Recipes for when you've been checked out of real life for a minute
Getting back to business is an olympic sport.
Hello, chefs.
I’ve missed y’all! I’m finally getting back to reality after two weeks of pressing the “slow the f down” button. Thanks for waiting for me.
If we’re friends in the physical world, you’ve probably been hit with at least one “will you send me a calendar invite for that?” request from your girl. For that, I am sorry. But I am a calendar girlie and that’s just the way it’s going to be. I keep it pruned and neat in a way that makes my unwieldy garden jealous, and that means that I can (generally) tell when I have a week coming up that’s going to yank me right out of homeostasis and might require some extra kindness for my future self.
I’ll be clear, a life without interruptions is not the goal. Our ancestors endured too many decades of monotony for us to be resistant to the delights of the 21st century. I could be in Japan by tomorrow fcs! But even if it’s a vacation that I’ve been looking forward to for many moons, the days following my return are always a bit panicked.
Baking in a day before I leave to arrange a few gifts for my future self—the one who usually barrels into the house, one million bags slung over her shoulders, frantically filling watering cans and putting sheets in the wash—is my newest “holy shit, this is what adults do” revelation. Most of you probably do this stuff already. But if you, like me, are always looking for ways to care for yourself the way you might a toddler, here’s what I do before I head out for either a trip or a Week From Hell™️:
Write my food plan for the week following my return. Make a grocery list and order it in advance for delivery the day I get back.
Schedule a house clean either while I’m gone or right before I leave: I cannot explain the specific brand of euphoria I feel walking into a clean house after I’ve been checked out for a bit. ESPECIALLY when I wasn’t the one to clean it.
Plan my first few days back at work with ruthless specificity. This probably doesn’t work for everyone, but for me, returning to work with a super structured schedule and timeboxed to do list is infinitely less stressful than sitting down to work and trying to remember what it is, exactly, that I do.
So this week, here’s a dinner that I made after a few weeks of travel and general schedule chaos. She’s simple and she spares your kitchen (mostly).
-Faith
Dumpling and tomato salad with chili crisp vinaigrette
Hetty McKinnon is responsible for this gem. I served it and Dan said babe, I’m pretty sure this isn’t a “salad,” and I said you know what, you’re probably right, but we agreed that regardless of how it identifies it’s freaking delicious and suuuuuuper simple to make.
3-4 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 garlic cloves, grated
Lots of fresh torn basil
1 lb frozen potsticker dumplings (don’t thaw them!)
3 tbsp chile crisp
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
Oil, salt, and pepper
Season your tomatoes with salt, pepper, half of the basil, and the grated garlic. Toss and let sit while you prep the rest.
Make the vinaigrette: combine the chile crisp, vinegar, and soy.
Prep the dumplings via your preferred method (you can follow the bag instructions). I like mine steamed, but you can also sear them before steaming for some extra excitement.
Combine it all and serve.
Fast scallion pancakes
This is basically a scallion fritter and for that, I thank Mark Bittman. I made these to mop up the dressing from the above “salad” and 10/10 would do again.
4 bunches of scallions: 3 bunches roughly chopped (you’ll boil and puree them), 1 bunch minced
1 egg
1 tsp soy
1/2 cup flour
Oil, salt and pepper
Bring a pot of water to a boil and drop in your roughly chopped scallions. Cook for 5 minutes and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the scallions to a blender or food processor and puree, adding cooking liquid as needed to get a nice smooth situation.
Combine the scallion puree with the egg and soy. Add the flour, minced scallions, and some black pepper.
Cook like a pancake: oil a skillet and go to town, dropping in about 1/4 cup of batter in for each pancake. Cook on each side for about 2 minutes or until nicely browned.