Life in the key of E flat minor

A vegan meal: kale salad and rice cooked in jalapeño and cilantro broth One of my favorite way to use up green vegetables is to add them to this great kale salad that I found on the LIVE STRONG site many years ago. This particular batch, in the photo below, was made with kale and celery I saved from the crudité platter that gave me the mirepoix for my ragù yesterday. I made it earlier in the week for my Lenten vegan challenge (see the note about brown sugar and water in the ingredients list) and knew that I should finish it up before it started to turn. Not only is this a great vegan dish, it is also a great base for a substantive meal salad, add a protein and another vegetable and it’s a filling lunch or dinner. The original recipe is far more Asian in influence, while mine is strictly based on what I usually have in my pantry. Plus, the original site says that the salad serves 6; it could, especially if the diners are not former ruggers. But for the real world, I think th...

What we call Bolognese sauce is a meat-based sauce originating from Bologna. Per Wikipedia , the sauce is “customarily used to dress ‘ tagliatelle al ragù ’ and to prepare ‘ lasagne alla bolognese ’. In the absence of tagliatelle, it can also be used with other broad, flat pasta shapes, such as pappardelle or fettuccine.” The traditional version of this sauce is slow cooked, requiring to “simmer slowly for about two hours,” from Accademia Italiana della Cucina (in Italian and authentication required), not including prep time. Many recipes start with an Italian soffritto - a base of finely chopped parsley and onion sauteed in lard - but I went with a mirepoix and added bell peppers instead. Of course, there is beef and usually some fatty pork (which I didn’t include this time.) White wine, milk and a small amount of tomato paste or tomatoes are added to incorporate everything together before the long simmer to produce a thick sauce. I made this as part of my #stopfoodwaste New Yea...