Spicy Chickpeas & Cioppino (& a Hard Week)
Guest recs from Alissa Dos Santos, knife skills, and heart shaped pizza
A bunch of bad things happened in the past few days. This is true globally, nationally, and personally. I’ve got links and resources about the big picture issues and am working through the personal stuff. In the meantime, I’m glad you’re here and we have some things to look forward to.
We have a special guest in today’s newsletter, a friend from San Francisco, Alissa Dos Santos, who is sharing some of her recipes, recs, and reads (we met on Instagram, obviously).
I’m hosting a happy hour on May 26th in Brooklyn! We’ll be celebrating something I’ll share soon and I should have the venue confirmed by Thursday. Save the date if you’re in the area!
Erica and I have our knife skills class next week. If you saw the announcement and were like “that’s so far away, I’ll sign up later,” later is now! It’s going to be really useful and fun and Erica and I are a great team to teach it: she’s got the culinary school chops and I’ve got years of home cooking and teaching experience (and I’m a lefty and she’s a righty, so we can show both angles). You can sign up here.
Thursday’s newsletter for paid subscribers will feature Olivia Howell, founder of Fresh Starts Registry. I’m really excited to share our conversation and more about her company and story!
Okay, let’s dive in and let me introduce you to Alissa: Hi, hello! I’m Alissa Dos Santos. I’m a writer, marketer and the primary photographer of my dog Matilda (yes, she’s named after my favorite childhood book!). I’ve lived in San Francisco for more than a decade, but grew up in Louisville, Kentucky — the home of Derby Pie! I write a newsletter called The Dos and you can follow me on Instagram for photos of my dark chocolate lab (she’s 70% cacao) and views of my runs across the Bay Area.
Something to cook:
Alissa’s pick: Several years ago, I made these slow-roasted sweet potatoes with spicy chickpeas and blue cheese sauce. While I recommend the full recipe, if you have eight minutes to spare this week — just make the spicy chicks! Having a container of spicy garbanzo beans in your fridge is a game-changer. I throw these on grain bowls, eggs, greens or eat them straight from the container. Yum
I made broccoli cheddar grilled cheeses for lunch this week and they were a hit. I chopped the broccoli really small and cooked it with red pepper flakes, garlic, salt and pepper and then layered it with cheddar on bread (I used mayo to get a golden crisp). They were a little messy and a lot delicious.
Dale and I finally got a cocktail shaker and we broke it in with margaritas, our shared favorite cocktail (margaritas and negronis are tied as my favorite cocktail, very different moods). We used this simple recipe, got limes from the bodega with actually juicy limes and I made sure we had ritzy rims with margarita salts from Red Clay. They were delicious and fun to make.
Other easy hits: Cauliflower gnnochi with frozen peas! Roasted broccoli with lots of lemon juice, black bean quesadillas with lime sour cream and avocado. We kept it simple and good.
For Mother’s Day, we went over to my parents’ house with bagels, cream cheese, and lox from Simply Nova. They were a hit. To round out the meal, we had fruit salad with mint, cardamom iced coffee from Sababa, and tangerine mimosas.
Something to order:
Alissa’s picks: If you’re in San Francisco and like seafood slash spicy things (sensing a theme?), head directly to Anchor Oyster Bar. Do not pass Go and do not collect $200. Order the cioppino, then DM me a photo of you, seated at the bar with your lobster bib and a giant grin on your face. More of my go-to SF orders here! Ooh, and my favorite food product? Crushed calabrian chili peppers (I buy the Costco-sized one) to smear on toast, eggs, you-name-it. I also get a lot of runway out of this bench scraper, in case you’re on the lookout for a $12 cooking tool to help transport your chopped herbs and veggies to their desired location.
Dig (fka Dig Inn) has really stepped up their salad game. I tried their asparagus kale caesar salad for lunch on Thursday and it’s really good.
Leah very kindly sent over Williamsburg Pizza, including a heart shaped pie that made a rough day so much better.
Julia is back from Italy and she powered through jet lag to eat Taco Edition with Julianne and me. She also brought back aged parmesan straight from the factory. So good.
Tilden came over for a self care Sunday featuring Thai food, vegan mint chip ice cream and funny TV. Very good for the soul.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been starting my day with Nam Coffee*, which is Vietnamese coffee roasted in California. I love the Orange County blend and the packaging is really cute. Founder Vince Nguyen grew up in Pleiku, a Vietnamese city known for its tea and coffee, and missed those flavors once he moved to California to work in fashion. If you’re in the market for coffee, they have a free shipping promo now with code APAHM. *affiliate link*
Something to read:
Alissa’s pick: I’ll go in a different direction for a second — less spice, more feelings. I recently returned to this piece by Tim Urban about how precious our time is and how intentional we can be about it. While the data is a little sobering (surely I have more than 700 chances left to eat pizza?! 🍕😭), it’s also empowering. Want to spend more time with your best friend? Take the trip, or schedule a recurring phone chat. Want to eat more cioppino? Make it happen. Priorities matter and quality time matters — I’m in the driver’s seat and so are you.
How to host guests with food intolerances
What Does it Mean to Open a Restaurant in a Gentrifying Area?
So moved by Mattie Kahn’s writing about her great uncle Arthur Kahn, the first Jew killed by the Nazis, in 1933.
Put down the $1 margaritas and read 3 Mexican American writers on the twisted, troubling, and white-washed history of Cinco de Mayo.
Stop Telling People in Red States to Move When They're Faced With Devastating Bans
In the Bronx, tenants fought eviction and now are poised to own their building! We love to see it! Also, I submitted my testimony against raising the rates for rent stabilized units, here’s the link to share your perspective.
My talented friend Delia wrote a novel! Preorder it here!
Can motherhood be a form of rebellion? (a long and worthy read)
A fresh mozzarella sandwich worth traveling for
My friend Rachel Cantor put together this amazing Tydo Tables package all about the future of DTC brands in the packaged food space. It touches on sustainability, e commerce, and so much more! Definitely recommend taking a peek if you’re a fellow grocery nerd.
Asian American Identity beyond Asian and American
Italy’s version of the Long Island Iced Tea sounds intense
Disrupting the American funeral industry
U.S. Black farmers lost $326 Billion worth of land in 20th century. Reparations now!!
I’m intrigued by these chocolate chip cookies baked in a muffin tin
Rachel Miller’s reading list on why safe abortion access matters
The new abortion regime is going to affect everyone.
I share more reads in the Thursday newsletter!
Now, beige food! Oatmeal got a lot of love (as it should).
Julianne has me in the mood for risotto: Ian makes us oatmeal and it's such a good breakfast! Absolutely not something I'd ever photograph, however! But speaking of beige mush, I want to make your risotto recipe again. That is very nice!
Claudia’s oatmeal sounds so good: Have never replied to one of your Qs before but I have a strong love for oatmeal so it felt like the perfect opportunity. I love a super boring bowl of oats topped with maple syrup and cinnamon—something I like to call cinnamon toast oats, lol. Maybe some crunch PB if I'm extra hungry.
Mike is here to hype up kohlrabi: Melissa Clark's Caramelized Kohlrabi Soup is wonderfully beige. I wish more people knew how great kohlrabi is. I was buying some once and the cashier asked me if it was good. I told her it was fantastic. She asked me what it tasted like. I told her it was like a combination of cabbage, broccoli, and turnip. Her confused reply: "But you said it was fantastic."
This week, I’m curious about what you do or eat on very bad days. While doomscrolling is tempting, I try to go on a walk and procure something good (a cookie, a baguette, a fancy coffee). Reply to this email with your thoughts! Sending love to everyone struggling this week, it’s been rough.
I’ll see you on Thursday and thanks again to Alissa for her wonderful contributions this week!
xo, Abigail