I'm all fooded out. I am completely ready for the first slender bunches of asparagus, the tartly delicious flavor of rhubarb (I admit I'm crazy about rhubarb), the early berries to make their way to my store. I want spring food!
I am tired of winter food, though it's only January. Must be the post-holidays let-down, the food extravaganzas and celebrations that start in November and continue right up to the New Year. Maybe it's because the weather is unseasonably bright and warmish, but the usual heavy dishes of chili, pot roasts, stuffed chicken breasts, casseroles just don't seem especially appealing. I want rosemary lemonade, not marshmallow hot chocolate!
New inspiration is needed. My experiment with broccoli rabe in pasta was well-received and a nice change from the usual spinach I add to the mash-up. The kale, the long-living kale, was neatly sliced along its tough spine and chopped into bits. I sauteed it with some sliced garlic in olive oil, and added fresh green peppers as it softened up. It didn't really shrink like spinach does, but retained its curly-tipped shape and volume. I panicked a bit and added tamari sauce right at the end of the cooking, when I noticed some of the leaves were turning a little brown. Overall, it was a nice side dish, and the peppers added a good crunch. Jalapenos or even roasted red peppers would be good, too.
So, attitude adjustment. Parsnips, turnips, more of those mysterious greens are going to find their way into my fridge as I continue to cook seasonally. Putting together a thick-ish and full-bodied stew with some of these elements is my new challenge.
And just to show that cold-season flavors can be compelling...I had a lighter-than-air buckwheat crepe yesterday, stuffed with chopped mushrooms, onions and sauerkraut, of all things. It was tangy, laced lightly with some kind of delicate cream sauce, and so completely right for the winter.
Finally, all this talk of what kind of food I want to eat right now circles me back to the people of Haiti. Having food choices is such a privilege in many of our lives, and it's time for me to share that privilege. Maybe you, too. www.americanredcross.org