Recipes for when you've just transferred your entire life into a spreadsheet and need a break
And maybe some greens
Hello, chefs.
After a summer of 3- and 4-day workweeks, every big project that required more than an hour or so of my time got pushed to The Promised Land—this last two week stretch where I had no travel at all. A full fourteen days at home! Uninterrupted work weeks! Paradise!
Naturally I overbooked myself in the to do list arena, but I can’t tell you how good it’s felt to just knock stuff out and move on. It’s like when you give yourself permission to tidy hour house like a distracted toddler, bouncing from item to item in a strategy-less tizzy, but before you know it the shoes are straight and the mail is sorted and the remotes are in the freaking remote dish.
After being crunched for time for so long, I realized I’ve really come to depend on the productive anxiety that accompanies having to fit too much into a short period of time. With full work days before me dedicated to a working on a project, sinking my teeth into it has proven difficult. I really leaned in to the “you don’t have to do it right away, just think about it” strategy this week, which helps: when you’re staring at project that your brain just refuses to dig in to, set a timer for ten minutes and commit to just sitting there and thinking about it, nothing else. Works like a charm every time.
It probably doesn’t help that no one told me that engagement is basically like a second job. We’re not even having a wedding! But figuring out finances, insurance, investments, savings accounts, and generally combining lives is a slog. All the stuff that has just safely existed in your brain for your whole life needs to be transferred to and stored with another human being. I’ve never tried to pass the bar, but I’d assume it’s a similar feat. Naturally I’ve taken this opportunity to create the most robust spreadsheet and Notion hub combo of my life.
All I’ve wanted this week have been warm meals that can stretch into tomorrow’s lunch if I just add some kale to the leftovers (mindless greens consumption!), so here are two recipes that I’m 90% sure I’ve shared before, but this time I’m sharing them with this advice:
Make a TON of rice early in the week so you can use it for leftovers and the other recipe
When you reheat both recipes, add some kale and a bit of water to your pan along with a bit of soy sauce for a lazy but delicious stir fry situation
-Faith
Black pepper beef and cabbage stir fry
By Sue Li! Legendary.
Toss about a pound of thinly sliced sirloin (you could probably use just about any other kind of fatty-ish meet) in a bowl with:
1 tbsp crushed peppercorns (regular pepper would be fine, just use a bit less)
3 crushed garlic cloves
2 tbsp brown sugar (recipe calls for tsp, but I go big here)
1 tsp cornstarch
kosher salt!
Let that sit while you get your rice going and slice up 1/2 head of cabbage into thin strips.
Heat about 3tbsp of neutral oil in a cast iron over medium high. Add your steak and stir fry for about 4 minutes until browned, then toss with 2 tbsp soy sauce and cook for another minute. Transfer the steak to a plate, doing your best to keep the juices in the pan.
Add your cabbage to the pan—don’t stir—and just press it down into the hot steak-y oil. Let it cook like that for a minute or two until the bottom starts to caramelize, then stir fry like normal until nice and soft.
Turn off your heat and add a few splashes of rice vinegar to brighten up the cabbage, along with a good sprinkle of salt. Add your meat and any juices from the plate back in and stir well. Serve with sesame seeds and sliced scallions, if you have them.
Sheet pan bibimbap
The simplest weekday meal from Eric Kim:
Preheat your oven to 450. On a large baking tray, dump a package of sliced mushrooms in one quadrant, and a handful or two of chopped kale in another. Peel and thinly slice one sweet potato and add it to the third, and thinly slice a red onion and add it to the fourth. Beautiful.
Toss each veggie separately with oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for ~15 minutes. Put another sheet pan on the bottom rack during this time and let it heat up.
When the timer goes off, keep your veggies in the oven and take out the empty sheet pan. Drizzle it with oil and add some leftover rice, pressing it into the hot oil. On another side, crack an egg or four - however many you want for that meal, not leftovers.
Put that pan in the oven and cook everything for another 5 or so minutes.
Serve with kimchi, gochujang, and any other accoutrements you like!
Just saw NYT Cooking post the pepper beef stir fry! Made it last night, so good!