and curiously

In my aspirations, I’m the obnoxious sort of home cook who’s blending up homemade hummus and nut butters and sauces and just sort of blinks blankly when people buy that sort of thing at the grocery store. In reality, I frequently buy those things at the grocery store despite technically having the capability to make it all at home because, I don’t know, I use my time to do other stuff, like read numerous novels written for teenagers. I sometimes make that stuff… but mostly I buy it. I don’t know, I guess what I mean to say is, I’m going to talk about making it, but I vehemently encourage you to just purchase it if that feels right. You do you, you know?

I’m pretty sure I made this meal during my week of being funemployed, which is why I even bothered spinning up the food processor. And even so, I nearly bought the harissa.

This meal combined two of my recent obsessions — Ottolenghi (forever obsession at this point, I guess), and Tara O’Brady’s brilliant move of combining miso and tahini in her hummus from Seven Spoons. The former: I faithfully (well, for me) followed Ottolenghi’s harissa recipe from Jerusalem (posted in Epicurious), because at this point, I trust his recipes. The latter: melding of Asian flavors with anything is an easy, easy win for me, and this one’s great. Slight funkiness and saltiness from miso and rich nuttiness from tahini — so good. I’ve started routinely adding miso to my tried-and-true hummus. I’m the worst at appreciating classic recipes. Sorry.

In contrast with the fuss of making your own harissa (actually fairly time consuming, but makes the apartment smell really good) and hummus (not bad, but requires planning if you go from dried chickpeas), putting together the meal after’s easy. In addition to the roasted veg and greens with tofu, recipes below, you’ve got hummus with pita chips and a simple green salad.

Roasted carrots with miso-tahini sauce
1 bunch carrots (rainbow if you can find ’em, if only for presentation)
olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons miso
1 Tablespoon tahini
lemon juice
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375˚F.

Cut carrots in half crosswise, then slice into halves or quarters. Toss with olive oil, spices, and a bit of salt and pepper, and roast in the oven until they’re browned, around 40 minutes.

Sauce is a quick mixture of miso and tahini (dat A+ flavor combo), thinned with lemon juice and water. Drizzle on the vegetables. I also topped with some chopped cilantro because I had it kicking around.

Harissa tofu with greens
1 block of firm tofu
1-2 lbs of greens (I used whatever I had, which was a mix of broccolini, kale, and collard greens)
2-3 Tablespoons harissa
safflower oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350˚F. (Temperature is actually somewhat flexible, if you’re baking something else… it’ll probably be fine.)

Slice the tofu into small cubes. Arrange on a parchment or silicon-mat lined baking sheet, and bake until the tofu is golden and puffs up. The amount of time this takes is variable, depending on the firmness and moisture level of your tofu.

Heat up enough oil to cover the bottom of a heavy pan. Let the oil get quite hot, until it’s nearly or just barely smoking. Add the greens to the pan and let them char a little bit, adding a touch of salt and pepper.

Just before serving, arrange the tofu on top of the greens. Top evenly with harissa.

The Real Talk portion of the post is as follows: I’m in a bit of a funk. I’m not feeling that inspired in the kitchen, even though fall’s just around the corner (respite from the heat, please come!), and it’s my favorite season for produce.

Part of it is my new job that’s keeping me busy. The new job is hard, you guys. It’s good to be challenged, and I keep reminding myself that this is what I was looking for, but I’m tired when I get home and don’t have a lot of extra oomph for cooking. It’s good that the thing that I do for the plurality of my time is challenging me to grow. It’s just made me wonder if my previous (somewhat) prolific posting was more of a coping mechanism for a job that had grown not right for me. I hope I can strike a balance, soon.

And the other part of it is that I seem to have put on a little additional padding ’round the middle and am reluctantly revisiting diet mode. Le sigh / le worst.

And, lastly, it’s so hot here. I know it’s such a ridiculous problem, but I just don’t want to turn on the stove. I just want to eat popsicles. See above problem.

I had an unexpected helper to break me out of it all, though, for this meal. I found a small box of “micro greens” at Trader Joe’s, which I thought would make my food look terribly fancy. So, obviously, it came home, and I shamelessly have been topping everything I make with micro greens. I feel like I’m eating at a fancypants restaurant.

And, yes, I’m still obsessed with Plenty.

Lentils with broiled eggplant
From Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi, recipe posted on The Guradian

2 medium eggplants
2 Tablespoons vinegar
1 cup lentils, preferably the small, dark variety
2 medium carrots
1 bay leaf
1/2 yellow onion
2 Tablespoons olive oil
12 cherry tomatoes
handful of basil leaves
2 Tablespoons Greek yogurt
salt & pepper

Pierce the eggplants in a few places. (This is important! Plenty‘s headnotes say that if you don’t do this, the eggplant explodes. Ain’t nobody got time to clean eggplant off their oven walls.) Place them on a foil-lined tray and under the broiler, turned to high, for about an hour. Turn them a few times. When the eggplants are done, the skin will be burnt all over, and the eggplants will be quite soft and deflated.

While the eggplants are broiling, you can prepare your vegetables. Dice the carrots and onion, halve the cherry tomatoes, and slice the basil into ribbons.

Bring a medium pot of water to boil and salt generously. Add the lentils and bay leaf, and boil until the lentils are done, about 25 minutes. Drain and remove the bay leaf. Season with salt, pepper, about half the vinegar, and a drizzle of olive oil.

When the eggplants are done, remove from the oven and set the temperature to 275˚F. Let the eggplants cool slightly, and then split in half. Scoop out the flesh and let it drain on a colander for about 15 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and about half the vinegar.

While the eggplant is draining, toss the cherry tomatoes and carrots with a bit of olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper and roast in the oven until the carrots are cooked (but not mushy), about 20 minutes.

To serve, combine the carrots and tomatoes with the lentils. Toss with the ribbons of basil and add more salt, pepper, oil, or vinegar if needed. Pile the eggplant on top of the lentils, and top with a spoonful of Greek yogurt.