Today is World Pasta Day, created by the Italians to celebrate the food the whole world loves. How do you pasta? For me, pasta without a drizzle of olive oil for silkiness and gilding seems lonely, It’s probably nothing your nonna would approve of, either. You don’t want to piss off your nonna. I’m stingy…
Speed Sabzi (Vegan Ghormeh Sabzi)
Ghormeh Sabzi is a well-loved Irani herb stew. This vegan version is loaded with black eyed peas rather than beef or lamb. Hajji Bektash Veli, my favorite thirteenth century Iranian mystic believed, as I do, that divine spirit, universal life force exists in all things natural — just not in plain sight. “For one who…
Hobo Stew
Hobo Stew or Mulligan Stew is a simple and versatile dish often made with whatever canned beans and veggies are on hand. My meatless version of hobo stew makes use of red lentils and is filled out with leafy greens and a handful of fresh herbs. Singing while you make it is optional, but highly…
BEAN AND FENNEL STEW
Posted originally on 01/06/2014 for Huffington Post Meatless Monday in the City of Pleasant Living To start the new year off right, a true story in which the seemingly impossible comes to pass — and in my ‘hood, of all places. Sprawling Miami-Dade County may be best known for Miami, where I live, but it…
Summer Surprised Us
“Summer surprised us,” writes T.S. Eliot. The phrase comes early in “The Wasteland’ and it surprises the reader, too, already so lost in the poem’s rich layers as to be startled by these five simple syllables that come in the seventh line. Summer always surprises me, especially September, which I still associate with fall, with…
Lovely for Lent Black-Eyed Peas With Fennel and Kale
Some people (and you know who you are) do not share recipes. It’s time to give, darlings. Wouldn’t you rather be known as a big-hearted person who shares the wealth? And even if you write out your prized recipe in painstaking detail, your friend’s version will come out different. Different stove, different cookware,…