The Weekly 5: A case for effortful recipes
Ukrainian cabbage rolls, miso risotto, shepherd's pie + more 🍲
Hi friends,
There’s this whole philosophy that us recipe developers seem to be beholden to. It’s the idea that the best recipes are “quick and easy” and/or “ready in just 30 minutes”. (
recently wrote about it eloquently here.)And on an average Wednesday, after schlepping home from work, when we’re starving and just want to switch into our cozy pants, those certainly are relevant criteria.
However, after cooking for multiple festive dinners in the past few weeks - and hosting my annual Friendsgiving for my girlfriends - I was reminded just how pleasurable it can be to spend a long time in the kitchen. How luxurious to run toward cooking for multiple hours, as opposed to away from it.
I think this festive season is a great time to dust off those lengthy recipes that take an hour-plus, so I’m offering five cozy ones from my archives below.
A quick note on kitchen comfort: there are a couple of things I like to do when I know I’ll be cooking for a long time (whether for a dinner party or my weekly recipe testing sessions). First, I wear my clogs, which have excellent arch support and help with joint alignment during prolonged standing. It seemed like a splurge at the time, but my pair has lasted seven years so far, and has helped me avoid a lot of back and hip pain. (An anti-fatigue kitchen runner can also do wonders.)
Secondly, I jam to my favorite music. (This speaker is a permanent fixture of our kitchen.) I’m really into the 50’s at the moment, and find that Sinatra and co pretty much always lift my mood. Choose whatever does the same for you - it really makes cooking feel way less like a chore.
1. Golubtsi (Vegetarian Ukrainian Cabbage Rolls)
Stuffed cabbage rolls in tomato broth are a staple of Eastern European home cooking. My vegetarian version has a mushroom and white bean filling with a splash of soy sauce for umami. Between assembling the filling, prepping the cabbage leaves, and rolling them up, I definitely file this in the “kitchen projects” category.
2. Miso Shiitake Mushroom Risotto
As far as I’m concerned, the secret to a rich and savory vegan risotto is cooking the rice in miso broth. Two formats of shiitake mushrooms (sautéed and baked into “bacon”) add a ton of umami, too. I personally find the babysitting of the rice quite therapeutic.
3. Vinegret (Russian/Ukrainian Beet Salad)
While this winter salad is technically simple to make, the delicate peeling of the boiled vegetables, then chopping them up into tiny cubes, do require a good amount of attention.
4. Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
Roasted vegetables and creamy cashew “ricotta” layered with oven-ready lasagna sheets, and topped with parsley-studded panko for a crunchy contrast.
5. Tempeh-Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie
Crumbled tempeh and cremini mushrooms simmered with red wine create a hearty, wintery filling for this meatless shepherd’s pie.
Planning to make one of these? Tell me how it goes in the comments section or tag me with your creation on Instagram.
May I share a tempeh/mushroom breakthrough I had last night (though you may already be acquainted) ? I wanted to use up a basket of mushrooms and a block of tempeh but didn’t feel like spending a long time. Since I usually poach tempeh before using (I put in an onion , carrot and celery etc as though it were chicken and save the broth) and since I have been reading some posts about cooking mushrooms in water and then sautéing, I cooked the crumbled tempeh and chopped mushrooms in a vegetable broth spiked with soy and ketchup until all the liquid had simmered away, then added oil chopped onion chopped carrot etc, some
Indian spice and cooked chicken peas, sautéed till onion translucent,finished with coconut milk. The braising of mushrooms and tempeh released very full flavors. Tomato and red wine would be another way to go