trials and tribulations
Easter traditions and a good burrito
Easter is a holiday that hasn’t meant much to me since I was a kid, except as an excuse to buy chocolate and watch the original 1973 film version of Jesus Christ Superstar. Since there are a lot of nieces and nephews on Jeff’s side of the family now, we usually get together to arrange an egg hunt for the kids and have dinner together afterward. We were late, because the car battery was dead for no apparent reason and we had to get a jump, and I’d also arranged to meet a friend who’d been picking up various cans for me of a fave beverage that I’ve been having a hard time locating— I was worried it had been discontinued, but I guess the places I’d previously been able to buy it have just stopped carrying it. Anyway, shoutout to Kevin and Lindsay for meeting me in a Ladner parking lot to deliver this refreshing bounty.
So, by the time we got there the kids had found most of the candy, and we tried to surreptitiously hide the chocolate bunnies Jeff and I had brought while they were searching the yard, and of course they quickly caught on to what we were doing and just started following us around instead of hunting. Dinner was spaghetti, green salad, and garlic bread, for which I was thankful— I am not a fan of the often-popular Easter choice of ham— but we’d all eaten so much pico de gallo and artichoke dip and chocolate before dinner that it was a struggle even to finish a small plate.
My family never really did the egg hunt thing when we were kids, probably because my parents understandably balked at the idea of hiding chocolate all over the house for six kids when we had an enormous dog who would eat anything edible and many things that weren’t, so I don’t really feel nostalgic about it, but I really liked our tradition too. We’d have baskets waiting for us on the kitchen table in the morning, with a big chocolate egg or rabbit and a bunch of little things, and best of all (in my opinion, I can’t speak for my siblings), a new book. A brand-new book is one of the few luxuries that has held the same charm from childhood to adulthood— it’s just the books are more expensive now. But I am thinking of treating myself to our old tradition, and getting a copy of this somewhat holiday-appropriate novel, which I’ve been looking forward to reading.
My mom and my sister Madeline have the same birthday, and we celebrated on Sunday with a dinner at Bar Corso on Commercial Drive. Jeff and I had trouble getting the car started, again, so we were late, again. But as it was Easter, the restaurant wasn’t terribly busy, and our server was extra friendly with us, and the food was incredible. They serve primarily small plates (cicchetti) and larger dishes to share, which is possibly the best way to eat— I love to go to a restaurant and be able to eat three bites of everything on the menu. My favourites were the crostini (the eggplant was very good but the tuna was amazing), and the parmesan broth with chanterelles and basil oil (which we didn’t order, but our server brought us a round anyway).
I was desperately excited about the taleggio, but as one of only two people at the table who can comfortably eat soft cheese, it wasn’t in the cards. After we were informed the snow crab pasta would be leaving the menu soon, Jeff and my mom both ordered it, and it was stunning and delicious. We skipped dessert in favour of cups of espresso and glasses of amaro, and when we finally left, three hours after we’d arrived, the car thankfully started on the first try. Did we park on the hill outside instead of the parking garage in order to do a rolling start the next morning to go to Costco and buy a new battery? Maybe. I can probably blame mercury retrograde for this somehow.
It feels like I didn’t cook much recently, and in truth I did have kind of a lazy week. Tuesday I had one of those headaches that ibuprofen didn’t seem to touch, so I took a midday edible and laid on the couch watching Star Trek: First Contact instead of baking the lemon muffins I’d been thinking about. I ate a rice bowl that Jeff brought home from work. Wednesday my legs were still too sore from my Monday workout to go back to the gym like I’d intended. I made the sesame noodles again.
But I’d taken more squash out of the freezer (seriously, why the hell do we have so much roasted squash in there), and since there was leftover brown rice, I put some black beans in the instant pot to make a burrito filling Jeff and I both love. The idea originally came from some online recipe, but it’s evolved so much since then that I no longer remember where the recipe was. It has all the nostalgia of a microwaved burrito from the gas station, but doesn’t make you feel regret after eating it. Here is the method if you’d like to try it.
Chop half a small onion and a jalapeño (or some bell pepper if you don’t want it spicy), fry in oil until mostly soft. Add a couple minced cloves of garlic and some dry seasonings: chili powder, cumin, coriander, and oregano are what I generally use, but smoked hot paprika is nice sometimes too. Toss in roughly a cup of roasted or puréed squash and season with salt. Deglaze the pan with a bit of broth, and add a (rinsed & drained) 15oz can of beans— about a cup and a half of cooked beans, if you’re not using canned. Pour in about a quarter cup of broth and cook until it’s mostly absorbed. Continue until it looks like it’ll be a bit too loose to hold together, and the beans are soft enough to mash easily (you can use up to a cup of broth, but you probably won’t need all of it at this point). At this point, mash the mixture loosely with a potato masher and add a cup or so of cooked brown rice, and some more broth if necessary, until heated through. Finally, stir in any last additions like cheese, hot sauce, frozen corn, chopped kale, whatever you like; heat through and taste for seasoning. This time I used leftover vegan queso and a few kale leaves.
This works as a taco filling if you prefer to add a bunch of toppings, but I like it in a classic burrito, with just a little sour cream and salsa or hot sauce, and cilantro if I have it. You can also fill a few tortillas at once and roll them up to store in the freezer; they’ll reheat well.
I was craving spicy food, I guess, because I couldn’t stop thinking about this buffalo cauliflower dip I’d made during the superbowl, and I had to make it again. I love buffalo sauce, and the recipe is correct that the most negotiable part of buffalo wings is the wings. Lots of vegan-friendly places do cauliflower versions, and I’ve made chickpea salad for sandwiches using buffalo sauce, too. This dip looks impressive and tastes amazing, but is easily made in one pan in about half an hour, which I love. I use a 10” cast iron because I in no way believe you could fit that much cauliflower into a 9” pan and still get the lid on— also, is it just me or is that not really a common pan size? I don’t know. Jeff bought a vegan cream cheese that was chive-flavoured, but other than that, I didn’t make any other adjustments. Tortilla chips are the best for scooping, and celery is really nice as a crisp, cooling contrast. Don’t burn your tongue like I did.
Oh, and the other important thing this week was that Jeff and I did a taste test comparison of Eggies and Mini Eggs. I mean, of course we already knew Mini Eggs were superior, and the only reason we had Eggies in the first place is because Costco doesn’t sell Mini Eggs, but it was kind of fun to get definitive proof and compare why. The main factors, if you’re curious: size, chocolate quality, shell thickness. Eggies feel more like a candy, Mini Eggs more like a chocolate. We’ve also still been making pizza weekly! I haven’t written much about it lately since they’re usually pretty similar. This past week’s were olive and sun-dried tomato with mozza, and mushroom with kale, pecorino, and feta.
Thanks for reading— if you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with someone new! I like providing this to you for free, but it does still involve time and effort, so any donations, especially while I’m still looking for work, are greatly appreciated. Finally, in case you didn’t see the world’s greatest Good Friday post making the rounds last week, here it is.