Heart Eyes, Vol. 140: The Show of Delights and Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan
This week has felt like such a rollercoaster to me. I spent much of it struggling with the sameness and tedium of these winter weekdays, and willing time to speed up already, a depressing flashback to early quarantine. But today, the sun is shining where I live, and we’re on the cusp of a three-day weekend and a new administration—and just this morning, my parents made their vaccination appointments. I could not be more grateful and relieved and excited for them, and, honestly, for myself. So maybe time is passing, and things are changing? Let’s hope. Whatever you’re up to and however you’re honoring the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend, and as the next week unfolds, I wish us all peace, and appropriate justice, and joy in this world. I think you’re doing great.
What To Listen To: “The Show of Delights,” by This American Life
Would you like to listen to something wonderful today?
The 25-year back catalog of American Public Media’s show This American Life is, of course, packed with gems—the “Fiasco!” episode alone, come on—but I recently heard an episode that I think we all might need more than ever: “The Show of Delights.”
Guest-hosted by the journalist and playwright Bim Adewunmi, this episode is just what it sounds like: a show about delight that also…is delightful. (Which, isn’t that how delight works? True delight, ours or someone else’s, begets delight? I think so.) Patterned after the poet Ross Gay’s volume The Book of Delights, it’s an audio tour of joys big and small that stops, among other things, at a) a kindergartener living his dream of finally getting to ride the school bus, b) an old woman who’s really leaning into doing whatever she wants, and c) the comedian Tracy Clayton’s journey away from delight…and back. I listened in the car, puttering around the East Bay last weekend, and couldn’t stop smiling. You might like it, too. You can find “The Show of Delights,” and the rest of This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts.
What To Cook: Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan
This world is full of foods I love to eat but hardly ever want to cook for myself. Any kind of hand pie, for one thing. Anything deep-fried. And, for sure, eggplant parmesan. I love eggplant parm, with the sauce and the buttery eggplant and the melty cheese—but all that dredging and cooking and layering and cooking again? Is for special occasions and restaurants only.
HOWEVER. I made a pan of this stuffed eggplant parmesan back in December and felt like the Queen of England (as if the Queen of England stuffs her own eggplant!) without the hassle of the traditional dish. This is hearty, luxurious stuff for deep winter—vegetable-forward, but also saucy and spicy, with a bubbling, browning blanket of cheese—but it’s also simple enough for a weeknight, and keeps or freezes well. (Next time, I might double it and freeze half.) I used chicken Italian sausage, but the comments are packed with recommendations for making it with lentils, which I think you all know I’ll be trying sometime. You might like it too, for one of these chilly January nights.