rare oddities – Wise & Wonderful Cookery

Culinary inspiration comes from many places.

I go to the grocery every couple of days, and unless Jake is with me, I spend at least two hours there. He’s all about accomplishing the mission. I’m all about overturning each nook and cranny of the place for my own fun. We become opposing forces.

The two hours I spend there are always about as much fun for me as browsing the Mall of America would be to a shop-aholic. Every little bag of bean sprouts has to be combed over, each apple or peach sniffed until the perfect sweetness is found, and every flavor of granola sampled (when possible.) I take my time and choose what I’m buying wisely because they are the future ingredients in all I’ll be eating that week, so it must be great. The time I invest in choosing the ingredients is the beginning of my scheming; just as the perfect head of cauliflower is found, and nestles itself in the bottom of my basket, the ways it can be prepared are rolling through my mind.

This slow time is important to the cooking process. We can’t simply buy the same foods week after week. If we move slowly about, passing boxes and barrels of produce, crates of eggs, slabs of butter, we can take the time to let our senses develop. Perfectly ripe apples must be gently squeezed and sniffed, for a firm feel and sweet scent. Avocados must have a buttery give when pressed. Eggs must be gently tapped for a firm shell, and rich color (or bought from a reliable chicken farmer.) Bread must have a firm crust, soft interior, and the deep scent of warm wheat. By only grabbing and pressing on you will miss these first steps in putting a meal together.

There are times when an off-beat ingredient is what sparks a recipe. At larger specialty groceries you’ll find rare oddities like albino eggplants or heirloom tomatoes– these foods beg to be bought and fooled with. If ever you stumble upon some ingredient you don’t know, do the polite thing. Get to know it. Buy a strange vegetable or herb, and learn about it by tasting it. Let a hearty looking loaf of rye be the inspiration for your meal.

This time I was struck hard by a beautiful bag of colorful conchiglie, or seashell pasta. The flours were tinted with carrots, beets, spinach, and red peppers. Their look had to be preserved, and so they had to become a warm pasta salad.

Pasta salad is an easy dish. It comes together with whatever leftovers you have lying about the fridge, especially cooked vegetables, a handful of herbs and cheese, and a light vinaigrette. With or without pasta, leftover veggies can still be dressed with vinaigrette, mixed with beans, and served as a warm salad. We should use the foods we have already cooked as an extension of one another, so that the act of cooking is ongoing, as hunger is ongoing. Prepare a large batch of this salad, and serve it cold the next day for a hearty lunch.

Pasta Salad

You will need:

1 1/2 cups pasta, uncooked (small spoon friendly shapes)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, washed and sliced
1 ear sweet corn, chopped from the cob
1 15oz can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 large handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 large handful of parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/3 cup italian vinaigrette (recipe below)

Directions: Boil pasta in well salted water, according to package directions. Drain, toss with a quick turn of olive oil, and set aside. Save pasta water, and blanch veggies in the salted water. (Blanch corn on the cob, then cut from cob after it cools. Don’t blanch green pepper, serve raw.) Toss the pasta, cheese, herbs, beans, and veggies together with the vinaigrette. Salt and pepper, if needed. Let the dish rest for as long as possible, a day even, to let the flavors marry. Serve warm or cold. Makes 4 or more servings.

Italian Vinaigrette

You will need: