Worcestershire sauce – The Kitchen Illiterate

Glazed Delicata Squash with Lentils

I usually start making dinner before Sean gets home. I stand in our u-shaped kitchen, and dig around in the refrigerator and the cupboards, pulling out this and that. Tonight’s dinner will be easy: only a few ingredients, and plenty of time to cook, no need to rush. I fill a saucepan with water to boil, measure out lentils, rinse squash. The knife makes its thwack-scrape sound across the cutting board as I slice. I’m calmed by these things, more than I was by my hour of post-work yoga.
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Beer Cheese Soup

It was kind of a surprise to me when I realized how much I care about tradition. As a rebellious teenager (is there any other kind?) I saw myself as completely unconventional, someone who wanted to break with the past completely. But lurking under those attempts to figure out who I might be was the real me: the one who appreciates routine and sameness, the one who thrives on rules and order. The one who relies on the careful acting out of family traditions, and of personal traditions, year after year, in order to maintain the continuity that makes me feel safe and protected in what can be a fairly chaotic world.

One of those traditions is one I’ve written about here before: Every Christmas Eve, for as long as I can remember, my family has gathered to eat beer cheese soup. There are other key components to this tradition: the oyster soup that my Dad prefers, the beef stew that my Aunt Penny brings every year, and the tiny summer sausage sandwiches that accompany whichever soup you decide (or all three, as is more often the case). But for me, the beer cheese soup has always been the centerpiece. Over the years, the recipe has changed slightly, but the presence of the soup never does. And the soup held such a sacred place in my mind that I would not deign to make it any other time of year.
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Lentil Stuffed Zucchini

I love stuffed vegetables. A humble green pepper or zucchini seems much more elegant when it’s hallowed out and filled with yumminess. And while it makes a lovely presentation, stuffed vegetables are generally very easy to make. These lentil-stuffed zucchini are a nice, light summer dinner, especially when paired with a green salad. I had hoped to find bigger zucchini, but it’s still early in the season, and these held a fair amount of filling, despite their petite size.
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Pasta with Sausage and Lentils

Today it is rainy and grey and cold in Walla Walla, and I think I have to accept that it is well and truly fall. That’s not so bad, though, because I still have a huge bowl of tomatoes on my kitchen counter, and also, I really love fall. It is my favorite season. The air is crisp, and usually smells a little like wood smoke. The clothes are fantastic, all sweaters and wool and light scarves. And the food, well. I love summer produce, but I really love fall food. Bring on the slow cooked meats and roasted squash and hearty, warm comfort food.
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Spicy Barley with Snow Peas and Feta

When I pulled something non-leafy out of my CSA box last week, I must admit I got very excited. They sent some lovely, delicate, golden snow peas (and a bigger bag this week!) and I immediately started plotting how they might end up on my plate. A few cursory searches revealed a lot of recipes for basic side dishes and beef-based stir fries. And although I am currently blessed with a freezer full of beef, I wanted something vegetarian. And something that could stand up as an actual meal, not an afterthought, which vegetable recipes so often seem to be. I couldn’t find anything that appealed, so when it came time to cook the snow peas, I winged it. And what I came up with wasn’t half bad.
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Mushroom and Broccoli Lentils

This might not look all that exciting, but assure you, it was. It was very exciting. And do you know what makes a big bowl of lentils exciting? Well, I’ll tell you: It’s Worcestershire sauce and aged farmhouse cheddar. These two simple ingredients make a big bowl of lentils positively mind-blowing. When I cooked up this little dinner I didn’t think much of it. I certainly didn’t think it would be worth sharing here. This was a simple weeknight dinner, to be consumed while catching up with my DVR or reading some dorky librarian’s magazine. But then I tasted it and knew it deserved so much better than that.
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Broccoli and Dill Wild Rice

I think dill is my new favorite herb, thanks to this bowl of rice and broccoli. When I started pulling things out of the refrigerator to make lunch, I had no idea I was going to love what came out of the pot in the end as much as I did. And it’s all because of the dill. Well, and the walnuts didn’t hurt. And I always love broccoli. And Worcestershire sauce adds a great kick to wild rice. So really, this was just the perfect combination of ingredients.
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Brussels Sprout and Brown Rice Salad

This might not look like the most appetizing meal you’ve ever seen, but I have to tell you, it is so tasty and satisfying it has become a very regular dinner in my little house. I’ve tried a few variations of this recipe, and have concluded that this one is the best: the crunchy walnuts and thinly sliced Brussels are very well accented by the earthiness of za’atar, a blend of sumac, sesame seeds, and other dried herbs. I was introduced to za’atar by an old college friend, whose father is Lebanese, but until now hadn’t found much use for it other than making the flatbread her father would bring up when he visited.

My brother, Patrick, inspired this concoction when he mentioned that he had started cooking Brussels sprouts sliced very thinly. They cook a lot faster, and have a little more delicate flavor. And why, you might be wondering is this dish so very yellow? I decided to cook the rice with turmeric, a little suggestion from a former housemate, Christa. So this is dish is like a big amalgam of inspiration from people I’ve known, and a quick and easy weeknight dinner full of crunch and flavor.
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Lentils with Tuna and Caramelized Shallots

I will be the first to admit that this is not the most attractive meal. However, it is so darned tasty and easy that, from its first accidental inception in my kitchen it has rapidly become one of my favorite easy, inexpensive weeknight dinners. The lentils, cooked with a bit of Worcestershire sauce, are rich and silky and delicious on their own, but paired with good quality Italian tuna and crispy, sweet caramelized onions, they feel positively indulgent.

The trick to making this really, very good is to use good tuna, packed in olive oil. Mushy, watery Chicken of the Sea simply will not do. I’m sure that a pan-seared tuna fillet would be excellent, but part of the ease of this dinner lies in the canned tuna, which is, for me, a pantry staple.
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