but the things you do for love

Settling back into real life after a gorgeous week in the Bahamas, away from phones and e-mail and to-do lists, is not an easy thing to do. But as the smells of salt and sea begin to fade and only the memory of radiantly warm sun-drenched skin, soft breezes and crystal turquoise waters remain, I allow my senses to be seduced by things closer to home. An invigorating morning hike in crisp November sunshine, a farmer’s market ripe with the bounty of fall. I trade the soft candy colors and bright tropical flavors of Harbour Island for the rich sweet oranges of squash and persimmon, the complex bitter greens of broccoli rabe and wild arugula, the crisp tart red of an apple minutes from the tree. I now have the opportunity to use the charge I built during lazy afternoons on the beach and delightful Gatsbyesque evenings of mingling and connection. Refueled, I turn my energies outward, toward business building and work and volunteer work. I brace myself for the pace of the coming months. And, grateful for having had the time away, I am reminded that creating beauty and change in the world is also fuel, and that in a breath I can conjure a tropical breeze that will soften the edge of the most manic of days.

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Listening to: Arthur Russell (thanks toma!)

MENU
Organic Brown Rice with Broccoli Rabe, Currents, Toasted Pinenuts and Sherry Vinegar
Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia
Roasted Delicata Squash with Chestnut Honey
Wild Arugula Salad with Fuyu Persimmons in a Simple Lemon Vinaigrette

I made this delightful meal with a client last week. All of the main ingredients are fresh and in the market right now, and though I crafted the dishes through taste and inspiration rather than from recipes, I’ve tried to re-create the gist of things for you below. The rice is inspired from a similar combination that I sampled at the farmer’s market a few weeks ago - the vinegar adds a beautiful brightness to the dish and the sweetness of the currents balances the bitter of the rabe wonderfully. I found this meal to be supremely satisfying - including the full range of color, texture and flavor. The sweetness of the squash and persimmons satisfied my sweet tooth - I had no craving for desert. The rice and delicata are great leftover, so make extra.

Organic Brown Rice with Broccoli Rabe, Currents, Toasted Pinenuts and Sherry Vinegar
Ingredients:
1 cup local organic brown rice (I use Massa Organics)
2 cups water
1 bunch Broccoli Rabe, shredded
1/4 cup currents
1/4 cup pinenuts, toasted
2 T Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 T (or to taste) Sherry Vinegar
Sea Salt to taste

Preparation:
Ok, first I’m just going to say that I use a Ricemaker. I love it. It’s a Tiger, bought in Japantown, and I use it nearly every day. I’m not sure where this stigma about ricemakers being “tools of the weak” came from, since no respectable kitchen in a major rice-eating culture would be caught dead without one, but if you don’t have a rice maker it is perfectly possible to make this dish without one. If you burn the bottom of your rice - don’t worry about it! Just leave the burned bit there on the bottom where it belongs and eat the other 99% of your perfectly delicious pilaf.
Ricemaker: To make this dish in the ricemaker, throw the brown rice and water in (pre-soak if you think far enough ahead) and flip the switch. When it switches over to “keep warm”, stir in your olive oil, vinegar, currents, pinenuts and broccoli rabe (you can put in more rabe than you think - it’ll shrink). Quantities are approximate, so experiment with it. Close the ricemaker for a few minutes to let the broccoli rabe cook in the rice and then season with sea salt and enjoy!

Stovetop: If you’re using the stovetop, use a sturdy pot with a thick bottom. Add rice, then water to the pot. Bring up to a boil, put on a lid and lower the heat. Let the rice simmer with the lid on for about 25-35 minutes depending on your rice. Next, remove the pot from the heat and leave the lid on. Let the rice rest and fully absorb the liquid for about five minutes. Fluff with a fork, add other ingredients and replace lid for a few more minutes. Enjoy!

Cornmeal-Crusted Tilapia
Ingredients:
1 cup soy “buttermilk” (1 cup of unsweetened soymilk + 1 T Lemon Juice) or regular buttermilk
3/4 cup organic yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup whole wheat or gluten free flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
Olive Oil for sauteing
4 tilapia fillets (about 6 ounces each)

Instructions:
Soak tilapia in buttermilk/soy buttermilk until ready to cook. Mix cornmeal, flour and spices together in a shallow dish. Drain tilapia and dredge (drag through cornmeal mixture to coat on both sides). Heat oil (1-2 T) in heavy skillet. Saute Tilapia on both sides over medium heat in hot oil, about 7 minutes total or until browned and fish flakes easily when tested with a fork . Serve with lemon wedges.

Roasted Delicata Squash with Chestnut Honey
Ingredients:
Delicata Squash
1 T Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Chestnut Honey
Parchment Paper

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut delicata in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Slice into 1/2″ half moons and toss with Olive Oil and sea salt. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast until the underside of the squash is blistery and brown, about 10 minutes and then flip squash and roast for another 5 minutes or so until tender. (15-20 minutes total cook time). Remove from oven, brush with chestnut honey and toss to lightly coat. Enjoy!

Wild Arugula Salad with Fuyu Persimmons in a Simple Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
Wild or Baby Arugula (or whatever Arugula you have)
Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Olive Oil (use the good stuff!)
Fresh Lemon Juice
Dijon Mustard
Sea Salt
Fuyu Persimmon, sliced

Instructions:
Place olive oil and lemon in small bowl. My general rule for salad dressings is 1 part acid to 3 parts oil. Dip fork in mustard and whisk into olive oil and lemon to emulsify. Add sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Toss Aurgula and sliced persimmons with dressing and enjoy.

I love life. (How’s that for a powerful opening statement?) But really, I do. I love it because every day brings new insights and discoveries. I love it because just when you think you’ve got a few things figured out and have picked a nice solid slice of ground on which to rest for a moment, along comes a 5.6 earthquake to rattle your foundations. And the walls are shaking and your cat jumps four feet straight up in the air and shoots off down the hall like a cartoon character. And you’re laughing (almost crying) alone on the kitchen floor and thinking that nothing, really, is as solid as it seems. And thank goodness.

I’m reminded of one of my favorite teachings by Pema Chodron from her book: “When Things Fall Apart”:

“We think that if we just meditated enough or jogged enough or ate perfect food, everything would be perfect. But from the point of view of someone who is awake, that’s death. Seeking security or perfection, rejoicing in feeling confirmed and whole, self-contained and comfortable, is some kind of death. It doesn’t have any fresh air. There’s no room for something to come in and interrupt all that. We are killing the moment by controlling our experience…

The essence of life is that it’s challenging. Sometimes it is sweet, and sometimes it is bitter. Sometimes your body tenses, and sometimes it relaxes or opens. Sometimes you have a headache, and sometimes you feel 100 percent healthy. From an awakened perspective, trying to tie up all the loose ends and finally get it together is death, because it involves rejecting a lot of your basic experience. There is something aggressive about that approach to life, trying to flatten out all the rough spots and imperfections into a nice smooth ride.

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man’s-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again.”

So what does all of this have to do with those pretty fall vegetables up there? Indeed. Not long after my weekend of living on cornflakes and a lust for life, I returned home to a week of cold foggy days, scant motivation and, yes, even a touch of loneliness. My experience was punctuated by moments of connection and productivity, to be sure, but overall I was feeling like I needed life to greet me at the door with a big hug and warm cup of tea. A dear old friend of mine has also been struggling this week - nursing a broken heart and reflecting on the changes that a recent (proverbial) earthquake in her life might mean for her future plans. Between my general malaise and her current state, we made a fine pair.

I decided that what we needed was some yoga, a homemade meal and some trashy television, in that order. I reflected for a moment on the perfect meal. It needed to be comforting, sweet and grounding. It needed to be quick and easy to prepare (we’d be hungry after our 6pm yoga class), seasonal, and warm. Given these requirements, I was pretty sure I was talking soup, and that it would involve some root vegetables and probably some greens (both found in abundance at the farmer’s market right now). Given that yesterday was Halloween, I thought it would be nice to throw pumpkin in the mix: who doesn’t love a pumpkin, after all?

I found a recipe for Pumpkin Miso Soup from one of my favorite tea spots, Samovar, and modified it (because that’s what I do). I’ll post my version below. The original can be found here.

PUMPKIN MISO SOUP

Ingredients
2″ square kombu seaweed
3 to 3.5 cups boiling water
2 parsnips, chopped into 1/2″ cubes
1 japanese sweet potato, cut into 1/2″ cubes
1/2 onion, sliced
1 can organic pumpkin puree (or make your own)
4 heaping tablespoons of organic red miso
1.5 cups kale, chopped (I used baby kale - use the most tender variety you can find)
2 T of fresh parsley

Directions
Add kombu, parsnips, onion and sweet potato to boiling water, boil for 10 minutes. Add the pumpkin puree to the pot, reduce to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Remove 1/4 cup of the soup (allow to cool slightly) and mix with miso, making a miso concentrate. Add miso to soup and cook on very low heat for another few minutes. Do not boil after adding the miso or you will lesson the nutritional benefits! Garnish each bowl with a healthy handful of shredded kale and parsley and enjoy!

I served this soup with some cashew-date mochi and a glass of ginger kombucha. It tasted like love. We snuggled up with an episode of Gossip Girl (hey, I said trashy TV), and felt pretty gosh darn content.

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Listened to: Mike Seeger: Early Southern Guitar Sounds