Fighting back, and sustaining ourselves
What a sad, scary, overwhelming week. I think I've said that a lot since I started this newsletter, but then I started this newsletter in mid-2017, so...that makes sense. I hate that we live like this, I hate that we've gotten used to living like this, I don't want to accept that our future as Americans is to live like this. Yesterday morning I woke up and thought about my friend Natalie, who I wrote a little about here when she died last month. School shootings and the gun lobby made her so angry, because she spent years living with cancer and fighting to have more time with her children, and that people could ever just concede that children will have to die because their guns are more important was unfathomable to her, as it is to many of us. Natalie lived in Texas, and her children are there, so I gave some money to Ted Cruz's opponent, Beto O'Rourke, because in order to change the gun laws in this country (and none of this will ever change unless and until we change the gun laws) we need to change the federal government. Give money to him, or to my friend Liz Watson, running in Indiana, or to a Democrat running in your community, or a Democrat running to unseat a Republican in the community of someone you love. If you can't give, volunteer your time, make phone calls, get on mailing lists so you can get out there and join protests, offer to babysit for people who want to protest who don't need childcare, do whatever you can. This didn't used to be life in America, and it doesn't always have to be life in America.
I spent this week reading about a very different country, and a book that coincidentally starts in the country a lot of us are watching this week in the Olympics. Pachinko starts in Korea with parents who have a son, and follows that son and his wife and their child for a little while, and then that child, who moves to Japan with her husband, and then her two children and their lives as Koreans born in Japan. It's an extraordinary book about family, struggle, identity, discrimination, love of all kinds and what that means to people, and I highly recommend it. It's epic in that same way that Homegoing was, and you know anytime I compare a book to Homegoing it's got to be incredible.
So I had a pretty tumultuous January, between two major family emergencies, lots of time spent in hospitals, a memorial service, and oh yeah, preparing for my book to come out. (If you sent me an email, or a Facebook message, or tweeted at me anytime in the past month or so and I didn't respond, that's why, and I'm sorry!). Because of all of that, I cooked very little, but here's one thing I've made in a variety of forms during that time, because it's super quick and also pretty healthy. It's basically some sausage, a green vegetable, and a can of beans all cooked together, and it takes less than ten minutes if you do it the fast way, and even doing it a longer way: say, if you want to do this as a pasta, or over quinoa or another grain, it takes about twenty minutes, and is satisfying and filling.
Sausage, Kale, and Bean Skillet (or pasta, or grain bowl)
Ingredients
2 hot or sweet Italian sausages, removed from the casing
1 bunch kale, chopped (or chard, or broccoli, or cabbage, or 10 or so chopped brussels sprouts, etc.)
1 can garbanzo beans or white beans, well drained
chopped garlic (optional, if you're rushing)
chopped onion or shallot (ditto)
pinch red pepper flakes (if you like spicy food)
(If you're doing to do this over pasta, start your water boiling now. Ditto for if you're going to do this over quinoa or farro, etc.)
Okay, so, this can all be done in one big pan, if you have a pan big enough, and if you're very tired. It's better if you do it in two pans, but I won't judge you if you do it in one!
Get two big skillets hot on the stove, one at medium high, one at medium. Into the medium high skillet, put in a few glugs of olive oil, and when that heats up, toss in the optional onion or shallot, and then the garlic, and then the red pepper flakes. After a minute or so, toss in the kale and the beans, along with some salt. In the other skillet, toss in the sausage, and break it up so it's in mostly crumbles. (If you're doing it all in one pan, add the sausage to the pan about a minute or so after the kale and beans are in there, the sausage cooks pretty quickly). Cook until the garbanzo beans are a little crunchy on the outside, if those are the beans you're using, if not, until the kale is nicely wilted and a little crunchy, and the sausage is browned. Combine everything if it isn't already combined, and add your pasta or grain if you're using that. Top with parmsean if you like, or just throw it all into a bowl and eat.
Have a great weekend, all. Take care of yourselves.
Jasmine
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