Sometimes, grocery shopping can seem like the most mundane task. Must buy food, must think of ways to prepare food to sustain myself. Nutrition, budget…ugg. But other times, I’m like a kid in a candy shop and the experience leaves me positively giddy.
Yesterday was a perfect example of the latter. I went shopping, hoping to find something at least reasonably interesting to make for dinner. I set my hopes fairly low, aiming for decent salad greens and maybe a piece of fish. Well, I never quite made it to the fish counter because I got side tracked by all of the great spring produce. Finally! Ramps! Fava beans! Beautiful artichokes! Asparagus! Oh my! I scraped my original plans, loaded my basket with spring greenery, and came up with a plan B.
The asparagus is going on a flatbread tomorrow night, the artichokes were prepared in my favorite way (and something I should really share here one of these days), and the ramps and fava beans were folded into this luxurious risotto. Eaten with good wine on a relaxed evening in, it was just the way to pass a(nother) rainy spring evening.
Let me start by telling you this: this is the third batch of these muffins that I’ve made in three weeks–that’s the sort of muffins we’re dealing with today. They’re the kind of muffin that’s good not only in the warm, comforting morning treat way, but also the I-don’t-have-to-feel-remorseful-all-day-over-what-I-ate-for-breakfast kind of way. And, to be completely honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if I whip up another batch as soon as this one is gone.
Many of my favorite dishes are the ones that have the ability to transport. You inhale, take a bite, and suddenly you’re not sitting at your kitchen table anymore, you’re off exploring the world or being whisked back a couple of decades and remembering a dinner you ate half a lifetime ago.