Recipes for when your cells are petitioning you to please, for the love of god, feed them a vegetable
They strike a hard bargain.
Hello, chefs.
How’s everybody doing? Y’all hanging in there? Sometimes it feels like our collective experiences are following the same arc, so when things are nuts in my slice of the world, I assume the same is true for everyone else. Call it mercury or the moon, I dunno, but life has felt like a scene from Rush Hour 3 this month, or like I’m Fabio moments before the goose collision that stopped time. And damn, that kind of adrenaline gives you a hangover.
It’s not all bad stuff. Sometimes even the really good, life-changing stuff can give you whiplash, especially when it all happens at once. Anything other than the status quo is, frankly, exhausting.
One thing about me is when I’m tired—like mentally and emotionally tired—I’m gonna eat. And it probably won’t be carrot sticks. We’re talkin’ bowls of Wheat Thins, scoops of peanut butter right out of the jar, box-sized servings of Girl Scout Cookies, whole pints of Jeni’s, and yeah, obviously, I’m going to wash it all down with an alcohol. And you know what? I feel great about it. I love food too much to ever regret something I ate (except that one mussel that was really hard to open and made me want to cut out my tastebuds).
But you know what else is nice? Vitamins and minerals. A little something to dilute the sodium bomb I keep feeding to my body. When everything else feels a little bananas, one thing that’s always within my sphere of control is how I nourish myself and treat my body. Cute little 30-minute recovery rides on the stationary bike and, yes, a vegetable here and there have been a lifeline this week.
So this weekend, we’re eating vegetables. I promise they’ll be tasty.
-Faith
Sheet pan bibimbop
This one is from Eric Kim, my favorite chef to follow on IG and the king of the easy weeknight dinner. Here’s the simple version:
Make a cup (or more!) of your favorite rice and set aside.
Preheat your oven to 450.
Chop up 3 big handfuls of kale, a container of mushrooms, a sweet potato, and 1/2 of a red onion. Put in separate piles on a sheet pan, and toss each pile with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Place your pan AND an empty sheet pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
When the timer goes off, rotate the pan with the veggies and take out the empty pan. Drizzle the empty pain with olive oil and press your cooked rice onto the hot pan. Put back in the oven for 5-10 minutes until crispy. Your rice and veggies should finish right around the same time (25 minutes total for your veg).
While everything’s finishing up in the oven, make a few eggs: Heat oil in a frying pan over medium and crack in your eggs. While they sizzle a bit, top with a drizzle of sesame oil and a spoonful of chili crisp. Cover your pan (I use a baking sheet) so the tops steam a bit, unless you like a super runny egg. Cook to your preferred done-ness and set aside.
When everything’s cooked, assemble! Rice, veg, eggs, and we topped with spicy kimchi, but you do you.
Soba noodle salad
Serve this guy with shrimp skewers, crispy tofu, or a nice glazed fish (that’s what we did!). If you’re planning on keeping some for later, don’t mix the dressing in until you’re ready to serve.
Cook 8 oz of soba noodles according to the package, run under cool water when done, and set aside.
Chop up your veggies: handfuls (whatever feels right) of radish, carrot, green onion or shallot, any dark leafy greens that you have on hand. Add to your cooled noodles.
Make your dressing:
1/4 cup soy sauce
drizzle of sesame oil
drizzle of honey
2 whole limes, juiced
a squeeze of grated ginger (blasphemy!)
salt and pepper to taste
Toss it all together and serve.