Sautéed Kale

Fresh kale is great food with a little more work than some other vegetables. Here's what you do:

Buy a bunch.  When you get home, cut the bottoms of the stems and stick the stems in a glass of water. Or two.  Leave them on the counter so they can pretend to be a house plant and remind you they want to be cooked.

For two people, take the leaves that will fit in one glass of water.

Fold each leaf so the spine faces out, and cut most of the stem away from the leaves. (I know the stems can be eaten, but haven't tried any suggestions I've seen,)

Stack several leaves together and roll them up like a cigar. Slice across the cigar to make ribbons. Repeat until it's all ribbons.

In a frying pan or dutch oven, heat a little oil.

When it shimmers, add as much kale as the pan will hold.  (If there's a bunch left, cook make it two batches.  If there are just a few leaves left, add them when the first set shrink.)

Push the leaves down into the oil a bit, then stir and flip and stir and flip until it all looks bright green.  Add some water, about enough to spread across the bottom of the pan.

Lower the heat, add a lid, and check after 10 minutes.  Check pulling a bit out, blowing on it, and chewing it. When you like it, it's ready.  Remove from the heat, drain, and eat.

Fancier options: 1) When you're heating the oil, add some minced garlic and wait until it smells great before adding the kale. 2. When the kale is done, squeeze some lemon on top.  3.  Do both.

Simpler option: Try any of the above with spinach, because it doesn't need the stems cut off.

Salad dressings without big bottles

I'm writing this from Molly's apartment, where she likes green leaves with no dressing and other people like green leaves with added flavor.  In her fridge and cabinet, I spy the ingredients for multiple dressings and little or no waste.  

Basic oil and vinegar:  Two tablespoons olive oil, one tablespoon vinegar, tiny quantities of fresh ground salt and pepper, whisked together with a fork until it all looks thick and you can't see through it.  (Any vinegar can work, with wine vinegars most classic for this.  Use balsamic vinegar, get balsamic dressing)

Honey-Lemon: Two tablespoons olive oil, one tablespoon lemon juice, one half-tablespoon honey, whisked the same way.

Honey-Mustard: Two tablespoons mayonnaise, one teaspoon mustard, one teaspoon honey, and just a little lemon juice, whisked until completely mixed

Easy Russian: One tablespoon mayonnaise, one tablespoon ketchup, whisked until completely mixed.

Nice on greens that go on a sandwich or panini: one tablespoon olive oil, tiny quantities of fresh ground salt and pepper.

That salad with the orange pieces

It was arugula, oranges, goat cheese, and dried cranberries, with a dressing made with olive oil, lemon, and orange juice concentrate.  I got the recipe from Williams-Sonoma. That is all.

Things to eat in the introvert cave

This is about strategy for eating reasonably well while working like a lunatic. It's about buying things that are super easy, and it's kind of about only having a couple people in the house.

1.  Buy a cabbage and cut it in half and then into ribbons.  Put it in the fridge in two or more containers. While working, put one beside the computer.  Later, notice that it's gone.

2.  Buy three or four apples and always have peanut butter.  When hungry, slice up an apple and put it on a plate with two tablespoons of peanut butter.

3.  Buy a bakery loaf of rye bread or some kind of bread with nuts and/or dried fruit in it, and five ounces of goat cheese.  When hungry, saw off a slice of one and spread it with the other.

4. Buy hummus and a red pepper and a cucumber and some blue corn chips.  Make the vegetables into spears and eat half of them with two tablespoons of hummus.  Put the other half in the fridge so you can do it again tomorrow.  Next week, notice the chips and wish you'd remembered to eat them with the hummus that's now kind of dried out. Eat them without the hummus, unless you're Beau and eating like a goat.

Roast Cauliflower

Ingredients
A head of cauliflower
Olive oil

Option 1: salt

Option 2: salt, cumin, cardomom, coriander, turmeric, cayenne

Equipment
13 x 9 baking pan

Steps
Preheat oven to 400.

Cut the leaves off the bottom of the cauliflower so you can see the stem.

Cut the big stem off so you can see the florets.

Break up the florets into chunks the size of golf balls.  The ones that won't break you can halve with a knive.

Arrange the florets in the pan with the florets up, ideally with very little of the pan bottom visible (but it's not a big problem if some shows.)

Choose an option:

• Option 1: Sprinkle the tops with about two tablespoons of olive oil, not worrying about covering everything.  Sprinkle the tops with salt.
• Option 2: In a little bowl, combine two tablespoons olive oil, half a teaspoon each of salt and cumin, a quarter teaspoon each of cardamom, coriander, and turmeric, and a pinch of cayenne.  Use a fork or a tiny whisk to mix them together really well.  Dribble that over the florets.

Roast for 20 minutes, then poke with a fork.  If they feel like cooked broccoli feels on your fork, take them out.  If not, roast a little longer.  It's really nice if some of them have brown, slightly crispy bits on the bottom.