Look at my perfect math vegetable.

I spent all day in math class today, a crash course in functions and calculus.

Then I come home, and Mark has brought this perfect fractal home from the farmers' market.

It's a Romanesco broccoli, also called a Roman cauliflower, or coral broccoli.

I don't want to cut it.

Sometimes, when someone decides to be an asshole, they say something to me like, "Well, what about plants? Don't you think plants have feelings?" (Unfathomably, used as a reason why I should eat animals, because there's an outside chance plants might have feelings.) Obviously, such a statement doesn't get a serious response.

But in this case?

It's not that I think it has feelings. It's just that it spooks me, because I think it might have reason. How did it do the math, to come up with those perfect spirals and cones? It's a plant. It grew its nutrition into spines and cones like a coral. Shouldn't it live free under the water somewhere off a coast? Shouldn't something with tentacles develop a partnership with it that allows them both to hunt?

Look at it from different angles:


Any non-profit types reading this know how to open a museum?

On top of being stunning, this thing is a good source of vitamin C, potassium, and carotenoids, among other things, I'm sure, but they don't list it on NutritionData.com.

OK. It's late at night. I took a lot of time to unwind after my seven-hour math class today. I couldn't go to the farmers' market this morning; class started at 9 a.m. But I hear we did very well at the market.

Saturday shopping list

That perfect Roman cauliflower
10 Brussels sprouts (a pint)
1 head of green leaf lettuce
1 bunch of kale
4 small white onions
2 red onions
maroon carrots
1 pint tomatillos
2 leeks
blue potatoes
white potatoes
2 portabella caps
1 very large garlic bulb
1 oz ground rosemary
1 loaf multi-grain bread
3 chocolate-banana muffins

total: reportedly about $33

I don't see how that's possible, but that matches up with the amount of money we still have, so OK. Pretty miraculous. I think he flirted with all the Amish girls and got crazy discounts. Heheh. That's my baby.

I was going to broil some potatoes tonight, which would have been my first experience with broiling anything.

When the kitchen filled with smoke, I changed my mind, and after it cleared out, I roasted some blue potatoes.

They are dressed with olive oil, rosemary, oregano, garlic (2 cloves, crushed), and salt. Roasted in the oven for about half an hour at about 375 degrees. But... 375 degrees after pre-heating the oven to broil and then turning it off and letting the kitchen air out, so, however many degrees that is.

I needed some good food. Last night, I fed myself fried potatoes, sauerkraut with semi-nasty fake hot dogs, and raw tomatillos. I was kind of down and only got lower after that dinner. The potatoes were undercooked. Today I had Subway for lunch (6" Veggie Max on wheat with spinach, lettuce, tomato, onion, green peppers, and mustard, and a bag of barbecue chips). After class, I had a tofu hoagie from Fu-Wah, which is great, but, you know, it's another tofu hoagie from Fu-Wah.

So tonight, with the perfectly-roasted and seasoned potatoes, I had a couple of Brussels Sprouts I had seared in a pan with just oil and salt. Brussels Sprouts are great for protein and iron. I love how the outer layers of the sprouts get crispy in the oil, and I love the burned taste of the browned, cut edges.

Here are things I want to do in the coming days: Make a potato-leek soup and garnish each bowl with crispy Brussels Sprout layers. Make mashed potatoes and do the same thing. Do something with that perfect vegetable at the start of this post.