled texture of ground meat and works much faster than a fork.

2. Add the spices and garlic, to your taste, and just mash them all together until you like the flavors. More soy sauce may be needed to moisten the tofu and deepen the color.

3. Pile onto a hard corn tortilla with salsa, cheese, and homemade guacamole.

Never-fail Guacamole

The amounts of each ingredient may vary, depending on the size and flavor of your avocado, but these are my approximate ratios. I am a guac purist, so I only add these four ingredients, although you can try adding onions, cilantro, salsa, smoked paprika, etc for a different effect.

1 Haas avocado, ripened (indents when you press the skin)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 a fresh lime, juiced over the avocado

Salt to taste

I just halve the avocado and score it so it's already broken up when I scoop it into the mixing bowl. Then I add the lime to keep it from turning brown (the acidity blocks the oxidization), and then toss in the garlic. After mixing this up, taste to see if you need more lime juice or garlic, and then add the salt. Every drop of this that I have ever made was consumed within one sitting, hence the name.

Scrambled Tofu

To convert my ground "beef" leftovers for a brunch-ready meal, I just tweaked a few things and got rave reviews from the coffee table.

Mashed, seasoned tofu (see above)

1 yellow onion, diced

Leftover roasted potatoes (I just sliced them up for rustic homefries)

Turmeric

Saute onions in EVOO. Add the potatoes and tofu. Season as desired and serve piping hot.

Happy February!

Paradise

Last week, Alex and my family and I dropped everything and dashed down to the Virgin Islands for an impromptu celebration of my mom's 50th birthday and Alex's 25th. It was the PERFECT escape from 1) the cold 2) work stress and 3) the grad school admissions saga. We realize it's our last indulgence for a few years as we buckle down under student loans etc, so we made the most of our amazing week.We soaked up the sun at Cinnamon Bay, a campground in the national park land on St. John, USVI. My family has been there four times because it really is the best beach in the world, and it's not too far away.

A typical schedule: wake up at 9, go for a (barefoot!) run on the beach, jump in the ocean to cool off, grab a quick breakfast back at the campsite, and then head to the beach and sun or snorkel until 5 or so, when it's time to make dinner on the camp stove. We were in bed by 9 because something about lying in the sun all day tires you out (and the lack of electricity may be a contributing factor). We might read in bed by flashlight for an hour and then turn on on our cots for a cozy night, serenaded by spring peepers and the crashing waves!

We ate incredibly well, despite having to cook on four propane burners and hauling our own water from a faucet by the beach. My mom and grandma are so prepared, they brought spices, oils, garlic, a grater(!), plastic cutting boards, and so many other little necessities that we've learned over the years really make camping easier. We made latkes the last night with our leftover potatoes, eggs, and onions, and my mom rigged a batch of bread pudding in a kettle set on empty cans of condensed milk in a water bath inside a large pot. Everyone who walked by our site was jealous.

On the one night that we didn't cook, we hiked over to Maho Bay eco-camps for my mom's birthday dinner. Like true budget travelers, we timed our arrival with happy hour, and savored (free!) rum punches and old fashioned popcorn. If you have been reading this blog, you know how much I love popcorn, so this was a real treat. In the islands, they serve it with salt and hot sauce on the side, so I loaded up on refills.

I am so blessed to have a loving and adventurous family and partner, and so fortunate to have been able to go on this trip (which was an early birthday present from my mom and stepdad). Thanks to everyone for making it a January respite in paradise.

Winter wonderland

On Martin Luther King Day, we were blessed with an incredible snowfall, the second of the season, which is pretty rare for NYC these days. We celebrated, true to our Upstate nature, and thoroughly enjoyed our snow day.We headed straight for Prospect Park. It was very wet snow, and not at all chilly, so it clung to the trees and outlined the various ponds and lakes with delicate precision. My favorite spot in the park is near the Audubon House where swans, ducks, and geese hunker down for the winter.These kids were so excited, but they could barely walk for all their layers. It was adorable watching all the tykes getting hauled around on sleds, their parents doing all the work. We saw one dad pulling a string of kids on a single line uphill. The babies were just lying back and enjoying the scenery. Seems like things have changed from when I used to go sledding...After our romp through the park, we bought some fresh tulips for the table and cozied up at home with some homemade Indian food (courtesy of the Moosewood cookbook) and a snowy salad. More recipes and photos to follow.
(The tulip vase is a vintage milk glass piece I picked up at a thrift store in Philly...trying to build my collection Martha-style. Also, the tablecloth is a vintage, hand-embroidered piece from the 1950s I got at a garage sale some years back. It really charms up our living/dining room).

Snowfall salad
On a bed of arugula or mixed baby greens, place:
1 pink grapefruit, peel removed and segments detached from membranes
1 avocado, cubed
1-2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (my favorite is the creamy French feta)

Dressing
Whisk together:
2 parts EVOO
1 part fresh lemon or pink grapefruit juice (from the remaining core)
A squirt of Dijon mustard (about 1 tsp for a 2-person salad)
A pinch of dill seed, cumin, or other spices which match your main course
Cracked black pepper and sea salt to taste

This light salad was a delicious accompaniment to the Indian meal (with echoes of mustard, cumin, and citrus in the dressing) and the crumble feta topping matched the snowfall outside. The citrus and avocado are decisively wintry flavors, which really rounded out our snow day.

After dinner, we snuggled under a huge quilt and watched Mongol, a Chinese film about the rise of Genghis Khan, which I highly recommend. The epic storytelling and incredible scenery made it a memorable treat. Yes, it was a pretty awesome snow day in Brooklyn!