10 Things: Easy Food, Hardback Books
All my recommendations for what to read, cook, eat, listen to, consider, unfold, and transcend this week.
I should have read and written about this book months ago, when it came out. Instead, it kept getting pushed down my list, in one of those “This looks like it will be fun to read, so I’m going to save it for later, when I need a treat book” moves that turns into Never Reading The Book. (It’s the reading equivalent of not using your good stickers.) But since the authors were generous enough to send me an advance copy, my saving-something-good became downright rude.
I was right — this book is outstanding. It’s a graphic memoir about the band Pocket Vinyl (a very good band, it turns out!), and their mission to set a world record by playing a concert in every American state over the course of just 45 days. It’s full of interesting and helpful tips about touring —
— and is also hilarious and intelligent. The thing I loved most about it, though, was how it made me feel about humanity. Pocket Vinyl relies so much on the kindness of community, and often strangers. People show up for them, encourage them, and care for them — and they let people show up for them, encourage them, and care for them. (This isn’t universally true — there are also people who are mean, and people who are well-meaning but unhelpful — but they are far outnumbered.) There’s a scrappiness to the project that is reminiscent of everything that was fun about ‘zine culture in the 1990s, minus a lot of the toxicity present in that scene. Pocket Vinyl also has a playlist on their Spotify page that goes with the book, so you can listen along in real time to the songs that show up in the story. I was right to want to save it — it’s a 10/10 pure delight.
COOK FROM: The Weekday Vegetarians by Jenny Rosenstrach
I made a cauliflower steak with romesco sauce that was both easy (under 30 minutes) and fancy-looking — AND was eaten by my picky two-year-old.
(This is an adaptation; I bet Jenny’s version is better, but I cannot be bothered to follow a recipe exactly.)
To make: cut a head of cauliflower into half-inch planks. You’re going to bread and fry it, so set up a dredging station with your favorite breading combo — I went with four eggs mixed with a cup of almond milk in one dish, next to a cup of panko breadcumbs, flour, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and no-salt seasoning. Heat up some oil in a cast iron skillet; then dip the cauliflower first in the eggs and then in the breadcrumbs. (PS - JustEgg works JustFine.) Place in the oil and cook on medium heat for four minutes; then flip and cook for four minutes more. Repeat with all the cauliflower; drain on towels.
The romesco is so easy, and I often forget that about it. It’s like pesto, but with roasted red peppers and almonds. So: dump a jar of roasted red peppers, drained, in a blender; add about a cup of almonds, four cloves of garlic, a splash of vinegar (your fav), and salt, pepper, and olive oil. Blend until it’s the consistency that seems interesting to you — if it’s too thin, add more almonds; if it’s too thick, add more oil.
Plate with the romesco first, then the hot cauliflower on top.
LISTEN TO: Noname: “Sundial”
I am late to the party with this excellent album. I didn’t give it my attention until Luke submitted a track from it to a Music League round, and my jaw scraped the ground when I heard it. It was such a hit with our group that Luke racked up sufficient points with this track alone to win THE ENTIRE LEAGUE.
So I scurried off and listened to the whole album seven times in a row, and it is very nearly perfect. It’s also soul-crushingly cool. Do you want to be cool? Welcome to listening to this album. The coolness has happened.
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