Saturday, March 15, 2008

Lent+hunger=creativity in the kitchen

It's lent, and for the Greek Orthodox who observe it, that means no meat, dairy, olive oil, or wine for 40 days. Our Easter is on April 27, so I have a way to go. Tonight THH (newly-created acronym for newly-created reference to my husband--he used to be The Hunky Scientist; now he's The Hunky Husband) is away at a Golden State Warriors game with one of his pals. So I was on my own for dinner. When I bach it, I often just head down the street for a slice of pizza. But the no-cheese lenten thing nixes that. So I foraged. I found a sweet potato, pierced it and put it in the oven at 375F. Forty minutes later, I thawed some spinach and squeezed it dry, then minced a large clove of garlic. I heated up some canola oil in a small skillet, added the garlic and sauteed it a little while, then added the spinach and sauteed it a little longer. I added some pepper and salt, then for a spicy kick I added a squirt of sriracha hot sauce. Once the sweet potato was baked and had a crispy skin, I pulled it out, cut it open and fluffed it up. Then I topped it with the spinach mixture. Oh boy was it good. And I have a healthy-eating halo over my head, too. Yes, I'm smug. I wonder if lenten-cooking smugness needs to be confessed before Easter communion.

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