(But a Food Processor and Well-Stocked Pantry Helps)
By REBECCA CRICHTON
Before I sold my house and moved into a rental apartment in 2019, I had two Chinese roommates over the course of three years. The women were in their 30s and on special visas so they could work in science labs at the University of Washington. We were remarkably compatible in ways that surprised me. The deepest connections were about food and education.
My housemates cooked every meal on my gas stove. They shopped at the Asian Food Market, acquiring a wide range of ingredients, some familiar and others either intriguing, confounding, or both. The only utensils they used were a sharp knife and a pair of long chopsticks.
When they felt comfortable enough to comment, they expressed amusement at the variety of cooking utensils I had in the canister next to the stove—wooden spoons of various sizes, spatulas, whisks, tongs, ladles, and other items I considered essential in a well-equipped kitchen. Watching them made it evident that my “essentials” were just preferences, and cultural ones at that.
I feel a similar level of judgment and amusement regarding some of my friends’ acquisition of the newest kitchen appliances: air fryers, panini and other countertop grills, Instant Pots and CrockPots, pressure cookers, sous vide devices, battery-operated thermometers, espresso machines, milk foamers, mini blow torches to create crackly caramels to top crème Brulee, mandolins for slicing, and spiralizers for vegetable “noodles.”
Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of electric machines I deem critical to my culinary happiness. I use my electric lemon juicer several times a week since lemon juice is a main ingredient for much that I prepare. My Cuisinart food processor, my third since they were first introduced in 1973, is always at the ready. I’m getting proficient with my immersion blender, and use my microwave daily to heat, melt, poach, and other things microwaves are good for.
Do I need them all? Not really. Would I be okay without them? Absolutely. I just choose to benefit from their help.
A friend who often dines with me knows how to trigger my Pavlovian instincts—he praises, I cook. When I tell him my dinner plans, he feigns salivating and inquires about breakfast in the morning. I always take the bait, which starts me thinking about how what is left from dinner might transform into breakfast.
My recent response: “Breakfast will emerge from what gets left from dinner. There is almost nothing that can’t be wrapped in a crepe or made into a soup or baked as a casserole!” Of course, whatever it is will be non-repeatable. One can never repeat those creative outbursts, but that is what we know about any creative offering.
Much of what I make comes from checking my pantry, scanning my refrigerator, scrolling the internet, perusing cookbooks, and sensing what I feel like ingesting.
I recently discovered that if I read cookbooks before I take my blood pressure, my pressure reading is lower than when I read the newspaper or a novel. Proof that food and its fascinations relate to my basic health.
Here are some staples currently in my pantry and three recipes utilizing them, two of which are made easier with a food processer:
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Canned fish: Tuna, salmon, sardines, anchovies
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Canned beans: Garbanzo, cannellini, navy, black beans, and dried or already cooked pulses—green and red lentils (I always keep a pack of vacuum-packed lentils in my pantry to turn into easy instant soups and salads.)
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Canned and bottled appetizers—stuffed grape leaves, tapenades—green and black, olives, capers, and pickled peppers.
Anchoïade Niçoise Bruschetta
Adapted from a James Beard recipe
This spread will intrigue your guests as they try to guess what the ingredients are. Serve it as a topping on toasted, garlic-buttered bruschetta.
Ingredients
⅔ c. (160 ml.) toasted filbert nuts
1 c. (240 ml.) dried figs, stemmed and quartered
1 2-oz. (56.75 gr.) can anchovy fillets with oil
3 garlic cloves
¼ c. (60 ml.) olive oil
Directions
In a food processor with the metal blade in place, add the filberts to the beaker. Process until finely chopped.
Without removing nuts, add figs, anchovies with oil, and garlic. Process, turning on and off, until very finely chopped and beginning to purée.
Continue processing and slowly add oil through the feed tube to make a smooth paste.
Makes about 1-½ cups.
Tuna Olive Tapenade
Ingredients
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 c. pitted kalamata olives
2 T. capers
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Handful of sun-dried tomatoes
½–1 can anchovies, drained and rinsed
2 T. lemon juice and some grated lemon rind
2 T. olive oil
¼ cup crumbled feta
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can drained tuna (either in oil or water)
Directions
Place the garlic cloves into a blender or food processor, and pulse to mince. Add the olives, capers, mustard, anchovies, lemon juice, and olive oil. Blend until everything is finely chopped. Add the tuna and pulse until it is incorporated, but not pureed.
Lentil and Walnut Salad
Ingredients
1 or 2 packages of vacuum-packed lentils from Trader Joe’s
The remaining ingredients are per pack of lentils:
1 c. toasted walnuts
2-3 T. fresh tarragon, chopped fine
3 T. chopped sundried tomatoes (the moist ones in a package, not with oil)
1 red onion, chopped and ‘tamed’: Put chopped onion in a microwave-safe glass bowl, add 3 T. red wine vinegar, and microwave for 2 minutes. Onions get sweet, and the remaining vinegar can be used in the dressing.
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 c olive oil or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Break up lentils with hands or wooden spoons—try not to mush them up too much.
Add other ingredients and mix well. The mixture should be nicely moist, but not too wet.
Taste for balance. You want a distinct flavor of tarragon and tartness, but not overwhelming.
Rebecca Crichton is executive director of the Northwest Center for Creative Aging and presents programs on that topic in the Seattle area. She worked at Boeing for 21 years as a writer, curriculum designer, and leadership development coach. She has master’s degrees in child development and organizational development and is a certified coach.
More recipes from Rebecca Crichton on 3rd Act: