Seasons Part 1: Avocados

I have a creative, thoughtful friend who has her own personal seasons.  She has three seasons: nectarine, dreams and crane.  In the summer nectarines are delicious.  Dreams are for winter.  Cranes emerge in spring, and she means the kinds of cranes that construct buildings, not birds.  She owns her own seasons, and because they are hers, she is not governed by them.  She shares herself with them.  When she told me this, I thought of course why do all seasons have to be Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer?  Why can't there be another point of reference?  Why can't seasons revolve around me?  It is so obviously possible.    

This begs the question; what will mine be?  Maybe this is obvious to some, but I haven't thought this way before and I must consider it.  After all, they will become a tradition and as permanent as a tattoo.  Careful consideration is necessary.   Maybe it will take a year or so to commit to a set season, maybe I will have more than three, or less, or more than 12?  

After awakening to the idea, it is surprising how to realize that I do tend to think in seasons unconsciously. 

For example,  I work in higher education and work on an academic year so I'm naturally tuned to the cycles of the quarter and the rise and fall of workload that comes with being a teacher, especially on a quarter system.  It makes sense to me and I think it likely does in most professions.  My energy falls and rises with the presence of students and other teachers.  I also tend to intuit the energy of the campus space, I absorb the tension in faculty or its release.  I feed on the work habits of those around me.

Pealing through this energy of my profession and folding in on my own forces is tricky.  In other words, rather than reacting to the energy around me, what is my energy bringing to this? That is my season at play, not some other system pushing on me.  Unpealing this is key.

Summer is a good time to start.  For me, it is of professional sleep, work is slow and I've come to terms that I may consider myself on-call, passive, not active or proactive, just reactive in my profession.  Summer is a time for reflection, learning and planning.  This summer,  I've painted more, since there is more time for it.  I work from home more.  I support my family more proactively.   There is more time for reflection and even criticism of my life.  I've been weighted down by thoughts of quitting my job, of finding something new.  I'm very aware of a new restlessness rooted in my mid-life transition unexpressed.    Some of these themes will follow me across the years but I'm searching for a universal truth that touches me. 

I caught myself thinking recently that I really love that the avocados are back in season.  They are never in season in Seattle, but they make their way to Seattle in a delicious state beginning sometime in the Summer and maybe Spring.  In the Fall they turn tasteless, mushy messes and I refuse to eat them anymore as they barely mimic their potential.  Summer time, they are creamy, full, delights, smooth and delicious.  Wonderful with the warm, just picked tomatoes from the garden and a little basil and a pinch of salt.  No dressing needed.

Avocados have multiple meanings for me.  My fondest memories of living in Managua, Nicaragua are with my lovely friend Jenny Maudsley.  We often sat on the shared patio between our two studios in the shade of a mango tree away from the summer heat, drinking Flor de Cana mixed with Squirt. We talked about everything as we shook off the 60 hour work week with that drink and the burgeoning fondness of our friendship.

One day, as we sat under the stars the topic turned to avocados.  We adore them.  And central America is full of them, so plentiful they reach down from urban trees tempting you to pick and eat them on the spot.  Oh, the creamy fullness of dipping into a fresh avocado peeled with your fingers like a banana and eaten like an apple.  An adventurous delight.

Just like a good snog, as Jenny my English friend, would quip  - orgasmic.  And just like any good friendship, we developed a lexicon around a good avocado and a good hook up with that just perfect boy; the peace corp worker, the backpacker from new Zealand, the Europeans traveler.  Any boy that made our knees weak at the site and a belly lurch at the first kiss.  We were as picky about these boys as we were about avocados.  They had to be the perfect combination of sensation, texture, touch and zesty humor.  These were our avocados.  We did not compromise on them, they had to be luscious or not partaken.   The search for a perfect avocado was part delightful anticipation and part quest. 

My time in  Central America was a time of rawness.  Sweet, full, exposed, truthful, sometimes ugly and sometimes bountiful.  I struggled with grief, struggled with my identity and future.  I wandered across that country enjoying its energy and authenticity.  A bit aimless, but in my aimlessness I settled in myself for a time.    And avocados filled that  time as a symbol of the pleasure, fullness and surprise that magical part of the world gave me, all sensual, spiritual, and nourishing. 

So this season is avocado season, it is obvious now.  It is a time to be raw, to go inward, to find new expression and to seek raw sensation.  To muddle in career work and work on life meaning and to explore those energies that I don't get to in a dull winters and the throws of academic stress. .  And to enjoy a good full wonderful avocado until the season ends.  And I don't know yet when it ends yet.  That will be the joy of exploring my next season. 

And to my new friend, I thank that she shared her seasons with me.  I love this idea and find thoughtful reflection in what this may mean to me.  I love nectarines as well, though not as much as she does.  But during her season almost every morning I make my scrambled eggs with delicious nectarines and think about her and the gift of my own seasons.  Here is her recipe and during avocado season, I will stir up some of my own avocados: 

Scrambled Eggs with Nectarines

Ingredients.
2 tablespoon chopped onion
1 teaspoon ghee
1 clove of garlic
1 nectarine
1/2 chorizo sausage
2 eggs
1 garden fresh tomato chopped
2 tblsp fresh basil

To do:
Sautee the onion, garlic, nectarine and chorizo in the ghee for two minutes over medium heat.
Crack 2 eggs in pan and scramble mixing all ingredients until eggs are cooked to your preference.
Turn off heat and stir in basil and tomato.

Eat with a summer melon on the side like watermelon or cantaloupe.  Top with an avocado. 

Addictive love.  Enjoy.       

the art of a good meal

I love to eat. Because of this, I love to cook. 

 

Cooking is more than throwing ingredients together, following a recipe and bringing food to the table.  It is an art that requires love.

 

What love brings to cooking is patience, observation, knowledge both of mind and tongue, creativity, and spontaneity.  Born of this is expression.   Love inspires good cooking, it inspires fearlessness and that opens up the world on the plate. 

 

I have been asked lately what my favorite cookbook was and I said "the refrigerator, whatever is in there."  I don't remember when I forsake recipes.  Now, I cook only from heart and once a month by recipe.  I try to memorize the bones of recipes so I can apply the essence of it later on without the burden of a recipe.  Part of this is necessity, it is faster to cook without a recipe.  I spend less time planning and more time eating.  I like efficiency - fridge to mouth.  But I also I like the moments of reflection before I cook,  I rummage through bins, explore the pantry, plan a meal, gage timing, contemplate its tastes and flavor combinations.  Cooking is 30 minute compression project management.  Simultaneously, while I chop sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts it is meditation and reflection.  It keeps my mind relaxed and alert. 

 

And I've learned to observe food and what it needs to blossom in the cooking process.  Some foods like a fresh papaya don't need much other than to be sliced and placed on just about anything.  Other foods, like Brussels sprouts, need to be seared to open the flavor then steamed to settle or roasted in fat and light kiss of salt.  Roast any squash, butternut and acorn are favorites, and blend it with coconut oil and sea salt to accompany any meat.  Tomatoes aren't worth eating unless they are in season and local.  Beats steamed, some chopped apples and avocado with cilantro, olive oil and lemon make a nice salad.  Kale needs a generous saute in fat and salt and pepper to become a base for all kinds of sauteed add ins: sun dried tomatoes, sun chokes, hearts of palms or carrots.  When food is observed, it will tell you what it needs to please you. 

 

Some ways to learn to observe food:

• Eat great food.  Eat at many different places from many different people. Explore the way others cook.  Let your taste explore the food.  Be inspired.  
• Read about food. Learn about nutrition, food is medicine, read recipes and look for the next interesting flavor combination on a blog or pinterest.   
• Eat fresh, local, whole, organic, clean food.  It opens up the taste buds when they are uncluttered from processed, sugar heavy, semi-food.   

Observing food brings inspiration to the next dish.  Suddenly, the refrigerator is the next recipe and this makes sense.       

 



 

 

Dinner tonight:  smashed carrots with avocado oil; Blugh's BBQ pork chop; sauteed kale, garlic and artichokes in sun dried tomato pesto; roasted thyme and oregano portabello mushrooms. 

Chocolate Fix Trail Mix

Everyone just needs a little fix of chocolate sometimes and this one is guilt and sugar free.  The right ratio of coconut, raisins and chocolate per bite and you won't notice that there isn't sugar in the chocolate.  

Here is what you need:

Equal partsof each for one serving about 1/8 cup of each does the trick. 

• Baking chocolate broken into chocolate chip sized bits
• Raisins
• Coconut flakes

Mix together in a bowl.

Eat like trail mix. 

You could add nuts if you like as well.  You could also blend this is your vitamix for a larabar. 

Fruit Skewers

I've got to play with this recipe as it was a big hit that I think could even be better.  The fruit is amazing off the grill and the coconut adds crunch and sweetness.  Lovely. 

What you need.
Fruit for skewers sliced into chunks and in a bowl ready to marinade. 

These two were amazing:

• pineapples
• nectarines

I think these would be good to:

• mango
• banana
• apricots
• plums
• peaches

marinade:
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup mix of fresh coconut, macadamia nuts and raw cashews chopped coarsely.
Sea salt

To do:

1. Heat up the coconut oil and melt over medium flame.
2. Add the nuts and gently brown them for flavor.
3. Marinade the fruit in the oil for at least 30 minutes
4. Create colorful skewers with the fruit
5. Sprinkle with sea salt
6. Grill to a sear but don't overcook.

Watch out, they explode in your mouth.  Wow.

Mouth Watering Shrimp & Chicken Skewers

I just returned from a weekend at a friend's cabin.  We had a lovely dinner on the lake by the fire pit and savored some skewers grilled on the open fire.  The marinade was an experiment that turned divine.  It really made the chicken and shrimp sparkle. The nectarines and pineapple are like fireworks from the grill. 

What you need:
1/2 pound of chicken cut into large cubes
1/2 pound shrimp (uncooked)
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup avocado oil
2 tablespoons herbs de Provence
a pineapple - sliced into chunks
a couple bell peppers - sliced into chunks
3-4 nectarines - sliced into chunks
1/2 onion - sliced into chunks.
1/2 pint of Cherry tomatoes
Other spearable fruits and vegetables. 

To do..
1.  Marinate the chicken and shrimp in the vinegar, oil and herbs for at least a half hour.
2.  Create skewers with colorful stacks of fruits, vegetables, shirmp and chicken.
3. Grill over the flames until shrimp are pink and chicken is cooked through. 

Best to be eaten in the outdoors, preferably with a view of the lake or beach.  :)

Eggplant & Pesto Inspired Pan Seared Sole

I think we were getting a little bored with the avocado and egg salad thing.  And I got a little lazy this week when things got rough at work.  I've still been recovering and catching up on sleep.  But tonight I made an Italian Eggplant Parmesan inspired sole.  It was meaty, rich and delicious.  A nice change from the fruity and sweet lately. 

What you need...
1 Eggplant sliced, salted, pressed for at least thirty minutes
4 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion diced
1 head of garlic smashed and chopped
2 cups sun dried tomatoes soaked in water for thirty minutes then chopped coarsely
2 cups shitake mushrooms stems removed and chopped in strips
1 tablespoon dried oregano (herbs de Provence would be really good but I didn't have them)

Fresh Caught Sole
1 tablespoon ghee

2 cups basil leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pistachios

a handful of olives for garnish

How to...
1.  While eggplant is being pressed, saute onions and garlic for a couple of minutes in a tablespoon of olive oil
2.  Add the mushrooms and saute for four minutes
3.  Add the sun dried tomatoes and saute until the mushrooms turn golden then add the herbs and salt and pepper to taste
4.  Add a couple of tablespoons to a pan and fry the eggplant until golden on both sides, add more olive oil if needed. 
5. Pan sear the sole in ghee on both sides over medium heat.  It will cook fast in 5-10 minutes.
6. In a food processor add the basil leaves, 1/4 cup olive oil and pistachios and process until a pesto. 
7.  To assemble line the plate with eggplant, top with sun dried tomatoes, place sole on top and garnish with pesto and olives. 

Yummy!

Ginger Apricot Fruit and Spinach Salad

I don't like spinach or greens.  It is certainly not the first thing I reach for when preparing a meal.  But in an effort to be more healthy, I've been exploring ways to incorporate them into my diet.  Spinach with garlic in scrambled eggs is pretty good in the morning.  But I've discovered that sauteed kale is even better. This experiment was a result have having a bunch of mature spinach in the refrigerator and guests coming over for dinner.  I wanted to make the salad shine and it all came down to the dressing. It turned out zesty, surprising and yummy. 

What you need...

For the dressing
1 thumb size ginger chopped finely
2 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
1 tablespoon clarified butter
3 apricots chopped - (I didn't skin them but you could if you don't like the texture)
1 nectarine chopped - (I didn't skin them but you could if you don't like the texture)
6-7 pods of cardamon
2 tablespoon coconut oil

For the salad
1 bunch of mature spinach washed, cleaned and spun
1 nectarine or peach thinly sliced
1 cup of cherry tomato cut in half
1/2 avocado diced
1/4 cup almond splinters
1-2 cup crab meat (optional) - our guests graciously brought up some to add.

To do...
For the dressing
1. Saute ginger, garlic and butter a couple of minutes on medium heat
2. Add the apricots and nectarine and let the juices simmer for 2-3 minutes
3. Open the cardamon pods and grind the spice to add flavor and pow!
4.  Add the coconut oil
5.  Let everything simmer for 5 minutes at least
6.  While you assemble the salad let this cool. 

For the salad
Add all the ingredients together and then toss with ALL of the dressing.  The avocado may get mushy and add to the dressing.  This is okay.   It will make a thick coat.  This highlights the texture of the spinach and compliments the sweetness of the peach.  Yummy. 

Creamy Butternut Soup

Today, I'm feeling some withdrawals from carbs.  Just not feeling right and having flashes of intense cravings.  And a little less energy at the gym.  I'm not sure what to blame the carbs or hormones right now but it is part of the process of learning about my body. 

This soup was a lifesaver.  It was easy and delectable.  Almost sinfully delicious and completely Whole30 approved. 

What you need...
5-6 garlic cloves smashed and chopped
1 tablespoon clarified butter
medium sized butternut, skinned, seeded and chopped
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoon cashew butter
1/2 cup cilantro chopped for garnish

To do...
1.  Saute the garlic in butter for a couple minutes
2.  Add the butternut squash and coconut milk.
3.  Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes until the squash is soft.
4.  Add the cashew butter and stir it in.
5.  With a handheld blender blend the soup until creamy.
6.  Serve with cilantro and salt and pepper to taste.

Just an aside, I love coconut and I love this plan because I can eat it everyday.  It is the secret to the pow behind this soup.

Baby Shrimp, Avocado, Egg and leftover salad

This one was easy and easy to modify and improve.  In a desperate need to pack lunch today I improvised with what was in the fridge and at lunch time was pleasantly surprised at the flavor sensations of this simple salad.

I think I'll make a variation tomorrow. 

What you need...
one hand full of steam green beans (leftover from the night before).
a hard boiled egg
1/2 avocado
1/2 cup baby shrimp
1/2 cup olives (your favorite)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

To Do...
When packing for lunch don't put the egg in the salad before hand.  Just place in the bowl with fixings.  The same is  true for the avocado.  You can disassemble these when you eat the salad. 

Place the rest of ingredients in the bowl together, top with olive oil and salt and pepper. 

Enjoy all the ingredients together at lunch, peel the egg and scoop the avocado into the salad.  Mix and sample as you like .   

Pan Seared Scallops with Coconut Cauliflower Puree and Dill Veggies

This is my seventh day on the Whole 30 plan.  Today I had my first craving for carbs and an almost desperate flash to get crackers.  The need came and went quickly.  I observed it with interest wondering what the trigger was.  Likely, it was the workshop I attended.  At lunchtime the smell of their lunch wafted throughout the room.  And while I was driving home, it triggered. 

I don't cook scallops.  Ever.  This was my first time.  I always think of them as fancy and upper class.  They seemed unreachable.  But this plan is stretching my culinary skills so why not?  This was delicious.  The sweetness of the scallops, the spicey fresh dill and the coconut creamy puree were heavenly. 

All the food that I have had on this plan so far is delicious.  It definitely doesn't feel like a diet. 

What you need...

2-3 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
1 tablespoon coconut oil
small head of garlic cut into to smaller pieces
1/2 can of coconut milk

10-11 Scallops
1 tablespoon clarified butter

4 carrots cut into chips
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
3-4 tablespoons fresh dill chopped

Salt and pepper to taste.

Optional:
1 avocado
1 cup sweet olives (or your favorite)

To do...
1.  In a pot saute the garlic in the coconut oil for a minute.
2. Add the cauliflower and let it cook until the garlic is golden but not burnt
3.  Add the coconut milk, cover and let simmer until the cauliflower is soft.
4.  While this simmers steam the carrots with a tablespoon of dill in a steamer for 15 minutes.
5.  While the carrots are cooking, melt the clarified butter in the pan at medium heat.
6.  Add the scallops and pan sear them until one side is golden, then the other (10 minutes max).
7.  Remove them from the heat. 
8.  When the cauliflower is soft, puree them in the pot with a hand blender. 
9.  Assemble the plate, start with a bed of carrots, top with the puree, place the scallops on top, sprinkle with tomatoes and then dill. 
10.  Salt and pepper to taste. 
11.  To add more fat sprinkle with avocado and olives to taste. 

Definitely worth doing again and my husband said it was something to serve to guests for sure!

Chicken and Pineapple

So today I broke a 19 year love affair with aquatarian/vegetarian life to experiment with the Whole30 wholly.  Such a meaty diet deserves some compromise to see if it works.  I have been eating seafood everyday for four days and I just get tired of it.  So today, it was a break with history to rediscover chicken.  I confess my gut needed to adjust a bit to it but my taste buds enjoyed it. 

Here is how it went...

1 lb thin sliced chicken breast (my husband insisted that breast is better than thigh)
a spoonful of clarified butter
3-4 cloves of garlic smashed and chopped
1/3 onion chopped
1/2 small maui pineapple chopped
3/4 red pepper
1/4 cup basil coursely chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds

To do...
1. Pan sear the chicken at medium heat in the clarified butter.  Turn over when it is a gold brown.  Brown evenly on both sides.  Remove from pan. 
2.  Add garlic and onion to remaining fat and let it cook for half a minute.
3.  Add pineapple and red pepper.  Let it heat up and reduce, the flavors really combine.  About 10 minutes for real flavor, this gets better the longer you let it sit.
4.  Add the basil and cook another couple of minutes.
5.  Top the chicken with the pineapple and sprinkle with slivered almonds. 

I served this with steam beans topped with clarified butter and let the almonds flavor them as well.  Satisfying. 

Crab, Spinach and Coconut Salad

Crab, Spinach and Coconut Salad

I'm learning that when ordering at a restaurant the Nicoise salad is a good choice without the potatoes.  I had one last night at the 35th Street bistro with cold smoked salmon but the warm green pesto topped salmon Nicoise at the Nordstrom cafe was even better today at lunch. I love olives. 

So, inspired by the Nicoise but working with what was in my refrigerator.  I made this salad for dinner. 

To start combine the following in a bowl:

1. A couple handfuls of baby spinach, washed and spun dry
2. 1 nectarine chopped
3. 1/2 a mango chopped
4. 1/2 cup basil chopped
5. 1/2 lb crab meat precooked and sweet
6. 1 bell pepper chopped
7. 1/2 cup sweet green olive.  (I love these olives, they are bright green and sweet and I need to find out their name)
8. 2 hard boiled eggs sliced
9. 1/3 cup coconut flakes

To make the dressing:

1. Combine 2 tablespoons coconut vinegar with a 1/4 cup avocado oil. 
2. Toss completely so all leaves are slathered. 

I enjoyed the sweetness of the fruit and crab and if the spinach is completely saturated with the dressing it cuts the bitterness of the spinach.  Very satisfying.

Banana Ice Cream

This one is not unique, it is a recipe I ran into on pinterest:  http://userealbutter.com/2010/08/12/single-ingredient-ice-cream-recipe/

This is banana only ice cream. The kids and I love it.  We have had banana ice cream every morning since its discovery. 

Simple to do...

Freeze sliced bananas in a plastic dish overnight.  In the morning, blend them in blender until creamy.  The creamy part takes awhile but it is worth it.  You will need to stop the blender a few times to push the banana to the blade.  I also stage dropping the slices in, the banana bounces around like rocks in the blender.

Variations:

I top a dish with raw cashews and/or pistachios for an after workout treat.   

For the kids:
We create parfaits with banana ice cream, coconut yogurt, granola and berries.  They love how decadent it feels but it is so healthy and even dairy free!

Shrimp Scramble

Yesterday I was loving the combination of lime, cumin, coriander and cilantro.  With little left in the fridge but eggs and shrimp and went all out and created a scramble for dinner.  I enjoyed it thoroughly and no one complained about eggs for dinner!

Whole 30 Shrimp Scramble

3-4 cloves of garlic smashed and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 stalk brocolette chopped
2 tablespoons cumin and coriander each
1/2 pound of fresh, local shrimp
juice of 1 lime
5 eggs
1/2 cup cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

How to...

1. Saute garlic in olive oil for a couple of minutes over medium heat
2.  Add bell pepper and brocolette then the cumin and coriander and cook for 3-5 minutes
3.  Add the shrimp and saute, add the lime juice
4.  When the shrimp begins to turn white and pink, add the eggs.  I crack them right in the pan and scramble them in the center then slowly mix in the rest of the food as the eggs firm and turn yellow.
5.  When the eggs are completely cooked (no slime) turn the heat off and add the cilantro, salt and pepper. 

Sweet and tangy!

Whole 30 Sweet Potato Hummus

Sweet Potatos will likely be the theme for a while.  They are nutritious, dense enough to satisfy me and they are amazing in just about anything.  I love hummus but on the Whole 30 diet all legumes are off limits.  So I compromised and came up with this sweet dip for carrots and sugar snap peas. 

Whole 30 Sweet Potato Hummus

1 head of garlic, peeled, smashed and coarsly smashed
1 quarter red onion chopped coursely
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 sweet potato peeled and thinly sliced this coursely chopped (thinner and smaller the quicker they cook)
2 tablespoons cumin and coriander each
2 small zuchini (from the garden) cubed
juice of half a lime
1/2 cup raw cashews
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

How to...
1. Sautee garlic and onion in olive oil over medium heat for a couple minutes.
2.  Add sweet potatos then the cumin and coriander.  Cook for 3-5 minutes.
3.  Add zuchini and saute with lime juice.
4.  Cook until the sweet potatos are soft no longer than 10 minutes.
5.  Add mixture to a food processor and blend until combined.
6. Add cashews, olive oil and cilatro and blend some more.
7.  Add salt and peper to taste. 

Enjoy!

Whole 30 Sweet Potato Salad

My first day on the Whole 30 diet forced me to be creative with food in the kitchen. I hadn't prepared for the restrictions when I went shopping that day. In fact, making the decision to go on this diet really snuck up on me and suddenly I decided - Today is the day! July 11th!

My motivation? I want my energy back. I want to sleep well. I want to be able to something other than just work. Here's to hoping this diet works.

whole 30 Sweet potato salad

1 Sweet potato, peels removed and chopped into cubes
3 spears brocolette chopped into rough cubes
1 Heaping tablespoon of coconut oil
1 orange, cut into cubes
1/2 cup raw cashews or other nuts (the sweetest of cashews is stunning in this but almonds could be good too)
1 avocado cubed

How to...
1. Steam the sweet potato amd brocolette in steamer for about 20 minutes.
2. Remove from steamer while still hot and add coconut oil. Let it melt and cover them.
3. Add orange and nuts. Mix gently.
4. Top with avacado as a green garnish. Don't mix it unless you want a creaming avacado dressing.

This was delicious and I ate it all in a day. I'll make it again today.