As it stands right now

I am so stupid.

Don’t feel bad about my saying that. I know I’m not really stupid. I guess I should say “I’m so blind” instead. The day of the US elections I was looking at other people’s lives, and their hopefulness that all this appalling, divisive rhetoric would not win. I didn’t get to vote but I had a small light in me just like you did hoping that self-preservation would come second to empathy. I didn’t think Hillary winning would change much for the world but she was qualified and she was up against a person who bragged about grabbing pussy. He is now President Trump. I don’t know what else to say about that. It must have not been easy choice for many people to make but I wish it was more obvious especially looking back at the history books. I wish for a second that they would take a moment and realise that people of colour and the poor have been living in the hope that things will get better for a long, long time. And they will still wait. I hope he works for you, I really do. I can’t see the good this time but I will be making it for people who need it the most, as I always have.

“Let us not forget that, for so many of us, today is a just a particularly painful twist in a long legacy of Eurocentric nations filling us with voices, images and words that were always meant to make us doubt whether we were lovable, whether we were worthy, whether we ever had a right to our humanity.” @itssatpreet 

I will be making a series of drawings that I will put up for sale in the coming weeks. They will benefit No Kid Hungry and Rain City Rock Camp for Girls. It’s going to take a little planning so there will be no food blog post while I figure it out. I hope I can make it happen.

White bean salad with soft boiled eggs

You can make this recipe a day ahead and mix it in when you’re ready to eat it. I thought the recipe for the vinaigrette made a lot more than the beans needed so toss it with 1/2 of the dressing and if you need more, you can always add it later. The anchovies in this recipe can be subbed with 1 tsp of capers if you don’t eat fish.

Ingredients

Adapted from The Splendid Table

• 2 cups cooked navy beans
• 1 shallot, finely diced and divided
• 1/2 fennel bulb, finely diced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 small sweet onion, finely diced (1/4 heaped cup)
• 1/2 rib celery, peeled and finely diced (about 3 tablespoons)
• 3 small cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Red wine vinaigrette (recipe below)
• 4 or 8 large eggs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Rustic bread, sliced, toasted and brushed with olive oil or butter

Prepare all the vegetables and herbs and toss them in with the white beans in a large bowl. Mix well. Squeeze the lemon juice on top. Toss the beans with 1/2 of the vinaigrette and let it sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Add enough water to a pot to submerge the eggs completely. Bring the water to a boil on high heat and very carefully lower the eggs into the water making sure you gently bring them to rest on the bottom of the pot. Set the timer for 7 minutes and let the eggs cook. As soon as it beeps, take the pot off the stove, drain the water and run cold water all over the eggs to make them stop cooking. If it helps, have a bowl of ice water ready. Peel the eggs, discard the shells and cut the eggs in half.

Toast the bread and brush with olive oil or butter. Place the toasted bread on individual plates and top them with the white beans. Serve with the boiled eggs on the side (or on top, as the original recipe says). Spoon over more dressing, if you’d like. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and enjoy.

For the vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• Half of the diced shallot from above
• 1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and minced (measure them whole and then chop them up)
• 2 anchovy filets, minced
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Add the shallots to a tall jar with the red wine vinegar and let them sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the olives and anchovies and whisk them  into the vinegar along with the Dijon mustard and the honey. Pour the olive oil into the vinegar a little at a time in a thin stream, whisking as you go. Once all the olive oil has been added and you still see some separation between the oil and vinegar, shake the jar vigorously to help the mixture emulsify. It gets the job done. Taste and add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, as required. Store in the fridge until ready to use.