Food Angel

When I first visited San Francisco two years ago, Dan and I got into the city from the airport via the subway, or BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) if you want to be technical. We got off the train at the Powell Street stop and took the elevator up to the street. I almost began to weep with joy as soon as I got out. There were people everywhere! Loads and loads of people walking and talking together, men in suits, a guy playing the saxophone, women wearing black and sporting the noses and breasts that they were actually born with. The sky was overcast and a slight mist hung in the cool air. Did someone reroute my BART train to heaven? Dan and I walked to our hotel (oh, to walk city blocks again!), stowed our bags in our room and went outside to join the San Franciscans and walk in their beautiful city. It had been so long since I?d actually passed another human being on the street without the barrier of my car. I was overcome.

I know. I?ve been in Los Angeles past my expiration date. It?s not natural to spend so much time in a car: isolated from each other until we reach a destination miles and miles, and sometimes as far as the next county, away. How I miss being herded onto the No. 2 train at 96th Street only to have some businessman breathe gently into my ear as he reads the New York Times sports section over my shoulder while we cling together like canned sardines until the train arrives at the 59th Street station, where I disembark and we never see each other again. Now that?s what I call human contact!

In addition to the wealth of human contact that can be experienced simply by walking along Powell Street, San Francisco is also known for its culinary pleasures. I had my favorite non-New York pizza in San Francisco as well as my favorite minestrone?at different restaurants. I never go for minestrone, but I?m so glad I did. This San Francisco minestrone wasn?t full of chunky tomatoes in a watery, pinkish broth like the minestrones that made me move minestrone to the I Don?t Think So column. The broth was a vibrant scarlet filled with silky slivers of cabbage, perfectly tender zucchini and white beans, and I could taste the fresh rosemary in every spoonful. There was also a small Parmesan rind floating in my bowl that added an incredible depth of flavor. I knew Parmesan rinds were used in minestrone, but I really didn?t see the point. I was very happy to discover the point.

Still unable to believe my good fortune, I had to find some fault with the minestrone. Oh, I thought, I bet this was made with chicken stock. It seems like so many vegetable soups are made with chicken stock, and I think that?s just wrong. I quizzed the server, a sweet man who was really a musician, and he assured me the minestrone was made with fresh vegetable stock. I was out of faults. I had to accept that there was a perfect minestrone, and I had found it. I finished every last drop of that soup and didn?t really speak to Dan other than to say, ?Normally I?d share, but you sound like you?re coming down with a cold.?

That night in San Francisco, I think Dan and I were joined by a little food angel, because I can?t think of any rational reason why I would have ordered something I don?t really like only to wind up loving it so much that I thought of it constantly until I figured out how to make it myself. I sincerely hope my little food angel comes around more often?except, of course, when bugs or guts are on the menu.


Minestrone
Makes 8 servings

Serve this with a salad and a hunk of crusty bread, and behold?you have a truly satisfying meal. I made this with cannellini beans, also known as white Italian kidney beans. I don?t like those as much as white navy beans, which are smaller and just taste better to me. Garbanzo beans are also good here. The choice of beans is entirely up to you. Likewise, if you want some chunks of fresh tomato, feel free to add them. I used dried thyme and basil because that?s what I had, but if you have fresh on hand and want to use that instead, you have my blessing. Chop up about a tablespoon of each. A note about using broth instead of water when making soup: Mark Bittman, New York Times writer and author of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, says if you?re using good-quality ingredients and cook your soup long enough to allow a flavorful liquid to develop, stock isn?t necessary. I completely agree and almost always use water instead of stock when I make soup. But, if you want to ride the vegetable-stock wave, hop up on your surfboard and hang 10, dude.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup dry white wine (I like sauvignon blanc)
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
2 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch dice
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
4 cups sliced green cabbage
1 small Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (optional)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
4 cups water or vegetable stock
1 (15-ounce) can white beans, drained and rinsed
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional)

1. Heat olive oil in large pot. Sauté shallot until tender, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine, carrots, zucchini, salt, pepper, thyme, basil, rosemary and cabbage. Simmer, partially covered, until cabbage wilts, about 5 minutes.

2. Add Parmigiano-Reggiano rind, tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until all vegetables are tender and flavors blend, about 30 minutes. Add the beans and simmer, partially covered, another 10 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.

3. Discard parmesan rind, if you used it. Ladle soup into bowls and pass grated Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table, if you?re rolling that way.