Quarantine Food Diaries, Thai Vedic bodywork and, Lentil Fattoush Salad

I spent three weeks in the French Alps two years ago, cooking for a group of 65 yogi's doing an 150 hour advanced teacher training. I woke at 6:30 and walked down the mountain road, past wild thyme bushes, picking along the way, gazing upwards at snow covered mountain peaks obscured by morning cloud cover. Each day the kitchen cranked out plant based meals using local market veggies, mountain goat cheeses and warm bread baked just round around the corner from the shala.
The cooking was inspired and a collective effort, joyful and full of love. What I came away with was more than just a beautiful culinary experience but rather, because we were organized enough to work in shifts those of us who wanted to, participated in the occasional advanced teacher asana class or teaching module on anatomy, sequencing or bodywork. I jumped at the chance to learn all I could in between shifts on this bodywork technique that incorporated Thai massage, shiatsu, osteopathy and acro yoga. I paid for a full session of the work on my own body from it's founder Gwyn Williams and what I experienced was nothing short of the most simbiotic flow of practitioner and client body movement. After an hour which found me on my back, on my side, on his knees and hovering above him dangling in mid air, my entire body felt liberated in a way I had never felt before. This therapeutic massage resonated deeply with me, the only hitch was to become a Zen Thai Shiatsu practitioner meant 9 months in Australia. I am a mother of three and well, it wasn't the time, until now!! Covid has brought many of us to a screeching halt and we have had to adapt to survive. I found, another teacher, still waiting for Gwyn to go online, in the meantime, and am loving the practicum, my partner is benefitting a ton. Imagine your partner says, hey, I really have to practice my massage on someone about an hour a day, yes a daily full body massage, not bad.
Expanding my repertoire of healing touch is never a bad thing, is it?
I am a nurturer, the best thing in the world to me is having the ability to wholly take care of people, feed them, love them and heal their bodies, healing the spirit.
The weather is starting to heat up and I chose to make a twist on a Lebanese Fattoush salad.
As the temperature rises my desire for meat wanes and my tastes turn to cold salads and grilled vegetables.
This salad is still warm, but not hot, I just don't love how floury the lentils taste when they are cold, cold beans just don't do it for me, unless it's a hummus, I even serve Cannellini bean salad warm.

Fattoush and Lentil Salad

serves 4

1 cup Beluga lentils

1/2 white onion

4 small cherry tomatoes

1 small cucumber

1/4 cup (roughly) chopped feta 

1 healthy bunch mint

1 tbsp Cumin

1 Tbsp butter roasted pine nuts

Extra Virgin Olive oil, Salt and Pepper

Saute the chopped onion in olive oil. Add lentils briefly saute and then add 4 cups water or veggie stock to a boil, cover and simmer 20 min or until tender, not mushy. 

Drain, set aside.

Meanwhile, chop tomatoes, cucumber, mint, and feta, sprinkle with cumin, more olive oil and salt and pepper.

Let the lentils cool to just warm and mix with the fattoush (tomato, cucumber, mint...) 

top with a a little more mint and buttered pine nuts..

yummm

Quarantine Food DIairies, First corn crop, Mother's Day

Rosa and Franco, 1975

It all started with these two Mammas, my Mom circa 1974

Then came these three beauties 

Sebastiano 2002

Sonia 2003

Simona 2006 

 Motherhood maybe the singular most effective place to use the practice of yoga in our daily lives. There is no more demanding and important job then that of ushering into the world mindful, loving humans.  I love that I was born a woman, capable of bearing new souls into the world, it is the mightiest super power I know, but that was just the beginning of this journey. It's impossible to get it all right, three kids, an 18 year marriage and divorce, teenagers, hormones, and all the rest. I have found, better late than never, that my practice of mindfulness is sneaking into who they are, little by little by way of example instead of brute force. I was never a "tiger Mom" my kids will attest, a complete Libra, authoritarian consistency was not me. I was mostly in love with my babies, but clueless as to how to get them to behave if they were not, I used self help books and the nanny show, a had a time out step and counting to 10 routine, and yet I very rarely felt like I was a good mom. I felt overrun and lacking most of the time. Now, almost two decades into this incredible job I think I may be getting the hang of it, more days than the days that I think really suck.  I have raised three incredible humans who, the last four years have witnessed a really different kind of Mom. I am more mindful and less judgmental of myself and of them then I have ever been before. I am more patient and more resilient and I have yoga to thank for all of this.
In Yoga, like in Christianity there are rules for living a good life ethical principles and spiritual guidelines before a physical or Asana practice is ever even considered. These are called the Yamas and Niyamas and they along with a consistent physical practice have changed the way I interact and think about everything and everyone, first and foremost my babies.
Ahimsa and Santosha, the two places my practice resides these days.. the Yama of Ahimsa means to practice non violence, a peaceful approach to the self and other. It is the consistent practice of awareness, mindfulness in all actions and thoughts that they be non harming.  Santosha is  one of the Niyamas or rules of spiritual observances, that asks us to find contentment in all things. The first I heard and understood of this Niyama was in a yoga class on a rainy day. The teacher reminded us that without the rain, the flowers would not bloom, the crops would not grow to be harvested, the earth would not offer the lush green return of spring, so for this we were to be also in a state of Santosha for the rain.
As I see mothering now it is all a balance of Ahimsa and Santosha. I am happy to softly model mindfulness and have the patience and contentment with all the phases of growth to watch and be in a constant state of awe over what the development of a human in my care looks like. It's ok that I don't always get it right, I too am still learning and growing.  My children are mine but for a short period of their lives and then they are released on the world like arrows, hope that the bough that has launched them was sturdy and mindful so that this is what they bring with them.
Love,
Mom


First fresh corn of the season and one brilliant day of wearing shorts and feeling the warmth of the sun had me wanting to make a corn salad to scoop up with chips!!

Roasted Elote Corn Salad

 ( Mexican Street Food) 

4 cobs of corn 

1 avocado

5 cherry tomatoes

1 cup quinoa

4 spring onions 

queso fresco or feta 

1 tbsp mayonnaise 

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chili powder

1 lime, zest and juice

1/ 2 cup Cilantro

Boil corn if you are short on time, if not keep in their husks, soak 3 hours and grill ( super good this way) 

boil water and follow instructions for quinoa, salted water

chop cherry tomatoes, avocado, spring onions and feta or queso fresco if you could find it. 

mix in a little bowl mayonnaise, and spices and lime.

mix all ingredients 

salt and pepper.

Scoop with tortilla chips, add to a taco or add a soft boiled egg and lettuce to bulk up to a full meal.

Quarantine Food Diaries, Grilled, Truffled Portobello Steaks, Adaptogens

I’ve never met a mushroom Quarantine Food Diaries, Grilled, Truffled Portobello Steaks, Adaptogens

I've never met a mushroom I haven’t loved, truth be told. Mushroom’s have incredible healing power and not just the psychedelic ones can take you on a journey of discovery 🍄!  I was diagnosed 13 years ago with an auto immune disease which left me taking copiously high doses of maitake shrooms, known to cure cancer. I have been super aware of what goes in this body ever since that time. Mushrooms are some of the most potent adaptogens around, balancing immune responses, adrenal function and energy potential in the body. So pardon my excess of mushroom based recipes, but now you know why. 

Grilled, Truffled Portobello Steaks 

•••••••••••••••

4 portobello caps ( brushed never washed) 

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar 

1/4 extra virgin olive oil 

1 tsp truffle oil

Pinch or so fresh thyme about 3 branches 

Himalayan pink salt and  fresh ground pepper 

1/2 cup pine nuts 

1 tbsp salted butter 

Chèvre to garnish 

Honey 🍯 

Rucola

 •••••••••••••

In a shallow baking dish combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme leaves, salt and pepper and place the mushroom caps to marinate, about 20 minutes. ••••••••••

Meanwhile sauté pine nuts in butter until butter and pine nuts are delicately browned and impart their nutty aroma, don’t burn!!

•••••••••••••••••

Take roughly half of a small log of chèvre and amalgamate honey to taste, I prefer it just a tad sweet not cloyingly so. Up to you. 

••••••••••• 

Grill mushroom caps, nicely softening and creating a few beautifully placed grill marks. About 10 minutes. They must soften. 

Compose your plate, mushroom steak, a dollop of honey chèvre, a sprinkle of buttered toasted pine nuts, a sprinkle of rucola, for peppery crunch and a drizzle of truffle oil !  Buon appetito ! 

QUARANTINE FOOD DIARIES, CHIA SEED COCONUT MILK PUDDING, CONVERSATIONS ON BREATH

What do we mean when we say "drop into your breath" ? I took a walk in nature today, an improvisational day that found us in a  wild animal preserve still open for walking it's many trails. We came upon a a perfect seat, a sun bleached log made into a bench in a clearing, white sand beneath it, the whiteness of it in the sun surrounded by deep forest green of spring was what an oasis looks like in the middle of the desert. I sat upon it, the air still crisp but the sun warming. I gently placed my hands upon my knees, feet solidly on the ground and closed my eyes. When we begin to remove sensation and perception from the body and mind, by way of closing the eyes, by way of being in  a physically relaxing but upright position we can focus more easily on the breath. The ability to have a therapeutic yoga practice relies mainly on your ability to focus on the breath and find the place of ease in each posture. This is what it means to "drop" into your breath, to find ease within your physical and mental state so much so that the breath is the focus, not external or internal stimuli. For each of us this space is different, I encourage you to try to find it daily.  Find where your body is no longer "speaking" to you, where it just exists as a the vessel for your true self and you become less and less aware of it. This is when meditation comes with ease, this is when you "drop" into your breath and the your mental chatter slows. 

I woke to make something new after a two day fast, I wanted to give my body a rest and renew but my love of cooking could never see me dieting for any length of time. I soaked chia seeds in coconut milk, probably one of my all time favorite textures, creamy, a little sweet, a little salty and great mouth feel with a tiny crunch, so easy.

Coconut Milk Chia Parfait 

1/3 cup chia seeds

1 13.5 oz can of full fat organic coconut milk

1 tbsp maple syrup ( stevia if you are keto)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

Place all the ingredients together in a airtight container to keep in the fridge, stir well and let set up for about and hour, ladle alternating coco chia pudding and fresh berries and a little mint if you have it!!

Quarantine food diaries, Fermenting Veggies and It All Takes Time

It’s been well over a month now, I’ve lost count, I’ve lost a grip on what the old normal used to feel like as we all have to some extent. Adapting and evolving, but in which direction? There have been twists and turns in this time that have made my head spin told to go inward, don’t connect with others in community. I spent my last 18 mothering years teaching my children of the importance of tribe, of the necessity, as spread out as we are, in friends as family. And now I’m teaching the opposite and I understand why, we all do, but it is a discipline to stay focused on going inward exclusively, and it is not balanced. 

I strive for balance in my life, I spent most of my youth acting on whims of heightened emotion, to some degree it was the age and this is the marker of this age but for some of us the awareness around each of our actions is more acute than for others. I’m aware of trying to keep my balance being more and more difficult with each passing day during this time. My ability to go inward has been profound, that’s good, right? But when I resurface and need to balance with connection, then what? 

I am empathically affected by the deep fear I witness in the averted gaze of most people in the socially distanced grocery store lines, but equally as affected by  the renegade kid who has decided to carelessly meet in groups with their friends. Where should we land ? 

I’ve noticed an increasing use in plastic everything, gone are the days of reusable shopping bags too, so as Mother Earth has put us on a global time out and is reaping the benefits of it in the short term what wave of toxic plastic garbage is coming up behind us ? 

And where should we land in this argument?  It takes time to evolve and adapt, it is not painless and those that were around through the two world wars and the Spanish flu and the Great Depression can teach us a thing or two if we remember how our grandparents behaved. My overwhelming memory of mine was their mindfulness in all things. My grandfather always folded his paper grocery  bags and they had a home in the same cupboard  next to the container for plastic bags and reused them both for various things mindfully. He wasted almost nothing. My grandmother mended everything and made things last, things we wouldn’t dream of mending, like pantyhose. They were not poor when I was young but they were born in 1920 into a generation of parents who had just come out of the Spanish Flu of two years and survived the First World War. 

They composted in the garden no fancy composter. They were practical and not extravagant but they also new how to enjoy small things like they were a big splurge, like indulgently eating a bowl of ice cream after a long day of work. They had travelled to Europe and experienced adventure but not monthly and annually like we do now. Their singular trips to Europe were relived in story and photographic journeys and it never felt like they were missing something by not having been back again or to many other places. They had singular deep appreciation for their past  adventures, not a lust for those they had not yet had. Our grandparents lived well in the present moment. I’m looking backwards to learn from them about how to behave in this time. Slow down, take time, be mindful. 

It seemed only natural to ferment veggies for my next recipe then, it takes time. 

Fermented foods help our gut microbiome, we have heard so much about. A healthy gut means a healthy immune system, a flatter belly, and a youthful glow, in brief. 

Any number of veggies can be fermented like cabbage, onions, beets or carrots. 

I bought a red cabbage for color and crunch on the cauliflower tacos last week and was left with the majority of the cabbage just staring at me out of my vegetable drawer beckoning further use, so off I went mindful not to waste. 

Ginger Fermented  Red Cabbage

1 red cabbage sliced thin into strips

4 carrots julienned

2 tbsp grated ginger

2 cloves  sliced garlic

1 apple grated

2 heaping tbsp salt 

Make sure your hands are super clean and your mason jar has been boiled and sterilized. 

Before slicing the cabbage peel off outer leaves to use later in tact. Conserve the core as well. 

Place thinly sliced cabbage and salt into a bowl and let rest to soften the cabbage for an hour. Return to massage the cabbage, you should be able to squeeze liquid from it by this point. Add in all other ingredients and massage together. 

Begin placing handfuls of cabbage into the mason jar and at each handful tamp down, squeezing juices over the previous layers, use a lot of force. 

Leave a substantial gap at the top of the jar and 

Take your outer leaves and place them covering your packed down cabbage under their own juice. Push the sides down creating an umbrella over the cabbage with the outer leaf. Next place the pieces of core on top and maybe a little weight like a stone, the idea is that the fermentation of then julienned cabbage must be completely submerged at all times. Close the mason jar half way and place a tea towel over it, maybe a rubber band too, keeps dust and potential bugs out. Leave on the counter in a dark place. Twice a day push down the cabbage, removing baby air bubbles forming and keeping it submerged. You can continue its fermentation anywhere from 5-20 days, the key is to keep trying it, when you like the taste it is done and then you can put it in the fridge for up to 2 months! 

Eat often!