My latest favorite way to eat my greens is in the Japanese style of ohitashi, which is to blanche, shock, squeeze out, and pour over with a soy sauce and dashi mixture. It’s an easy way to stock up on your greens for the day, which there are plenty of in the spring. It softens the leaves, but also the stalks, which are typically left on and are delightful to crunch on dressed in this sauce.
Anyone who’s a real purist of pasta is going to take one look at these misshapen dumpling-like things and sneer. Can’t blame me for being a little over-ambitious for a weeknight meal, but you can for exaggeration in calling these “orecchiette.” Well, I’m just not sure what else to call them. But they taste alright — especially when tossed in a buttery, fresh lemon sauce and surrounded by spicy broccoli rabe.
They say money can’t buy you friends, but I’ll be darned if food can’t. Who can resist a juicy beefsteak tomato, or a handful of yellow sungolds? It’s like an offering of sunshine. Much more personal, in my opinion, than a grimy gray bill.