Citrus & greens enliven a winter diet

The first couple months of the year are a time of swearing off, of restricting carbohydrates, alcohol and sugar in an attempt to atone for whatever perceived damage we believe we wrought upon ourselves at year’s end. I don’t believe in restricting my consumption of things I love, ever, but I typically eat differently in these winter months than I do at other times of the year, for reasons less virtuous and more visceral: My body is craving leafy greens and juicy citrus, my palate eager for bold, punchy flavors. I temporarily retreat from cheese and butter, looking toward chiles and ginger.

It’s nice, too, after months of parties and restaurant dinners, to reclaim my happy place in my home kitchen, even if it also means a return to fast dinners I can make for my family when we’ve all tumbled through the door, tired from work and school

The backbone of this simple stir-fry is a homemade Chinesestyle fermented black bean sauce. Fermented black soybeans (which can be purchased in Asian grocery stores) are salty and deeply savory; the flavor reminds me a bit of beef jerky, though the beans are not smoked. You can purchase prepared black bean sauce, but it doesn’t hold a candle to homemade. Where the store-bought versions are murky, homemade black bean sauce is bright and punchy, and it only takes about 10 minutes to make.

You could use the sauce to flavor any stir-fry you desire, but I like it very much with shrimp; I add blanched gai lan — Chinese broccoli — which soaks up some of the sauce and bulks up the dish. You could, of course, substitute regular broccoli, or green beans. Make sure you have everything prepared before you begin to stir-fry: Start to finish, this goes from pan to table in under 10 minutes. Some steamed white rice is the only recommended accompaniment, but if you’ve sworn off that for the time being, know that the stir-fry is perfectly satisfying on its own, or with brown rice or quinoa alongside.

Jessica Battilana is a San Francisco freelance writer and the author of “Repertoire: All the Recipes You Need.” Twitter: @jbattilana Email: food@sfchronicle.com

Jessica Battilana Black bean sauce enlivens a stir-fry of shrimp with Chinese broccoli.