seasons

I've got a lot more free time these days. No, that's a lie. I know how to better use my free time these days. When you don't have parents to inevitably put dinner on the table or a stash of emergency sardines and rice for when you're trying to multitask studying/labwork with eating, you find a way to get off your ass and feed yourself. While entertaining all the food fantasies that race through your head at work. This is why it's truly a hobby now.

I was inspired by spring.

I think I'm always inspired by spring. It's the herbs. And the peas. And then I got radishes and asparagus in my Imperfect box, and I was overwhelmed with the possibilities. Granted... they all revolved around salads. Luscious green piles of spring salad with something carby. Or over top something carby. Something like preserved lemon and parmesan risotto.

Greens, roasted asparagus, mint, basil, peas, and radish slices with green za'atar and olive oil dressing.

Or over toasted rye bread with roasted garlic

But what actually inspired me first was not exactly the spring veggies. It was the squid ink. And it was the fact that I wanted to make squid ink pasta... but didn't have a pasta maker, so went with squid ink risotto instead. I must confess that the small amount I did manage to harvest from ink sacs only colored the rice to a light gray, so I closed the gap with a bit of black dye. And searched for all the white foods in Trader Joe's.

Cauliflower, roasted and steamed
Pearl onions
Cod pieces, lightly seared
Parmesan

Pretty into the visual.

Pretty into the contrast.

Pretty into the fact that seasons aren't actually a thing out here. But I can pretend it is with my food.