Last night was cool and tonight is colder still, winter is arriving. That means a near steady stream of kale, bok choi, chard and tatsoi will be in our weekly produce box for the rest of the season, all of which pair really well with these sticky-salty-sweet beef ribs.
Tatsoi is a gently cabbagey asian green that looks like bok choy with longer, thinner stems and smaller, rounder leaves. Bok choy is another asian green, with thick white stems and long green leaves. It is typically found in wonton soup.
Back in 2013, Liza Shaw joined me at Food Lit to discuss Charlotte Druckman's Skirt Steak: Women Chefs on Standing the Heat and Staying in the Kitchen. Since then Liza has taken on more heat by opening Merigan Sub Shop and was recently featured in the Chronicle's food section. My family loves beans and greens are often in our CSA box, so I had to try her recipe.
This is a recipe I've been trying to make for a while, but it is just more effort than I usually put in. Last night I swore at the cookbook and threw it on the floor after realizing too late that the quinoa had to be cooked in advance. But now that I've made it, I have to say: this stuff is crazy delicious and worth all the work.
On leap of faith I brought this to a potluck for my friend Britt's birthday, without previously testing the recipe. It was a big hit! Lentils, quinoa, cracked wheat, greens and a good salty spice blend make this dish a sure thing. So much so that the party host asked to keep leftovers for herself. What could be better than that?
This meal is packed with protein, whole grains and greens. It can be easily assembled from ingredients cooked the night before or earlier in the day and it tastes great. That's a triple win, in my book.
The photos are beautiful and the concept is great, but so far I'm striking out with this cookbook. First the cruncny farro, now a dinner that elicits "Ew! Crusty? Brown? I won't eat it!" To top it all off, I singed the crust.
Shrimp cook fast. Shrimp are high in protein. Shrimp taste good. I usually only need two good reasons to do something, so that's enough for me! This recipe has the added bonus of using spinach, which is a frequent part of our weekly CSA box. And it makes whole wheat pasta tolerable. That's five reasons to make it for dinner. Five!
This is one of those recipes that sounds too simple to be good. But, it is actually incredibly delicious. Any type of mustard greens works: red, green, curly, flat. Or a mix. Simply sauté some sliced garlic in a little peanut oil, them add the mustard greens. Cook for a few minutes until they are as wilted as you like them to be and sprinkle chopped peanuts on top.
Tamar Adler's book has gotten me excited to roast my vegetables all on one day, make a pot of beans and reheat the two for the rest of the week. But I know there will be more tomatoes coming in the produce box and we have to eat those first. She does have instructions for oven roasting tomatoes, but this soup, Ribolita, sounds better.
Our crockpot is going to get a lot of use this week. We're back from vacation, the fridge is empty and the produce box doesn't come until Thursday. Plus, I'm much too busy to deal with anything complicated or time consuming.
Late this summer, my family and I pitched a tent at Eatwell Farm, where most of the produce we eat is grown. Farmer Nigel Walker and his partner, Lorraine, had invited CSA members out to the farm for an event called "Do Nothing Weekend". We spent our days swimming and canoeing in the pond, drinking lots of house-made soda, counting feral cats and generally lounging around.