I’ve always been a lone cook. Happy in the kitchen by myself, doing my thing. The modern trend towards group cooking and having scads of people in the kitchen has never appealed to me. Once in awhile I team up with a similarly food-obsessed friend and enjoy making (and eating) some amazing meals, but it’s definitely the exception to the rule.
Last night, as we came in the door from school, Ernie sweetly asked, “Mama, can I help you make dinner?”
There may be no sweeter words to my maternal ears.
So I put him to work sorting (that is, separating out the baby spinach from the salad mix) and washing the spinach:
Then he cut the tofu and some snap peas:
To make this light spring dinner for yourself, heat a large saute pan. Add 2 tsp. grapeseed oil and 1 finely chopped spring onion. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft. Add 5 chopped cloves garlic, about a tablespoon of finely grated fresh ginger, and about 2 tablespoons salted Chinese black beans. Stir as everything comes to a sizzle. Pour in 1/2 cup rice wine, sake, or dry white wine (I used some vino verde we had open–worked fine) and a teaspoon of tamari. Cook until liquid evaporates. Add 1/2 pound snap peas you’ve cut into bite-size pieces; cover and cook until just barely tender (about 3 minutes). Add 12 ounces tofu you’ve also cut into bite-size pieces, gently mix in, cover, and cook until heated through. Serve with rice and garnish with chopped cilantro, if you like (I do). We had some sautéed spinach on the side. Ernie had what seemed like an awful lot of tamari on top. My dashing husband used not one but two hot sauces. He is a bold man.
There was more clean-up to do than when I cook alone (I don’t tend to strew many spinach leaves on the floor), but the spinach was fully and totally grit-free thanks to Ernie’s diligent washing and the unevenly cut snap peas were the best I’ve ever tasted.
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