Skip to main content

Day 19: Vegetables for Days

Today, I am really appreciating my colleagues.  They are a group of solid human beings that recognize that everything we're going through is not easy, and not normal.  It is definitely hard to wrap our brains around how our lives changed so completely, so quickly.  And how that, very likely, is still just beginning.  I am trying to meet waves of distress (or worse) with kindness and compassion.  I hope you are, too.  This is not easy.  And though we are physically apart, we do not need to figure it out all alone.

I'll admit it-- when I started this blog, I hadn't fully realized the journey we were going to be on. I thought it would be fun to catalog our experiments, and to share some of the tricks I learned over years of cooking resolutions and lean grad school years.  It was intended to be fun, and maybe even helpful.  Now, as we're approaching Week 3 at home, it is also helping us maintain a food rhythm and routine-- to take care of ourselves.  Settling in to new patterns of giving and receiving care is fundamental.  I really liked this article, shared by many academic friends of mine, but also making the rounds at work: "Why You Should Ignore All That Coronavirus-Inspired Productivity Pressure." There is wisdom here. I am trying to receive it.  Getting through is going to be all about a smart long game.

Now, today's food.

English Muffin and Yogurt
Today's Muffin had almond butter, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Yogurt had pomegranate molasses and some slivered almonds.

Mushroom and Eggplant Ragout, Cannelloni Beans with Parsley Pesto
We really dug the mushroom ragout we shared on Day 3.  The flavor is deep and rich, and very satisfying.  We didn't have 2 lbs of mushrooms this time around, though, so we bulked it up with cubes of eggplant that were on their last legs. And threw in the handful or two of baby tomatoes that were also on hand.  It had to cook a little longer to simmer off and soak in all the liquid thrown off by the additions.  But when dinner rolled around tonight, we were ready to go.
Our trusty parsley had been in the fridge for 2 weeks, and was nearing its end.  I pulsed the remainder with a clove of garlic, handful of Parmesan, olive oil, and salt.  Then decided to add in a glug of red wine vinegar to perk it up.  I tossed it with warm canned beans, and voila!  The asparagus was roasted with balsamic and olive oil, salt and pepper.  

Leftover Jambalaya
So good.  At lunch, I ate it straight from the container, so no pretty plate to share.  You'll just have to trust me!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Constructivist Crap

Reading this post was like deja vu for me! I took a class just like this as an undergrad... (surprise, surprise) in the education department. I made it through that semester by taking solace in two facts: (a) I was also taking The Sociology of Education in the soc department, with a professor who actually taught the material and (b) most of us in my little liberal arts bubble wouldn't end up teachers, thus wouldn't have an opportunity to inflict such pedagogical torture on kids who needed to actually learn stuff. It would appear that Newoldschoolteacher has neither of those to help her out. God save her. The professor in my class repeatedly insisted that we were a "democratic classroom" and that she wasn't any more of an expert on the material than us. WHAT? I paid good money for that course, money that employed her to teach me. I hope that she was more expert on the material than I was! Also, when I "took responsibility for myself" and said that ...
5 comments
Read more

Privilege of Being

Robert Hass Many are making love. Up above, the angels in the unshaken ether and crystal of human longing are braiding one another's hair, which is strawberry blond and the texture of cold rivers. They glance down from time to time at the awkward ecstasy-- it must look to them like featherless birds splashing in the spring puddle of a bed-- and then one woman, she is about to come, peels back the man's shut eyelids and says, look at me, and he does. Or is it the man tugging the curtain rope in that dark theater? Anyway, they do, they look at each other; two beings with evolved eyes, rapacious, startled, connected at the belly in an unbelievably sweet lubricious glue, stare at each other, and the angels are desolate. They hate it. They shudder pathetically like lithographs of Victorian beggars with perfect features and alabaster skin hawking rags in the lewd alleys of the novel. All of creation is offended by this distress. It is like the keening sound the moon makes sometimes, ...
5 comments
Read more

Day 282: Chicken with Yams

 We have been watching a lot of cooking shows here in the Distance, and my now-professional opinion is that Jacques Pepin remains a true treasure.  His most recent work, Cooking at Home,  is super cozy and accessible, even more so than when he was in the studio.  Vanilla pudding for the soul, we say! Before you read further, go take five minutes and watch Jacques prepare Chicken with Yams .  That is what we made tonight, with a few small tweaks. Boneless/skinless thighs instead of bone-in; I tossed in some light herbs/spices to the onions before deglazing:  1 tsp of chopped fresh thyme (1/2 tsp if dry)  A small shake of nutmeg  A small shake of dry mustard (a dab of Dijon would also work); Deglazed with chicken broth instead of white wine (about 1 cup altogether); and At the end, I removed the chicken and veggie chunks and thickened the juice into a sauce: Mixed some juice into 2 tsp cornstarch and then put it back in the pan Added a dash of acid ...
Post a Comment
Read more