Sabich Bowls with Katy
I’ve known my friend Katy since we started school together in the sixth grade. Throughout middle school and high school, we were never exactly friends but we were friendly. We had some classes together and overlapped in several extracurriculars (waterpolo, track, school newspaper), but I never went to her house or to one of her birthday parties or anything like that.
The connection was strong enough that when I started running into Katy in the years after college when we were both living in apartments near Duboce Park, it felt natural to say hello and chat. These chats revealed that we had a lot in common. This is not all that surprising given that we both spent ages 0-18 in the same town and both ended up working in the tech industry. But also, we are kindred spirits.
Soon enough, our run-ins on the N Judah and at the coffee shop turned into intentional hangouts. I even invited Katy to be my roommate. So then we shared an apartment for two years. Later, we both moved in with our significant others and she spent some time living in DC and then returned to San Francisco right around the time I moved to Oakland. But we’ve always managed to see each other on a regular cadence. And then, last year, Katy and her family moved to Berkeley, which has meant that we can see each other even more regularly. Life, it seems, is conspiring to keep us together.
In addition to our love of reading novels and drinking coffee, one thing Katy and I have in common is that neither of us is particularly skilled or interested in food preparation. I remember discussing shared dinner plans one evening in our apartment on Divisadero and deciding it would be fun to “have a barbeque,” which Katy enthusiastically supported by buying pre-grilled salmon at the Falletti Foods deli counter. We’ve had many fantastic homemade cheese plates together, but the vast majority of the meals we’ve shared over the last 13 years have been takeout or at restaurants.
So when I told Katy that I wanted to “get more into cooking” this year, I was thrilled to hear that she also has recently started making more time and space for food preparation in her life. Together, we made “Sabich Bowls,” a recipe from the NYT. And, true to our spiritual twinship, she showed up at my house wearing the exact same pair of black jeans that I was wearing.
The bowls were easy to make, beautiful looking, and delicious! The experience of making dinner with a friend brought me back to the days of having a roommate and I’d like to do more friend hangouts that include preparing a meal together. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
1½ pounds Italian eggplant (1 large), cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt and black pepper
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed
¼ cup tahini
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
8 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 Persian cucumber, cut into ¼-inch cubes
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
4 cups cooked rice or grains, for serving
Shredded cabbage, pickles (preferably Israeli), hot sauce, hard-boiled or fried eggs, for topping (optional)
Preparation
Heat oven to 425 degrees. On a large sheet tray, season eggplant with salt and pepper, drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the oil and toss to evenly coat. Push eggplant to one side. In the empty space, combine 1 cup of the chickpeas and 1 tablespoon of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to evenly coat, then mix with the eggplant and spread mixture in an even layer. Roast until eggplant is tender and chickpeas are golden and crispy, stirring halfway through, 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine the remaining chickpeas with the tahini, 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, the garlic, soy sauce and ¼ cup of water; pulse to combine. With the machine running, drizzle in the remaining ¼ cup of oil; purée, then season with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumber, parsley and the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, and mix well.
Divide rice or grains into 4 bowls; top with separate piles of the eggplant mixture, tomato salad and other toppings of choice. Drizzle generously with some of the tahini sauce. Garnish with parsley and serve warm.
Here’s Katy with her bowl:
