We’re having an unseasonably cold week here in Nashville.
Our rattlesnake masters are sending up winding buds, big milkweed leaves blow in the wind, coreopsis and columbine are blooming; even the tomatoes and tomatillos have started to make yellow flowers. Yet the sky is grey, the temperature is brisk and I am wearing a wool sweater. I can’t remember being this cold in May since the first year I lived in Boston, when I called my Mom crying at 1am from a house party because my liquid jacket (vodka) wasn’t doing the trick.
Tonight I think a liquid jacket is once again in order, but this time it’s obviously going to be soup. I’ll boil ho fun until they’re chewy and glossy and a touch translucent, then fish them out of the water so I can drop in snow peas (fresh out of the garden!) for just a minute or two. I’ll arrange both in a big bowl of tantan broth leftover from a Sun Noodle kit and garnish it with flat leaf chives and baked tofu. Oh yes, I’m still freezing my tofu directly in the packaging to make it pleasingly spongey. Once it’s defrosted, I like to give it a good squeeze, break it into rough pieces with lots of nooks and crannies, and toss with oil, nutritional yeast and mushroom seasoning before baking at 400F (convection, of course) for about 20 minutes.
On the side, a blood orange Spindrift.