blender sauce

for a long time i had a boyfriend i lived with, and we cooked all the time. it's been two months and as okay as i feel this morning i was up at seven biking around oakland crying. it was something i read that set me off.

i was with nate in the grocery store last week buying caramel apples, and someone was listening to what we were talking about... "you know how me and your dad are both chefs? we really fight about food." we had a style we called vitalitarian. it had something to do with eating lamb chops and a lot of raw vegetables. there was more to it than that, but i'm being flip.

this is what we made the last time we cooked dinner together: gluten free (corn) pasta with blender (tomato) sauce and live dinosaur kale salad.

it was right after i told nate me and his papa weren't going to be together forever and that we were breaking up and i was going to move. he said he was surprised, but that it was okay. he rubbed my leg while i tried not to cry. then he asked me to help him with his homework so we could do something fun. we walked to the corner store and bought ice cream and lottery tickets.

josh was at a meeting, and while he was gone i picked all the tomatoes out of our backyard garden. raised beds that he made for me. we collaborated and josh took care of the kale salad when he got home.

blender sauce is something i learned to make from my mom, and a version is in the cookbook of family recipes that she made for me. it's more method than recipe. same with the kale.

blender sauce

1. depending on their size saute slice 1 to 2 onions and cook over low heat with generous olive oil until clear, but not caramelized.

2. wash all of your tomatoes, about two pounds, which could be 4 to 5 really big tomatoes or 10 little guys. cut them in half around their equators and squeeze out the tomato water and seeds.

3. put cooked onions, raw tomatoes, maybe two branches worth of basil leaves and 1 to 3 cloves of fresh garlic in the blender. puree. re-warm the pasta in the sauce. it's better that way.

kale salad

1. wash 1 bunch dinosaur kale. roll the leave tightly and cut straight across (ribbon-cut).

2. add citrus juice or apple cider vinegar and salt and squeeze the leaves with your hands until they soften.

3. dress with a little bit of olive oil and adjust the seasonings.

we were a great team at dinnertime.