Keep It Simple, Cook the Triad
And other recent thoughts on food and life
Hello from the island! It’s been grey and gloomy all week, but the weather app promises sunny days ahead, so here’s hoping. For some reason, on Tuesday my right eye decided to swell to the point that I could barely open it when I woke up in the morning, which was disconcerting, to say the least. It finally started healing, thank goodness, but this week I went to work every day with glasses and a baseball cap so as not to scare my colleagues, and when I got home I immediately lay on the couch with a warm washcloth over my eye to soothe the discomfort. Ick!
In better news…
I’m borrowing my parents’ little manual car this summer, so I finally had to learn how to drive stick shift. I turned a corner this week and am feeling much more confident in the car, which feels like a win. Also a win: my English and Irish friends can stop teasing me for “not knowing how to drive.”
Teo has been building exceptionally cozy fires for me to enjoy after work.
Last night’s fire pit by the water The Pequot, the one bar/restaurant on Fishers Island, just opened for the season, and the excitement was palpable on opening day. I had an excellent salt-rimmed margarita and tangy, saucy chicken wings, and I’m sure I’ll make my way through the rest of the menu over the course of the summer.
Today, I have a collection of thoughts and links for you. Take what you will!
The Most Comforting Dinner Formula
Throughout my youth, my parents’ default was to follow the dinner formula of protein, starch, and vegetable: one of each makes a meal. It was a reflection of the food pyramid, I think, and a way to make sure we were eating healthily. When I became a cook, I found the dinner routine of protein, grain, and vegetable limiting. As long as I’m eating a wide variety of foods throughout the week, why does every dinner have to be a rigid nutritional triad? Maybe I just want pasta, tossed in a skillet with olive oil, garlic, and chili flakes, or a lacy-edged smashburger on a potato roll. Or maybe I’m just not that hungry, and all I want is a bowl of crisp-tender blanched broccoli or buttered toast with a poached egg or delicately dressed greens. Dinner could be anything, even a bowl of cereal — what a concept!
Although I still believe that dinner could be anything, I am now, funnily enough, back to my food pyramid roots. Suddenly, there is nothing more comforting to me than a good old triad for dinner. To end the day with a balanced, sit-down dinner of a protein, a starch, and a vegetable feels like parenting myself.
Yesterday, for example, I had a long work day, and at the end of it, I was hungry and zapped of creative energy. When I got home, I looked in our fridge and pantry and thought through the three categories. Protein, starch, vegetable. Soon, I was searing sausages, boiling baby potatoes, and roasting broccolini. It was a nourishing, simple meal that took little to no brain power. Sometimes I don’t want my cravings to lead; I just want to give my body what it needs. (The only category I might add to the formula is some sort of sauce; after all, our homey meal was made infinitely better with a few spoonfuls of chimichurri.)
A protein, starch, and vegetable can mean many things, and the options are endless, but here are some ideas that came to mind…
Jammy soft-boiled eggs, steamed white rice with soy sauce and butter, sautéed bok choy. Chili crisp for extra credit.
Roast chicken with baby potatoes and thinly sliced lemons beneath the bird, catching the chicken fat. A green salad. Crusty bread to sop up the juices.
Low-and-slow salmon, farro, peas with shaved pecorino and mint.
An omelette with spinach and goat cheese, buttered toast on the side.
A three-in-one pasta with white beans and broccoli rabe.
Let this be a reminder to myself: keep it simple, cook the triad.
Snack Spread
I made my dream snack spread the other night: a whole steamed artichoke with anchovy butter, sweet Zima tomatoes, various forms of crackers & breadsticks, a wedge of Humboldt Fog, and some goat cheese marinated in olive oil and fresh rosemary. It made me happy, so here is a photo for your viewing pleasure.
Links
No shocker here: Christina Chaey’s Grub Street Diet is extremely charming.
This New York Times “Chickpea Anxiety” headline made me laugh, and definitely applies to me.
Yes, please, I do want to dress like a 1992 J. Crew Catalogue Model.
Very into the idea of pickled peppers on a breakfast pizza.
The Hart’s/Cervo’s team is opening a new restaurant called Eel Bar, and I’m eagerly awaiting photos of the food. And I can’t wait to visit when I’m back in the city.
Loving the new season of the TV show Hacks.
A Grilling Question!
I’ve decided I want to grill a lot this summer, and I want to know: what do you love to grill that isn’t your standard American BBQ fare? For example, my dad grills whole scallions alongside marinated skirt steak, and it’s to die for. My family also loves grilling sliced halloumi, which we eat fresh off the grill, squeezed with lemon (speaking of which, a short article I wrote on halloumi got published on Real Simple.com this week!). I want to accumulate an arsenal of grilling ideas and welcome your advice. If you respond directly to this email, I’ll get your note directly in my inbox. And if I get enough ideas, maybe it could become a future newsletter edition later in the summer…
That’s all from me today! Wishing you a restful weekend.
x Phoebe
Fruit on the grill! Peaches with pork & pineapple on burgers…probably plenty more where that came from.
I’m loving the image of your mom’s family in an actual pyramid. 🤣 go team!