Greens, beans and brand new life

Highly Enthused is a newsletter, once a podcast, concerning all the best things to consume in life. It’s written twice per month by Sophie McComas-Williams and Sophie Roberts, and today’s dispatch is written by SoRo! The majority of each newsletter is free, but there are five extra recs in each for paid subscribers. That’s often where the gold nuggets lie. Thanks for being here!

July! It’s been a month of numb fingers, dark mornings and frigid winds. But I’ll love it forever because three-ish weeks ago my sister gave birth to a perfect baby girl and I officially entered my aunt era. I am - to be clear - the honorary aunt of a significant number of kids already. Andrew and I are quite the hit on the five and under circuit. But I can’t lie, something came over me when little Addie was born that feels like a full blown obsession. At first I was just excited that the baby was here and my sister was in one piece. Within two hours it was more like “oh wow, she’s..the best baby that’s ever existed?” Her perfect little mouth! Her cheeks! Her rolls! Her occasional resemblance to my dad! If you need me I’ll be over here oohing and cooing, and saving up to buy her a pony.

I was thinking about all the things I’ve eaten this month, and it didn’t seem entirely exciting. It’s been a fairly homebound month - whether its the cold, or the gluten free thing, or just the cost-of-living crunch - we’ve eaten most of our meals at home. I wanted to come to you with something with a bit of pizazz, but I just kept returning to the dish I’m currently cooking at least once a week. Like all my favourite ‘no recipe’ recipes, this is a template rather than a strict set of rules, and the original inspiration is lost to the sands of times. The name? I just call it “greens, (sausage) and beans”, and it’s as simple as the name suggests.

If you’re vegetarian all you need is onion and/or garlic, fennel seeds, chilli flakes, canned white beans, some vegetable stock and your leafy green of choice. A parmesan rind wouldn’t go astray here either. If you want to include meat, get some italian pork and fennel sausages out of their casings, or some pancetta or even a few anchovies. Have you got a floppy carrot, half a fennel or some sad celery in the crisper? Dice those up too. Want to make it go a little further? A handful of short pasta to toss in at the end.

Got everything? Ok, the method is simple. If you’re including the meat, you want to start by crumbling the sausage or dicing the pancetta and browning it in a good glug of olive oil in a dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pot. If you’ve gone the sausage route don’t be afraid to really get it sizzling - it’s all flavour baby. When the meat is mostly browned add in fennel seeds with a heavy hand, and a sprinkle of chilli flakes. Push the meat up to one side, add in your onion/garlic and sweat it down. If you’re skipping the meat start with the onion and garlic and throw in the fennel and chilli with them. Once they’re looking soft add in any other diced vegetables you rescued from the crisper. Season well and let sweat together in the pan. It should all be smelling really really good by now. If you’ve got white wine or dry white vermouth on hand glug some in and cook off the booze. Or skip this step entirely!

We’re on the home stretch now! Drain your white beans - one can or two - and toss them into the pot. Mix it all together, add in enough vegetable or chicken stock to cover and bring to a simmer. At this point I add in a few handfuls of roughly chopped greens. I’ve used kale, chard, english spinach, escarole, raddichio - whatever you have is fine. If you’re adding pasta, add a little more stock or water and throw in a handful here. Simmer until the greens have wilted, the pasta is cooked and it all tastes delicious. Ladle it into bowls with a shower of parmesan, a piece of garlic rubbed toast, a squeeze of lemon - or just eat it as it is. You’ll be cooking this more than once I can promise.

I’m starting to realise that my television tastes are uhh a little eclectic. Or at least I’m using that as justification for why I’m about to recommend you a ..Star Wars TV show? It is surprising to me too! But I figured it’s this kind of left of field rec that keeps you guys coming back right?

I didn’t choose to watch Andor so much as have it chosen for me. A Star Wars prequel/sequel (who even knows at this point) tv series following a minor character’s origin story sounds about as interesting to me as doing my taxes on time. But after watching the first few episodes I found myself fully invested, and thoroughly shocked that such an anti-colonial, anti-capitalist show had somehow slipped under the corporate radar at Disney. It follows Diego Luna’s character Cassian Andor (don’t ask me how he connects to the broader universe I don’t know) as he finds himself gradually pulled into the rebellion against the Empire. The show is beautiful to watch, with a non-CGI grittiness that you rarely see any more. But it was its central thesis on the rancid corruptness of colonialism and capitalism, and the sinister creeping spread of authoritarianism that kept me hooked to the very last moment. Don’t be put off by the Star Wars connection! I have no deep knowledge of the universe and it didn’t matter at all.

Late last year I became obsessed with the idea of tracking down some stainless steel ice cream coupes without having to pay $40 a pop at Hay. Do you ever get those highly specific fixations or is it just me? I ended up tracking some down on Etsy - the keyword searches that unlock pure gold are “inox ice cream” and “letang remy ice cream” - and they have significantly improved my life by being entirely charming and pleasing to use. They also do double service as a very chic greek yoghurt/blueberry breakfast bowl, and an alternate vessel for drinking martinis! Since buying them and copping the international shipping fee, I also stumbled across these equally charming Sundae dishes for $4.95 at a kitchen supply store! I don’t regret my original purchase, but I’m seriously considering grabbing these guys too.

A quick-fire rundown of the miscellaneous finds we’ve loved this month. In this edition: A new sparkling drink obsession, a frothy delight of a novel, a treasure trove of vintage kids clothes, strong opinions about rice and a vegetable themed vase!