children of the sun
good weather vibes, a tahini recipe, and haunted squash
With last weekend’s nice weather, Jeff and I took our bikes out of the shed on Saturday, cleaned them off, and went for a short ride around North Van. We stopped in at La Cerveceria Astilleros for some tacos and beers on the patio (and got to say hello to the many dogs who were out there as well). Their tinga de pollo is my favourite, but the chipotle jackfruit taco is also really good. And they had a new prickly pear sour on tap which was what I liked best of my flight. We rode to the beach and sat on a log for a little bit, just resting, talking, and listening to the ocean.
The next day we hopped back on our bikes to go get donuts at Cream Pony before they sold out (we popped in on Saturday after visiting the thrift store, but at 4:45pm, we were too late). It was so hard not to go for a half dozen with so many that looked great, but we got a raspberry jelly and the blue vanilla glaze with a chicken foot-shaped gummy! I’ll have to go back another time to try some of the others— I hope they’ll update their site one day to list all their rotating flavours, since it’s kind of a guessing game right now. But they bake them fresh throughout the day, so if mystery is the price I pay for getting to eat a donut that’s still warm, I’ll take it.
It’s easy to forget over a long, dreary winter how rejuvenating some time in the sun can be. Although considering the circumstances I didn’t suffer too horribly the past few months, I realise that most of the time my emotional state could be defined as ‘neutrality’ or at best, ‘contentment’. Over the weekend I was genuinely happy, which I realised I hadn’t felt at this level since probably Christmas with my family. And although the background anxiety hasn’t gone away (nor, arguably, should it), taking what felt like a little holiday in my own city gave me the mental lift I didn’t even know I needed. I hope I can hold onto this feeling a little longer.
I’ve never been one to be squeamish about food that’s past its prime, or even food that’s actively bad. I was always the one who’d deal with pouring out expired milk or jars of forgotten sauces that resembled science experiments, so that I could know that the containers would be recycled instead of tossed in the trash, unopened, out of fear. But recently when I cut into a kabocha squash (admittedly, one I got off the sale rack) that I was planning to roast and found the seeds and innards completely black but the flesh still perfectly orange, it felt like I had accidentally invoked some kind of curse. Needless to say it went straight into the outside green bin so as not to contaminate my house with its evil energy, but its appearance still haunts me days later, and I’m not entirely convinced I’m not in the beginning part of a horror movie. Fortunately I did find a small container of roasted acorn squash in the freezer I could use for dinner.
I’d been planning to make a red lentil squash soup for a squash-forward dinner with a little extra substance, but since I no longer had quite enough squash, I instead made this black bean soup with the addition of the squash (roughly 1½ cups— about half a small squash). Smitten Kitchen also has a recipe for black bean pumpkin soup, but as I wasn’t interested in the ham, I just pulled a few of the elements of this recipe to use in the first recipe, which I’ve made iterations of before. I make a half batch in the instant pot and add a few other vegetables, increasing the water content as needed, and blending fully.
This time I also added some tomato paste and deglazed with red wine vinegar, and a little basil paste, since I had it to use. The squash added a little creamy sweetness to the soup, complemented by the vinegar and lime. I appreciated the reddish tinge to the soup, too, from the tomato paste and chipotles (I used more than what’s in the recipe, knowing they’d be balanced by the sweet squash). Usually I like this soup with a quesadilla, but since I had a beautiful loaf of fresh sourdough, I made cheese toasts instead.
Spring is approaching and we’re nearing the end of beet season, but I unfortunately still have a couple of pounds of them in my fridge. I say unfortunately not because I dislike beets, but because I have, after five months, simply exhausted my knowledge of things to make with them. So, after getting some nice blood oranges on sale, we just made another beet and avocado salad. I used Chiogga (or candy cane) beets, which are a bit milder than red beets and have a fun red and white stripe to them when they’re raw. I roasted some for a sweeter flavour— the stripes disappear, but instead they turn an appealing pink colour, ranging from pale to sunset.
Although I didn’t use a recipe exactly, the pages for “The Avocado Salad Matrix” in Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat are a useful reference for what elements work well together. I chose a lemon vinaigrette to complement the orange and offset the sweetness, and added a few kale leaves and pea shoots with a little crumble of goat feta. While some saltiness is provided by the feta, a few flakes of Maldon salt to finish are never a bad idea. This was delicious as is, but it could be more filling with the addition of some oil-packed tuna or chopped nuts, or even just more avocado.
Because I spent so much time outdoors and eating restaurant food this past week, I don’t have much else interesting to report! I made the creamed mushrooms on chive butter toast again; I like to mix garlic and chives right into the butter before spreading it on the toast, and usually make a green salad to eat on the side.
I also made one of my standby rice bowls, with lentils, roasted cauliflower, sprouts, and tahini sauce. This was originally an Isa Does It recipe that I’ve made my own after years of small tweaks (most notably, adding more ingredients to the sauce, which is still just fine as written)! This time I tossed the cauliflower in smoked paprika before roasting for extra flavour, and made puy lentils instead of brown. I use the miso-tahini sauce often enough that there’s almost always a jar of it in my fridge. I’ve included my recipe for it below because it’s easy and versatile— great for grain bowls obviously, but also for wraps, on top of roasted vegetables or crisp chickpeas, or thinned out with a little oil as a salad dressing.
MISO TAHINI SAUCE
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup miso paste
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1-2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 garlic clove, minced or finely grated
⅓ cup water, plus more if needed
*optional add-ins to change the flavour profile: grated ginger, finely chopped cilantro or parsley, hot sauce
Mix all the ingredients except the water in a small blender or food processor, or whisk in a jar by hand (this will be more difficult if your tahini is not at room temperature). Add the water and mix well, adding more as needed to thin to your desired consistency.
The flavour of different types of miso varies— shiro is the mildest and aka (red) the most intense, with mugi and genmai and others landing somewhere in between— so adjustments to the other ingredients may need to be made based on what kind you use. Taste for seasoning and add a bit more vinegar if it’s too salty, or a dash of soy sauce if the flavour seems thin.
*notes: I like the herb variation if I’m doing something like a carrot or chickpea salad or a plainer roasted veg like a whole cauliflower, and the hot sauce and ginger additions for certain rice or noodle bowls.
Media:
I’m really disheartened to see that indoor mask mandates in BC have ended as of today, and that the vaccine card will no longer be required as of April 8th. Although many other provinces and states have already abandoned these requirements, I know I’m not alone in feeling like it’s too soon (personally, I don’t find the vaccine card to be a hinderance at all and I would continue to support using it forever). Not to mention the announcement gave businesses less than one day to figure out how to adjust their policies around masks. I don’t understand the rush to remove any mitigating strategies the minute covid numbers start to improve— this has never worked in our favour in the past; will it be different this time? Maybe, maybe not.
But I hate that it once again puts service workers, often some of the lowest-paid people in the workforce, back in positions of increased risk. It also continues to alienate anyone who is immunocompromised or otherwise can’t afford to risk getting themselves or other members of their household sick— putting the responsibility back on them to stay away to keep safe, instead of a shared responsibility across the community. It sucks knowing that the people who are most likely to continue masking in public spaces over the next little while are those who are vaccinated (statistically making them less likely to infect or be infected by others), while the unvaxxed are at long last rewarded for their selfishness. At this point I know we’re realistically never going to be “free” of covid, but couldn’t we try a little harder to not give the virus everything it wants?
Thanks for reading— if you enjoyed this newsletter, please smash that like button below, or share it with someone new! I like providing this to you for free, but it does still involve time and effort, so donations I can use towards cookbooks or future treats are much appreciated. Anyway, here’s me and the gals once the pandemic ends or whatever.