By Amber came for the weekend. She looked tired — the kind of tired that doesn't come from one bad shift but from two years of bad shifts stacked on top of each other, the pandemic and the understaffing and the patients who keep coming and the nurses who keep leaving and Amber who keeps staying because that's what Ambers do. She's twenty-six and she has the eyes of a woman twice her age when she talks about work, and then she smiles and she's my little girl again and I want to fix it and I can't fix it because you can't fix a healthcare system with a pork chop, although I intend to try.
Smoked ribs for her. Baby backs, rubbed with brown sugar and chili powder and garlic and paprika and a little mustard powder, smoked over cherry wood at 225 for five hours. I use the 3-2-1 method that I read about online — three hours unwrapped, two hours in foil with a splash of apple juice, one hour unwrapped again with sauce. The sauce is mine — ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, molasses, a little coffee, simmered until thick. It's not Betty's. Betty didn't do barbecue sauce. Betty did salt and pepper and lard and that was sufficient. The sauce is my own addition to the Hensley culinary tradition, and I'm proud of it, and Betty would say it's too much and I would say sometimes too much is exactly enough.
Amber ate half a rack. Half a rack of ribs, a pile of coleslaw, two pieces of cornbread, a bowl of baked beans. She ate like she hadn't eaten in a week, which she might not have, not properly. Nurses eat granola bars and cold coffee and whatever's in the break room vending machine, and that is not food, that is fuel, and there's a difference. I fed my daughter real food and watched the color come back to her face and the tension leave her shoulders and I thought: this. This is the work Betty told me about. The kind that uses your hands and feeds people. This is it.
The ribs were the main event, but that pile of coleslaw on Amber’s plate — that’s the thing I keep coming back to. She went through two helpings of it before she even touched the cornbread. This sunshine slaw with quinoa is my go-to when I want something bright and crunchy next to all that smoke and sweetness, something that cuts through the richness and makes you feel like you’re actually eating a vegetable. Betty would approve of this one — it’s simple, it’s honest, and it feeds people the way food is supposed to.
Sunshine Slaw with Quinoa
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup water
- 4 cups shredded green cabbage
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa. Combine rinsed quinoa and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and spread on a baking sheet to cool completely.
- Prepare the vegetables. In a large bowl, toss together the green cabbage, red cabbage, shredded carrots, red onion, and cilantro.
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and lime juice until well combined.
- Combine everything. Add the cooled quinoa to the cabbage mixture and toss to distribute evenly. Pour the dressing over the slaw and toss until all ingredients are well coated.
- Top and serve. Sprinkle sunflower seeds over the top. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the flavors meld. The slaw holds well for up to two days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 155 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 15g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 190mg