Ramping it up

Well, that exam sure was fun! Hearty thanks to my husband for enduring my Gchat soliloquies on the uterus and on disorders of what I insisted upon calling the "trumpet 'n' skittles." Hopefully it will be a good long time before I have to think about things like choriocarcinoma (basically placenta cancer) again.

I cleansed myself* with a short but intense run, followed by some NYUSoM vinyasa. In between: performing some abdominal exams in Bellevue and visiting both the World's Most Crowded Trader Joe's and the Union Square Greenmarket, where I managed to find [drumroll, please!] ramps.

Ramps, which the French call by the charmingly pastoral term ail des bois, are a type of wild leek. They're only in season for a few weeks, which has been shortened by the horrible weather we're having. It's the tail end of said season, and to be frank the ramps weren't too chipper-looking. I trimmed off a few unsalvageable bits and broke them down so that they'd last me a couple meals.

 The bulbs and half the greens will appear later in the week; I steamed the remaining greens, along with some spinach, and chopped them roughly. Meanwhile, some cherry tomatoes were in the midst of a six-hour oven-dry.

I snipped some leaves off my newly purchased basil plant and chopped them, then cut some slices of mozzarella. All these ingredients, plus a little black pepper, went on a homemade wheat tortilla for a caprese quesadilla with steamed greens.

This was good. Like, really good. Really, really good. Ramps taste like mild leeks with overtones of green garlic, which combined perfectly with the spinach. It's too bad this was my only shot at them until next year.

Argh, so blurry!

Oven-dried tomatoes
Slice cherry or grape tomatoes in half and toss with a tiny amount of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of pepper (along with whatever other herbs or spices you're into). Place them cut side up on an ungreased baking pan and put them in a 180-degree oven for five to eight hours, or until they're just barely moist.

Wheat tortillas
3 oz bread flour
3 oz whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil (or butter or lard)
1/3 to 1/2 cup almost-boiling water

Work the oil, butter, or lard into the flour and salt. Stir in the hot water with a fork; the dough should be cohesive, but not very sticky. Knead for three to four minutes. Divide the dough into four to six pieces (depending on how big you want your tortillas) and let it rest for at least half an hour. Roll the dough very thin; the tortillas should be seven to eight inches in diameter. Preheat an ungreased skillet over medium-high heat and cook the tortillas for 30 to 45 seconds on each side. They should be golden, but not crisp! Keep them warm under a kitchen towel until serving. Wrap them in a damp towel and microwave them to reheat so that they stay pliable.

*Okay, this sounds thoroughly disordered. It's not, I swear. All I mean is that the workout functioned as an excellent reset. Reproductive unit: over. GI, here we come!