Sunshine on a rainy day

Tonight, we pulled dinner from a new vegetarian classic, Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. The Linguine with Orange Sauce and Cilantro couldn't have been easier. I squeezed a half dozen oranges, which yielded enough juice to set over a low boil with some crushed garlic cloves and sliced ginger. While that was reducing, I put some linguine on to cook. Strain the garlic and ginger chunks out of the orange syrup, add a little olive oil, chopped cilantro, and some pasta water and, voila, you have dinner. I will say that this probably wasn't a very good dinner on its own, speaking from a nutrition point of view. It needed a salad, or even some steamed broccoli and sugar snap peas tossed in the sauce along with the pasta. Sliced baked tofu would be good, too, and for those not mucking about with a vegetarian diet, the sauce would be great over chicken. Nonetheless, this was truly a 30-minute meal, and one that was refreshingly bright on a winter night.

I also came home to my first delivery of Rancho Gordo beans. The cooks over on the CLBB have been all abuzz about these heirloom beans, and company owner Steve Sando has even weighed in. He seems like a very nice guy, and he's very knowledgeable about his beans. Being much fresher than supermarket dried beans (and with much more variety available), this is reputed to be the beginning of a sublime bean relationship. I couldn't be more excited to get started cooking a pot or two of these, although it will probably be the weekend before I can even consider it. It's so hard to decide what to start with. Christmas limas? Good Mother Stallards? Black Valentines? Borlottis? Yellow Indian Woman? Ojo de Cabras (Goat's eye)? I might have to just randomly pluck, something out of the box and start cooking!

Tomorrow night is a meeting night, so I know there will be no cooking. We'll enjoy leftovers (the Boulangerie Beans and Potatoes from last night have melded into a wonderful, homey bowl of goodness) or planned overs (Sloppy Lentils with Wheatberries, or more of that Lentil Soup--oh, how I wish I'd had some of that for lunch, too). I hope you enjoy the night with whatever you decide to nurture yourself with.

Linguine with Orange Sauce and Cilantro

Copyright: Jack Bishop, A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen

1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice

1 1-inch piece unpeeled gingerroot, cut into 5-6 thin slices

2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

1 pound linguine

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves

1. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot for cooking the pasta.

2. Bring the orange juice, ginger, and garlic to a boil in a large skillet over medium heat. Reduce the heat a bit and simmer until the mixture is syrupy, about 10 minutes. (Really, do more than simmer here, or it will take forever. A low boil is more like it.) Pour the mixture through a strainer and discard the ginger and garlic. Return the syrupy liquid (you should have about 1/3 cup) to the skillet. Whisk in the oil and add salt to taste.

3. Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Add the pasta, 1/4 cup of the cooking water, and the cilantro to the skillet with the orange sauce and turn the heat to low. Toss for about 1 minute to coat the pasta, adding more cooking water if necessary to moisten the pasta. Serve immediately.

Read the discussion of this recipe here.