Alchemy in the Kitchen

Sometime after Thanksgiving I thought I should bake the Tofurky that had been in my freezer for nearly a year. I had purchased it out of curiosity, and because I had a coupon. I didn't think much of it, gave some to my housemates, and used the rest in sandwiches. The Tofurky gravy, purchased separately, was especially not to my liking.

I eventually smuggled the gravy into my daughter-in-law Tracy's chili recipe, and it blended right in. This recipe, in my opinion, is more of a vegetable bean soup than a chili, containing celery, carrots, bell peppers, black & kidney beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, and corn. I'm quite fond of it and make it often.
I became enamored of red cabbage after visiting my son George a year or two ago. He served me a cabbage-onion stir fry seasoned with herbes de provence. I tried making it when I returned home but quickly decided I didn't really like lavender and that I preferred red cabbage as a slaw.

To make my slaw, I take a half head of cabbage plus two to four carrots and run them through my Cuisinart using a shredding disk, tossing the shredded vegetables with my favorite bottled salad dressing, Brianna's Poppy Seed.

I like this sweet dressing because it reminds me of one my mother occasionally made by thinning Miracle Whip with a little orange juice.

My cabbage was unusually big this last time and I was afraid the slaw would spoil before I could finish it. So I decided to turn it into an Asian soup. I sauteed some onions and garlic in olive oil, added roasted sesame oil, some soy sauce, the slaw, and water to cover. I also added a can of adzuki beans (drained & rinsed), as well as a package of mung bean threads that I'd had forever. I brought the pot to a boil, then down to a simmer, and cooked it another 10 minutes.

This resulted in a subtly flavored dish, perfect for a cold winter's day, with the bean threads turning a lovely translucent pink. But definitely not a soup, so I made some rice to go with it.

Linguine with Sausage and Broccoli

This recipe (with a much prettier picture than mine) was featured in a Food 52 e-mail, described as being "even easier than going through the 'hassle of picking something up,'" so when I stopped for groceries after school, I bought broccoli and Italian sausage even though I wasn't going to have a lot of cooking time that night.

It was delicious. Of course it was delicious: pasta tossed with flavorful ingredients and topped with cheese is always delicious. But anyone who describes this as notably quick and easy puts considerably more effort into everyday meals than I do (and I probably put a higher than average amount of time into everyday meals).

Honestly, how many people, on an average weeknight, want to first reduce wine and then reduce broth? To use two separate fats (olive oil and butter, and not because there's high-temperature sauteing going on that butter alone can't handle) in one simple pasta dish (in which the sausage overpowers the flavor of both in any case)? To use two separate pots to boil the linguine and the broccoli (in addition to a saute pan for the sausage and the sauce)?

I didn't actually do the last one. I just cooked the broccoli in the pasta pot while I was tossing the linguine with the sauce and adding butter and reserved pasta water. I also ignored the part about using half sweet and half hot sausage; the sausage was prepackaged by the pound and I didn't want to buy twice what I needed (and I bought bulk sausage so I didn't have to bother with the step of removing it from the casings).

So despite thoroughly enjoying it, I doubt I'll make it again. If I want linguine with sausage and broccoli, I'll just cook the sausage and broccoli in olive oil in a saute pan (or the broccoli in with the linguine) and add plenty of chopped garlic. If I have wine already open and handy, I might reduce some wine, especially if the sausage has browned onto the pan. Tossed with linguine and topped with cheese, it will be just as good and ready more quickly, and I won't have as much to clean up afterwards.