The Art of Cooking

My daughter was in the kitchen with me as I tried out one of my fun new kitchen tools. I was chopping some ingredients for a stew using my new hand-chopper (thanks, Mom!), and was struck by how photogenic the little squares were with colorful bits of veggie poking through. The light-dark (yes, the chiaroscuro, having recently read Despereaux), the symmetrical pattern of the squares, the unruly vegetables. 

I looked at it for a moment, and my daughter, reading my mind, said, "Mom, we should take a picture of that."

She then wanted to find some beauty of her own, with camera in hand. Here's a photo of some celery she found alluring. Isn't that green hue delicious this time of year?

I hereby dedicate myself to finding beauty in the kitchen this year. 

Week 109—Oldies

Mon – Pizza party (1 day until back-to-school)

Tues – Alfredo, smoked salmon, left-overs

Weds – Tomato soup and grilled cheese
Thurs – Pasta puttanesca and crusty bread (Simply Italian)
Fri – Polynesian meatballs, mashed potatoes, greens

Alts – Chicken vegetable stir-fry

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Personal note: double the tomato soup recipe, but not the fats (per reader reviews). I'm not familiar with Michael Chiarello, but love that one reviewer called him a "hot bowl of soup." Fabulous!

Read a tip about new year's resolutions: make 12, one for each month of the year. I'm doing this, and my first month is: Eat More Veggies. It's January in the upper Midwest, but it's sunny California in my local produce aisle so there are no excuses for not loading up on colorful veggie sides.

Happy new year, happy cooking.

Steamy Green

Typically, I toss frozen veggies in a bowl in the micro and have instant, if slightly unloved, instant side veggies.

Last night I made a steak-potato-broccoli salad for dinner and took the rare step of getting out my steamer insert. You know, steaming how you're supposed to. Starting with fresh broccoli. Removing while still crisp-tender. I felt I owed it to the salad, to make it really really good.

The shade of green that broccoli took on practically made me weep. I hung out in the kitchen with my toddler snacking on freshly steamed broccoli bits the way a kid might gobble Halloween candy in his room before dinner.

Delectable.