Mark Bittman offers three basic recipes which are all cheap, easy, and infinitely expandable. I completely agree with his claim that regular preparation of these types of dishes will make you a decent home cook. Similar dishes defined the cooking I did for myself and roommates in college, but substituting Bittman’s salad for roast chicken (because you don’t win friends with salad).
2-3 large onions chopped
1 pint baby bella mushrooms (or similar), rough dice
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 zucchini, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small chipotle pepper, minced
1 small can diced green chiles
1 jalapeño, diced
1 large can whole peeled tomatoes with juice
1 can of black beans
Splash of leftover coffee
Piece of dark chocolate
4 stale tortillas, finely diced
1/2 to 1 TB of cumin to taste
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
2 teaspoons of anchovy paste
Sauté onions in plenty of olive oil then add mushrooms and turn up heat. Season and add pepper and zucchini. When soft, add garlic and chiles, then beans and anchovy paste. Cook through and add everything else. Break up tomatoes in pan with spatulas. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Add a bit of water if it looks too dry.
Serve with tortilla chips or something crispy and a bit of cheese on top. Green onions would look pretty or a lime wedge. With enough salt and spice, you won’t miss the meat.
Innovation in cooking continues without the protection of intellectual property rights (via Freakonomics). The parallels to live music seem important.
Lemon Blueberry Buckle
Tony on food, food culture and politics.
Lamb Meatballs
Hot dogs and complexity. From This American Life episode no. 241: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes.
