Recipe Sun Jul 01 2007

One Random Fresh Meal

By Chris Brunn

My dinner companion Meleah went through loads of fresh vegetables that had been overwhelming my fridge. This is, "what happens when lawyers in brief-writing mode get a nap," she told me as she moved from chopping block to stove making two dishes for us as I shot photos. She pan-fried thin sweet potatoes slices with onions and hot olive oil in a large cast iron skillet. Without a lid, she covered up with a sheet pan to get the potatoes cooking in their centers. "Tender to the bite," Meleah told me, but not too dry. Just after it all started to brown, fresh sage went in. Some stayed soft and tender, other pieces nicely crispened. Salt and freshly ground pepper finished it, because potatoes love this.

A Mediterranean-inspired salad came next. Meleah sautéed garlic in olive oil, then stirred in a large bowl of fresh spinach and a can of chickpeas and cooked it until the spinach went soft and wilted - just about enough time to put a little warmth on the chickpeas. She stirred in golden raisins, chopped Kalamata olives picked from their salty brine and chopped roasted cashews. A few good splashes of balsamic vinegar, salt and freshly ground pepper made it right. "Brine, salt and sweet," Meleah told me. What do you do if your spinach is too wet but it's wilted enough? Run it through a colander.

"It's nice when things are really simple." Just a few quality ingredients direct from the farmers made each dish special. I used a slice of locally baked dollar-plus white bread - fresh, airy and just a bit chewy with a golden crust that's dusted with flour. It's the kind that's perfect for dipping in olive oil, and it was just so for sapping up leftover juices. Get it at Kurowski Sausage Shop and Rich's Bakery, 2976 N Milwaukee Ave. They have plenty of vegan items in their produce section, including three floor-sized metal bins of prepared kapusta (cabbage), ogórki po Poliku (Polish pickles), and ogórk malosolne (low salt pickles) at 69 cents, $1.49 and 69 cents per pound, respectively.

Sweet Potatoes and Sage
1 sweet potato, halved and then thinly sliced
2 spring onions, or 1 small onion, halved, then thinly sliced
1 green onion (the top of a spring onion) for garnish
Olive oil, enough to lightly coat your pan
1 handful fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
A few shakes of salt, until the potatoes taste rich
Freshly ground black pepper

Mediterranean-inspired Spinach Salad, with Chickpeas, Kalamata Olives, Raisins and Nuts
Olive oil, enough to lightly coat your pan
5 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained, rinsed and shaken dry in the colander
1 large bowl of spinach, rinsed and shaken dry
1 handful Kalamata olives in brine, pitted and roughly chopped
1 handful roasted, salted cashews, roughly chopped
1 handful raisins
2 splashes balsamic vinegar
A few shakes of salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Starting out with everything in its place