I’ll be the first to admit that I could do with eating more meat-free meals. The environmental virtues are impossible to ignore, and the health benefits are following pretty closely behind too. But you know what else is hard to ignore? My wife.
That’s not meant as some retrograde Jim Davidson-esque gag. Here’s the issue: my wife is from Brazil, and if there’s one thing Brazilians love, it’s eating meat. They’re obsessed with consuming animals and - generally speaking - know how to make the most out of what they do eat. The national dish - feijoada - traditionally calls for pig’s trotters and tails (as well as smoked ribs and almost any other part that’s going spare). Chicken hearts are a delicacy that I struggle to source at home in the East Midlands. In Brazil, though? Absolutely everywhere. Their steak is… well, actually, I tend to find that Brazilians overcook their famed beef. But who am I to tell them so?
Most meals I cook for my wife and I feature meat in some capacity. If I’m ever feeling guilty about that, I (try to) tell myself I’m honouring her national identity. Or I simply remind myself that tomorrow it’ll be lunch again, and I can do things my way.
Weekday lunches are a complex game in their own right for me - I used to eat a sandwich most days, but then I was diagnosed as coeliac and bread (or at least good bread) was off the menu. Thankfully, I also work from home, which means I have an hour each day to fill my boots in a well-stocked kitchen. It’s a step up from my days in a London office, and the Tesco meal deal.
While I frequently take the easy way out and open a can of soup, or make beans on toast (with a mountain of cheese and a couple of tablespoons of Aleppo pepper stirred in), the below dish has become my absolute favourite work-from-home lunch. Better still, to offer a little balance to my meat-heavy evenings, it’s 100% vegan!1
My favourite thing about these Korean-spiced Greens is just how versatile the dish is. It’s the perfect vessel for clearing out the vegetable odds and ends in your fridge. The base recipe calls for leafy greens - I prefer baby leaf greens, but currently I’m swapping in spring greens, which are about half the price while in season. I also include spring onions and mushrooms, but have happily swapped these out when I find myself lacking. As for additions, what have you got? Finely dice some carrots, or a red pepper. I’ve been known to throw in leftover roast chicken or beef when the fridge offers it up to me. Play around with it. See what works (sweetcorn kernels) and what doesn’t (diced tomatoes, which tend to end up an unlovable mush in this dish).
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