I don’t think George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward envisioned a summer like this though the tension in Porgy and Bess does mirror some of the social discord in the country. Between proliferating viruses and ongoing racial tension, you almost forget that it’s summer when we’re usually carefree and full of merriment. But even with social distancing requirements, you can still have a nice summer picnic with household members either simply in the back yard or at a quiet local park. Just because of the doom and gloom outside of the home, we don’t have to live like we’re in the midst of the zombie apocalypse.
Chilled is Better
I love chilled dishes and not just during the summer
months but year round as they can be prepared in advance for potluck parties,
are easier to transport and especially during the oppressive heat of summer,
are a delight to consume versus heavier dishes. Of course, in The City,
supposedly Mark Twain proclaimed that the coldest winter he ever spent was
summer in San Francisco so you may not experience summers like we do in the 50th
and though we normally would “hibernate” at air conditioned malls between June
through September, the current COVID crisis doesn’t make it that appealing as
recirculating air conditioning does allow COVID laden vaper particles travel a
lot farther than 6 feet so even social distancing doesn’t provide adequate
protection.
Beans, Beans, Good
for Your Heart
I love all types of legumes! From the humble lentil which
requires no pre-soaking and cook in 20 minutes to the lupini which
requires at least a week of soaking changing the water twice daily and
everything in between. For starters, beans are a good source of low glycemic
index carbohydrates, so they won’t spike your blood sugar after meals and won’t
have you hittin’ the wall due to a low blood sugar several hours after eating.
They also are good sources of protein especially when combined with other
vegetable proteins like wheat and sesame seed and are a good source of dietary
fiber. And from a culinary standpoint, dishes with beans as the focal point
often are great hot, warm or cold making them the perfect picnic food. I’m not
sure if my Kumamoto ancestry had anything to do with my penchant for legumes
since Mom always said those from Kumamoto-ken loved their beans. Of course,
23andMe burst that rationale since their DNA analysis indicated that Mom’s
Kumamoto heritage actually had roots farther south in the Ryukyu kingdom. But
in any case, beans of all forms make great eatin’!
I recently made this dish not specifically for this
column but when COVID first made its appearance in the 50th, most
supermarkets had a run on rice and pasta leaving most supermarket shelves
empty, Therefore I simply purchased dried legumes as our long lasting staple
since they’re easily prepared with a pressure cooker whether dried or
pre-soaked. And I purchased beans of all types; lentils, kidney, white
Northern, black, cannellini, navy and red before the legions of hoarders
discovered that they were as simple to prepare as rice or pasta. I also
recently purchased quite a bit of fresh rosemary intending to make a porchetta or slow cooked, rolled pork
belly but aborted that attempt when I discovered that my piece of pork was long
and thin and porchetta requires a
square or rectangle piece of belly. So, with an abundance of beans, fresh
rosemary and cans of chopped tomatoes, that’s the perfect recipe for a Tuscan
bean dish.
Tuscan Beans
1 lb. package dried white Northern beans or cannellini
(small white kidney beans) soaked overnight
Dried rosemary, garlic and onion powder (optional)
3 cloves fresh garlic, sliced
Olive oil
1 cup medium chopped carrots
1 cup medium chopped celery with leaves
1 cup medium chopped fennel
1 cup medium chopped onion
3 tbsp minced fresh rosemary
2 cans diced tomatoes
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Drain the water from the soaked beans then add to a
pressure cooker with fresh water and add the dried rosemary, garlic and onion
powder (I add these to flavor the beans as they pressure cook) and cook on high
pressure for 15 to 20 minutes. After the pressure is released, drain and rinse with
cold water.
In a Dutch oven, sauté the sliced garlic in the olive oil
then add the vegetables just as the garlic starts to brown and sauté until the
vegetables are softened (5 to 10 minutes). Add the canned tomatoes, liquid and
all and the fresh rosemary cook until it reaches a light boil then add the
drained beans and cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes until the beans
are re-heated. Serve hot, at room temperature or cold as a side or main vegan
dish.
Protein Plus
I previously always stocked boxes of Barilla Plus pasta
in our pantry until several years ago when one of the 4th generation
family members made disparaging remarks about the gay community on Italian
radio. After those comments, we stopped purchasing the Barilla products and
shifted to alternate pasta labels. Okay, part of our shift in purchases also
was because the original Barilla Plus pasta contained flax seed and while those
added omega-3 fatty acids pumped up the nutritional value, those highly
unsaturated fatty acids also reduced the shelf life and we found ourselves
discarding many an unopened box of pasta which was several months past the
expiration date. Since then, the Barilla family has softened their tone on the
gay community including adding civil rights and LGBTQ activist David Mixner to
their advisory board to improve inclusivity and diversity within the company.
And during this time, Barilla also changed the recipe for their Protein Plus
pasta removing the flax seed (increasing shelf life) and changing the egg white
to plant proteins so that the pasta is now vegan. So, Barilla pasta is once
again in our pantry. And in this dish, I simply substitute Barilla Protein Plus
angel’s hair pasta for somen for an
updated somen salad which adds more
protein and fiber to the salad. And a chilled Barilla salad is perfect for
those dog days of summer.
Barilla Salad
1 lb. Barilla Protein Plus angel hair pasta
Uzumaki (kamaboko with a swirled pattern), thinly sliced
Japanese or English cucumber, thinly sliced
Scrambled eggs then thinly sliced
Head lettuce shredded
Deli ham or char siu, thinly sliced
Green onion, thinly sliced
1-ounce vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 & ½ ounce rice wine vinegar
1 & ½ ounce shoyu
1-ounce sugar
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
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