The other thing that would get in the way of a career in food for me is my tendency to throw things together with reckless abandon, which is the problem with both of the following "recipes." They aren't recipes, they're actually just descriptive analyses of how I randomly threw things together to make something delicious. So I hope you can make it work!
White Bean "Pesto" Hummus
1 15-ounce can of white (cannellini) beans, saving the liquid
1/4 cup olive oil
A hearty handful of fresh basil, maybe about a cup or a little more
2-3 cloves of garlic or an inch of garlic stalk, sliced
1ish teaspoon nutritional yeast, or parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
So making this is very easy. You just throw the beans, oil, basil, and garlic in a food processor or blender and puree it. Once that's looking like hummus, add enough of the reserved bean liquid to make it the consistency you like and enough of the yeast, salt, and pepper to make the flavors just right. Then fire up your blender to finish mixing it and enjoy! We were being healthy the first time we made it and used thinly-sliced heirloom zucchini to dip, or you can rock it with pita chips or even spread on toast with tomatoes or radishes. Yum!
The night we got our farm share was oppressively hot so we snacked on the hummus and then made a cool garden salad. But last night I felt like making something a little more involved, so I embarked on an Indian curry. Now, I've been obsessed with Indian food since the first time I tasted it as a kid on a daddy-daughter date in Back Bay. When I was in college, my grocery lists were a confusing combination of the typical collegiate items such as rice-a-roni and tater tots, and exotic herbs like turmeric and fenugreek purchased in bulk. I've even been hospitalized in the name of Indian food, but that's a story for a different blog. So last summer, I hit the jackpot when I dated a nice Indian guy whose mother taught him to cook before he left for college in America. Our favorite activity for those few weeks was to cook Indian food together and then chow down... unfortunately, I got bored of him before I learned my way around the pressure cooker. Again, a story for a different blog. So now I can make a pretty convincing curry without even cracking a cookbook or wielding a measuring spoon (which makes the recipe pretty impossible to duplicate without a demonstration.)
Last Night's Vegetable Curry
Vegetable oil
Herbs and spices (like mustard seeds, turmeric, garam masala, red chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, cilantro, fenugreek... etc.) Maybe a teaspoon each?
1 white onion
6 cloves of garlic
2 cans of roasted, diced green chiles (the small cans)
4 tomatoes
1 green bell pepper
Collard greens - about 8 leaves
Salt
Water
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and then sprinkle in the herbs and spices. If you're using whole mustard seeds, have a lid nearby to deflect the seeds back into the oil. When they get hot, they pop out of the oil. It's a pretty fun game. Once the spices are mixed in the oil, forming kind of a fragrant paste, put in the chopped onions and garlic. Mix well to coat: they'll be nice and colorful from the spices. After a few minutes, when the onions are starting to get soft, put in the cans of chiles and the chopped tomatoes and stir. Let that bubble and stew while you chop the green pepper and collards, and then put those in, too. Season with plenty of salt and simmer, covered, for about half an hour, stirring occasionally and spooning in a teaspoon of water at a time to keep the curry moist. Serve over rice or with flatbread. This amount of veggies would serve four people, or two people that need a second dinner at midnight.
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