My body yearns for salad¡Buenas! After some 10 days gorging myself on pan con tomate and patatas bravas and Basque cheesecake and torrijas, I am back from Spain with a renewed appetite for some vegetables, please, for the love of God. By the time my friend and I arrived at a waterfront restaurant about 30 minutes outside San Sebastián, it had been days since we had eaten anything green — save for a platter of blistered shishito peppers and the olives that garnished our vermouths. So when I spotted a “green salad” on the menu, I yelped. Although it constituted little more than crisp lettuces and thinly sliced white onion tossed in a puckery vinaigrette, it was a panacea for our gluttony. Not even the asparagus we ordered later that night, charred and tumbled with grilled stone fruit and hazelnuts over mounds of ricotta, was green; it was the plump white variety beloved in the region. A couple of days later, when a simple arugula salad with Parmesan materialized on a menu in Madrid like a mirage, I practically begged to order it. I would not see arugula again until I returned home to a clamshell of the stuff wilting in my fridge. While away, I yearned not only for the crunch and snap of a pile of veggies, but also, after a steady diet of restaurant food, for some good ol’ home cooking. One of the first things I cooked when I found myself back in the kitchen was a version of Sue Li’s new recipe for peanut noodles with spicy tofu, vegan and already racking up those five-star reviews. I implore you to make it this week. Inspired by Hetty Lui McKinnon’s basil tofu, also coincidentally vegan, I blistered some green beans, red bell pepper and fresh chiles over high heat and then tossed them with my peanut noodles. I felt like a dialed-in D.J., seamlessly blending one song into the other. Those are two dishes with the same b.p.m. Jenné Claiborne’s smart and surprising vegan spring vegetable frittata sounds especially good right now — no eggs, no dairy, no bread, just in-season asparagus and spinach, some blended tofu, seasonings and my favorite pantry staple, nutritional yeast. I do wonder, when my hunger for Spanish tortilla returns, if I might be able to make a version with shingled potatoes and onion. There’s only one way to find out. Vegan Spring Vegetable FrittataMy weekend plans, beyond finally unpacking the suitcase that has been on my floor for more than a week, include making a Big Green Salad. Several, really. I’m itching for Hetty’s crunchy spring iceberg salad, specifically its spicy cilantro yogurt dressing, and Sue’s summery coconut-lime wedge salad as the temperature starts to creep into the 80s. Here, crunchy crumbles of coconut flakes, sweetened with agave or maple syrup, do the textural work of bacon in a traditional wedge salad. I think I’ll make extra and use them like granola elsewhere. Back at the restaurant on the Urola Coast, I pretended the green salad we ordered was Via Carota’s insalata verde. But it wasn’t, so I think now I’ll have the real thing, using Samin Nosrat’s recipe and the nice olive oil I brought home. I’ll admit, my drinking habits remain decidedly Spanish. When I made Sue’s peanut noodles Monday night, I ran down to the store for Sprite and made a couple of tintos de verano. That’s the drink of the summer, by the way. I mean, it’s right there in the name.
Peanut Noodles With Spicy Tofu
Coconut-Lime Wedge Salad
Tinto de VeranoFor a limited time, you can enjoy free access to the recipes in this newsletter in our app. Download it on your iOS or Android device and create a free account to get started. One More Thing!Given my recent absence, it has most likely been a few weeks since anyone reminded you that our cookbook, “Veg Everything,” comes out on Sept. 15 and that you can preorder it today — right now, even. If you love this newsletter, you’ll love this book. Now, I need your input: What cities should be on my radar for a “Veg Everything” book tour? Where do my Veggie pals live? Let me know! Maybe I’ll see you in the fall. But I’ll definitely see you next week. Thanks for reading! Email us at theveggie@nytimes.com. Newsletters are archived here. Reach out to my colleagues at cookingcare@nytimes.com if you have questions about your account.
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