Cooking with Pride: Chickpea & Spinach Rice with Soy-Braised Tofu
Written By Natalie Hester
Adult Services Librarian
Modern cookbooks are so much more than just the food itself. They have a focus on telling the stories of the author and recipes. This is very different from the cookbooks I grew up using, which tended to be compilations of homespun recipes from different contributors, some of these being so repeated in our cooking rotation that they were falling out of their binding. However, there’s something wonderful about the expanded story of the modern cookbook. Authors have a chance to be more expressive in their instruction and narration, and to lend additional meaning to a recipe. This Pride Month for the blog, I was looking forward to featuring a queer chef and found the perfect new-to-me cookbook.
Julia Turshen’s What Goes With What is all about relaxed cooking, with an emphasis on flexibility and personal taste. I read and enjoyed the vignettes in the book about Turshen’s life and career, particularly “On Queer Cooking,” in which she discusses the importance of a safe, positive, and affirming kitchen which embraces all bodies and identities. In this cookbook, she’s made a conscious effort to reflect her lived queer experiences in the recipes, approaching meals with new and creative perspectives. She’s not afraid of breaking conventions and doing things a little differently, and the cookbook feels so approachable because of it.
It’s been a hot summer already and I was really tempted to make a recipe that didn’t require oven use, so I compromised when I saw chickpea and spinach rice, which only requires a little stovetop time (listen, I love a chickpea dish – remember my hummus?). And, since I had a block of tofu in the fridge, I went ahead and made Julia’s recipe for soy-braised tofu with scallions too.
Earlier, I mentioned the approachability of Julia’s recipes. Truly, this would be a great beginner cookbook. The rice ingredients all come together in one pan in stages, first with your onions, then spices, then liquids for simmering. I left it to cook and started prepping for my tofu, at which point I heard an intriguing noise outside: the melodious song of Mr. Softee. It lured me out like the child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and I enjoyed an appetizer ice cream cone before continuing on with the tofu.
Back inside, I started chopping for the tofu dish: ginger, scallions, and garlic. This is the point where I tell you I have never cooked with fresh ginger before. I love ginger and I’ve made recipes that called for it, but it always felt so intimidating that I’ve just used dried ginger. And honestly, the fresh ginger makes this tofu so good. I’m glad I finally made the leap because it really wasn’t a big deal at all – I had just built it up in my head. I browned the scallions and added garlic and ginger, followed by the liquids and tofu pieces. Once that cooked for a few minutes, it was done!
For the plating, I put my rice dish down and topped it with feta and dill. Then added my tofu on top with a sprinkle of salt. The rice dish on its own was delicious. I will absolutely make this again (in fact, I had it leftover for breakfast with a fried egg on top). The tofu was a lot like the tofu recipes I normally throw together, but fresher and more exciting. I’m going to be honest, I did not think about the two dishes having conflicting flavor profiles. I just thought, tofu, rice, and veggies – three things I love! And maybe the pairing of flavors between these components is kind of weird with the dill, feta, scallions, and soy. But I very much enjoyed it, and I never promised to be a true chef! (Cooking should be fun!!) And both of these together and separately are still on my mind. It’s amazing how a little bit of extra effort really does make the difference.
All in all, I will definitely be trying more recipes from this cookbook. Julia’s approach is casual but still delicious and innovative. I can feel her warmth and spirit on the page, too – I think we’d be kindred spirits. She says in her cookbook, “When I pause and think about it, I realize that the way I approach cooking is just like how I approach gender and sexuality: there’s no one right way. And isn’t that so wonderful?”
Happy Pride Month, TFPL! Thanks for following along with me, happy reading, and happy cooking!
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