Brian is the Best
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006You have heard me tell of my roommate/husband Brian, before. We have been married a few weeks more than 10 years. He just keeps getting better. Me, I keep getting more eccentric and forgetful (at age 47, too young for excuses), but he somehow loves me consistently, in spite of my warts.
Now, you’ve also heard me tell about how much I dislike cooking. Yet fate has determined that most of the food I eat must be made in my kitchen, because of all the zillion ingredients commonly found in this culture’s food that make me feel crummy. When I can control the ingredients, I feel great. It makes sense to do just that.
So I’m stuck in the kitchen a lot these days. I’m getting more used to the routine but I’ll never like touching, eating or even thinking about meat. Ugh. The crock pot is my friend!!! I can cook four turkey breasts or two cornish game hens or a dozen chicken drumsticks all at once, and then not have to cook more meat for several days. (Yes, I’d prefer to be a vegetarian but if you can’t eat cheese/dairy, eggs, nuts or tofu, it’s pretty difficult to get enough protein to thrive without meat. Pout.)
So late last week Brian and I hit a bunch of different markets/grocery stores and collected as many root vegetables as possible. I was craving parsnips for some reason, wanted some in a soup. (Kathy inspired me a while ago and I finally was ready to take action on that idea.) I’ve only eaten parsnips a few times in my life but they just sounded right. So I tried 3 places with no luck, and Brian went to Goodrich Shop Rite and brought home a whole lot of parsnips. Yeah!
Sunday I did my rounds and picked up/dropped off things at Threadbear and Little Red Schoolhouse on the west side of Lansing. While I was off and running, Brian not only fixed our faucet (it would leak everywhere when we ran the water, didn’t drip at all when shut off)… but he chopped so many vegetables that there was no more room on the counter.
I joined him when I got home. We ended up making TWO soups. One (in a pressure cooker) used some of the turkey breast I cooked earlier that week, and ginger/garlic and cabbage, sweet red bell pepper, turnip, and kohlrabi (one of my favorite vegetables of all time). The other was parsnips, sweet potatoes, sauteed onions, a touch of fresh organic spinach, and fava beans (an excellent meaty bean often used for a breakfast dip in Egypt, but is great in tomato sauce on pasta and even in salads).
I left that soup in the crockpot overnight and it is SO good!!! It’s good cold, it’s good hot, it’s hard to not eat the whole pot in one serving. Because trust me, when I cook, I make lots of leftovers so I don’t have to cook for a while.
I can’t tell you how great it is to come home and have more than half the prep for dinner already done. I guess my sweetie doesn’t mind doing it (he has a good attitude about everything, really) but this is the first year he has done much in the kitchen. I totally am loving the results.
I’m feeling happy and loved. And full!!!