Orzo with Asparagus

If you had told my two-years-ago self that COVID would still be a thing prompting angst today, I'd probably have wilted and become catatonic, so thanks for not telling me. 

Remember April 2020, when even the trees wore masks?

Rest assured I'm shortly going to tell you about a vegetarian recipe--presumably that's why you're here--but I thought it would be interesting to record the peculiarities of my 2022 COVID angst, perhaps for the amusement of my two-years-from-now self. 

For me, the 2022 angst comes from two concerns:

1. The optimal window for getting COVID: I haven't had COVID, as far as I know. But it is everywhere right now. I know several people who currently have it or are recovering, and cases are ticking upward in our school district. Careful though I still am (I was literally the only person wearing a mask at a dance party last weekend, for example), I am sure I won't dodge it forever, and I am counting on my vaccination and booster to help me make a strong recovery when it happens. But some moments would be better than others for catching it, you know what I mean? You don't want to get COVID before a vacation, or a visit from far-flung family, or the twee tea party you're planning on throwing to celebrate the Queen's platinum jubilee. Therefore, during moments when none of those things looms, part of me just wants to get infected and get it over with. That's why I double-masked on a flight to visit my mom this month, but I single-masked on the way home because my trip was over and it seemed like it wouldn't be the worst moment to get sick--although for better or worse, I'm still healthy after my return. OR AM I? Because there is also...
2. The constant uncertainty about whether I may have COVID: Pre-testing before gatherings last year gave me the confidence that I could safely be with other people. But the tests are just kind of crummy at detecting the Omicron sub-variants that have dominated in 2022. So when you feel sick or you know you've been exposed to COVID: you test, it's negative, and yet you are still left wondering whether you have COVID. That's maddening. Or, knowing you're likelier to accurately test positive after you've been infected for a few more days, you might delay using the tests you've stockpiled, which is paradoxically both rational and reckless. Then let's throw vast quantities of seasonal pollen into the mix, and with every sniffle I'm wondering daily whether I might have COVID, and I know others who feel the same way. 

Good food is a balm whenever we have angst, and good vegetarian food is a balm when some of our angst inevitably comes from the climate crisis. Producing animal-based foods accounts for greenhouse gas emissions that are almost double the emissions from cultivating food from plants (Xu et al, Nature 2021). Greenhouse gases trap heat around the Earth, leading to devastating climatic changes.

Here's a vegetarian recipe that I thought was terrific: "Lemony Orzo With Asparagus and Garlic Bread Crumbs" (NYT Cooking; subscription required). It is also quite simple. As always, I peeled the asparagus before cooking it; like Julia Child, I consider unpeeled asparagus to be barely a gastronomic object.

My backup dancers agreed that it was tasty, though they were not wild about the parsley. One of them felt it should have been chopped more finely, which I'll do next time I cook this dish. Dill would have been a good substitute from a texture perspective, but I myself don't care much for dill.

Let's check back in with this post in 2024, shall we? Fingers crossed that by then, COVID angst of all varieties will be well in the rearview mirror. If not, it's probably better that I can't see what's coming.