this is kale for winter survival

Winter is coming quickly. The wind's edges are sharper, dusk falls earlier, and the golden light fades into a grey palette. The arrival of winter has never been easy for me. This became especially true when I moved to New England from California and learned the importance of wool socks and leather gloves for the first time. From November through April, until all the snow had finally thawed and we could go down to the Charles River and sunbathe in what felt like a tropical 60 degrees, winter swaddled my mind and my heart. Sometimes it felt more like smothering.

It takes a hardy Californian to bear the tantrums of New England winter. One winter I made a nightly routine of drinking hot chocolate and eating a big bowl of popcorn while listening to Joni Mitchell's Blue on repeat. In our living room, my best friend and I would lay in our hammock (our "couch") together or paint and re-paint our coffee table, whose layers of pigment were like the growth rings of redwood trees, histories of sadness and joy.

Read the rest of this post at Eat This Poem, where I guest-posted last week about Jordan Davis' poem "Kale" and my favorite little espresso bar in the Mission. There's a recipe for the best kale salad ever too! 

this is here and there in the kitchen

*I always imagine my time at home as one long lull, an unbroken interlude of nothingness in between time at school. This is the last one, I guess. It's strange to think that I've been in school for seventeen years, and that once I graduate in May, I will no longer be able to place specific short-term markers on my life, like I've done for so long. "In two years, I'll graduate." "I go home in two weeks." "Summer vacation is in three months." "Twelve days until the semester ends." I've lived my life so long knowing the next place I'll go and the next thing to do. Of course, I could continue to live my life that way - as so many of my classmates are, but there's something about not knowing that is unbelievably freeing and surprisingly thrilling.

*This break, my last official "winter vacation," I had planned on spending a good deal of time in the kitchen, but surprisingly, there has been little to no time for that - which is not regrettable because that time has been spent well, mostly in the company of good friends - but I've made a few things here and there.

*Three greens pesto: rosemary, pumpkin seeds, kale

Three Greens Pesto
Makes around 1 cup

1 sprig rosemary
2-3 kale leaves*
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
5 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup EVOO, or more if needed
1/4 cup parmesan or nutritional yeast for vegans**

*The raw kale gives this pesto a very grassy taste. I like that, but if you don't, sub 1/2 cup fresh spinach.
**I used nutritional yeast, but if you can eat cheese, I would also suggest a hard pecorino, which would kick the flavor of this pesto up a notch.

Strip the leaves from the rosemary and discard stem. Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth (or you can leave slightly chunky). Add additional EVOO until pesto is desired consistency.

 
*Rosemary-roasted spaghetti squash, sauteed with spinach and three greens pesto.

this is green and red but not christmas

*I really love blogging, but I'm having a hard time (1) being consistent and (2) finding my niche in terms of what I enjoy and can constantly blog about. There's my tumblr, where I pretty much just post and repost pictures and links and quotes I like, once in awhile throwing in a piece of writing or two, but in general, my tumblr is like a bulletin board where I tack on things that catch my eye, then float on by. It's a place of often thoughtless whimsy or cursory rehashing. Sometimes I post pictures I've taken, but lately I haven't really been taking pictures. Which is why I post infrequently on this blog too (another reason is that I always forget to write down recipes). Though this blog started out as a photo blog, it has turned into more of a recipe blog, which I'm okay with - except that when I head back to school in about a month, I won't have a kitchen anymore. Then what will happen? Who knows? I just know I really like blogging.

*At the same time, I've accepted that my life is a bit rough-and-tumble right now, constantly changing, constantly in flux. Last year I was in four different continents and at least nine different countries. I have no long-term plans in my head, and to be honest, I'm still trying to figure out who I am and what I love to do. I've been second-guessing my passions, trying out new things, and figuring out my emotions and desires - all of which collectively means that I'm really just growing up and trying to get comfortable in my own skin. So I know that there's not going to be consistency in my life for awhile, that I'm going to be changing and trying and changing again for awhile, and that blogging (which I've been doing since I was 12 years old - my first blog was on xanga.com and my username was xoxandyroddick, I kid you not) will be following suit.

*On an unrelated note, here's a pretty tasty kale salad:

Marinated Kale and Roasted Beet Salad
Serves 2 as a side dish

Ingredients:
1 large beet or 2 small beets, washed and scrubbed
1 bunch raw curly kale (washed, de-stemmed and dried) – 4-5 stalks
juice of 1 medium lemon (about 3 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp liquid aminos (tamari or soy sauce would work too)
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp tahini
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large beet or 2 small beets, washed and scrubbed
1 tsp sesame seeds, to taste as garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wrap the beet(s) in foil and bake for one hour, or until soft.

3. Tear the kale leaves off the stalk, breaking up the leaves into smaller pieces as well. Put into a bowl.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, liquid aminos, nutritional yeast, tahini, and minced garlic. Whisk until smooth.

5. Pour dressing over kale leaves and massage well with hands for 1-2 minutes. Let marinate for an hour (while the beets bake!). Make sure to marinate the kale because this makes the salad taste infinitely better!

6. Remove from oven, unwrap, and let cool 5-10 minutes. Then peel (should be very easy at this point) and dice into chunks.

7. Top kale salad with diced beets and sesame seeds before servings

this is a loving soup

*Of all the labors that happen in a kitchen, making a soup or a stew is the most loving, I think. You begin by gathering all of your ingredients from the refrigerator and the pantry. You pull out a large pot and you set it on the stovetop, and you light the stove to heat the pot. Normally, you begin by sauteeing - onions and garlic, most typically, because soups begin with a fragrance. Or else soups begin with water, which you bring to a boil. Either way, the process of soup-making is a crescendo, a labor that cannot be rushed. You stand over the stove stirring, letting the flavors richen and thicken - which is only made possible through patience and time. And somehow, even as the ingredients are breaking down, they are becoming more like one cohesive whole rather than being separate components. Making soup is as fluid a process as the end product. The timing is never rigid; you rely on what you see and smell. Whimsy and spice - even the most unexpected - are necessary ingredients. You taste as you go along, dipping your stirring spoon into the pot and then licking it clean, burning your tongue every now and then. Finally, your gut tells you the soup is almost ready - you just know - and you season with salt and pepper, and you break some bread and serve it with your soup. You've spent hours stirring and adding and tasting, and though the soup is nothing flashy or extravagant, your soup is love. Your soup is the time you spend, your soup holds your daydreams and your thoughts - the ones that floated through your head as you were stirring -, your soup holds your tastes and your favorite spices, your soup retains your desire to comfort and to please - and whoever drinks your soup will understand, when they grow warm as they drink, that your soup is love - pure, unadulterated love.


*Lemony Chickpea Soup

Inspired by The Angelica Home Kitchen

Serves 4

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 bay leaf
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup water
2 cups cooked (or canned) chickpeas
1/4 cup roasted garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp paprika (+ more to garnish)
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley to garnish

1. Heat olive oil in a medium-sized pot. Add diced onion and sautee on medium-low heat for 20 minutes, until yellow and soft.
2. Add bay leaf and celery. Sautee for 10 minutes.
3. Add stock, water, canned chickpeas, and roasted garlic. Bring to a boil; turn down heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Using handheld blender, puree mixture. Mix in lemon juice, paprika, salt and pepper.
5. Serve with parsley and paprika to garnish.

this is family dinner

*My contributions to family dinner last night:
(1) Marinated kale salad with shredded carrots, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds
(2) Misshapen chickpea fritters (with garam masala, onions, carrots, garlic)

*So much good food—especially the salmon tails, which we got for free at the farmers' market on Saturday morning. No one wants the tails—they're practically considered leftovers, or trash parts —but I like them (my mom fried them until they were super crispy) because that's where all the salmon fat is. And I like eating the skin too. I have strange taste in food.

this is winter greenery

*Green minestrone: kale, chard, celery, zucchini, spinach, green peas, leeks, garlic, onions, cannellini beans, vegetable stock, olive oil

*Best eaten with crusty bread and a poached egg with smoked paprika. You poke the yolk when it's in the soup, and the yolk breaks and all that yellow liquidy goodness spills out into the minestrone and infuses the soup with the most delicious flavor...mmmm...

*(or you go multicultural and drink the minestrone alongside a box of sushi like I did once for lunch)