The coronavirus outbreak has rattled our daily lives, and things seem to change minute by minute. But there’s one constant: we have to eat. How do we cook among the chaos? What recipes do we lean on? How can we use cooking to stay calm? That’s what we’re exploring in this series,The Way We’re Cooking Now.
Mid-March usually marks a shift in my grocery shopping strategy: With the very earliest signs of spring, I trade in wintertime staples for the new season’s best produce—and hope that very soon, I can stick my beanie back in storage. Rather than sweet potatoes and squash, I fill my cart with fat English pea pods and bright pink radishes with the tops still on. I get herb-happy at the farmers market, bagging bunch after fragrant bunch of cilantro and mint. And I stake out the produce section forfresh rhubarb, pouncing the second the red stalks appear.
This year, however, I’m doubling down on the hearty stuff, like root vegetables, dried pasta,lentils, and canned chickpeas. Staying home and cooking from the pantry means that longer-lasting ingredients are a better investment than tender greens and other good-right-now produce, but I’m not willing to give up the flavors this time of year has to offer. Thankfully, I don’t have to: fresh-to-frozen and shelf-stable versions of spring favorites like kale, herbs, peas, and mushrooms, as well as fruit like apricots and strawberries, give my cooking all the seasonal brightness I’m looking for—without the fear that any of it will go bad in the fridge.
Herbs
Delicate herbs only last so long; extend their lifespan by blending whatever varieties you have on hand, once the leaves start to wilt, into a vibrantgreen sauce. Oil-based sauces likepesto,zhoug,chimichurri,chermoula, andsalsa verdekeep for about a week in the fridge but even longer in the freezer, making them a quick and easy way to get a hit of fresh flavor without a trip to the market. Remember the Pinterest-y tip that made the rounds a few years ago about freezing green sauces in ice cube trays, so you can toss one or two into a hot pan when you need to sauce some pasta or top a piece offish? Now’s the time to put that cute-but-also-functional advice into practice.
Greens
Kale, arugula, and other greens make great additions to herb sauces as well, and hold their own as the base of apesto, bulking it up at a lower cost than basil. My favoritespring pasta sauceis made from fresh, quickly blanched lacinato kale blended with garlic and cheese—verdant and good-for-me feeling, like a green smoothie but for bucatini. I keep an extra batch in the freezer for nights when I need a low-lift meal with all the flavor of a seasonal special at a fancy Italian restaurant.
As for spinach, frozen is as good (or even better!) than the fresh stuff, especially as a way to easily add greens tolasagnaandenchiladas. After thawing, squeeze out any excess water, then use however you would blanched fresh spinach, like in a springy, cheesyquiche.
Peas
Sweet peas from the freezer section are less starchy and more sweet than most of their fresh counterparts, and they require a ton less work to prepare. Toss a thawed fistful intocarbonara, blitz them intosoup, ormash themwith lemon and butter for a seasonal toast topper. I love to do an all-greenfried ricewith frozen spinach and peas, plus a ton of grated garlic and ginger (you can freeze those, too!).
Mushrooms
Dried mushrooms are a pantry godsend, and not just because they pack a seriousumamipunch. Rehydrating them in hot water (20 to 30 minutes should do the trick) creates a very flavorful broth to use anywhere you might use vegetable stock—but the mushrooms themselves are really where it's at. Squeeze them out, chop them up, and use them wherever you’d use fresh ones for the same earthy notes. I’m partial to whole dried shiitakes; they rehydrate well but keep their shape nicely in stir-fries and noodle dishes. Start from dried the next time you want acreamy, mushroomy pasta,meatless larb, orsavory galette.
Fruit
For springtime fruit flavors you’d otherwise be trawling the farmers market for, try baking with jam. You don’t have to can the stuff yourself: any great store-bought strawberry, apricot, or rhubarb preserve will provide the bright sweetness you seek, in the form ofjam barsandthumbprint cookies.
