Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

You know how some people have totem animals? Every time they see a wolf or bear it somehow represents them? I do that with food. Some of mine; truffles, tomatoes, goat cheese, olive oil and meyer lemons. I love that meyer lemons are seasonal and when they are gone, they are gone. You have to think and dream about them until they come back into your life again. A bit like a food love story. Meyer lemons are all over the place now. They have a sweeter and muskier smell and flavor than year round lemons which makes them more sophisticated and special to me. I had some friends over the other night and I made a butter lettuce salad with this vinaigrette. It really was spectacular. I topped the salad with baked pumpkin seeds and some shavings of hard parmesean. The next day I made more and drizzled it over some oven roasted asparagus. I think this vinaigrette is so versatile, I would eat it over brown rice or with sliced radishes or even over braised endive. The mustard helps emulsify the lemon juice when adding the olive oil so it does not separate like some vinaigrettes I make. That makes it a great candidate as a sauce or a dressing. I used chopped parsley in this. I would also use tarragon in a heartbeat. I would reduce tarragon to 1 tablespoon because of its strong flavor though. My mouth is watering thinking about putting a tarragon meyer lemon vinaigrette over a warm slice of quiche. Wow!
Either way, the flavor can't be beat. This vinaigrette is like the taste of spring coming, a ode to all the daffodils waking up our gardens right now. A sneek peak of what is to come in a few short months.

Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
makes around 1/2 cup

zest and juice of 1 meyer lemon
pinch salt
couple of grinds of fresh pepper
2 teaspoons of stone ground mustard or dijon mustard
1/3 cup good quality olive oil
2 tbls. of fresh chopped parsley or 1 tbls fresh chopped tarragon

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper and mustard. While still whisking by hand (I used a fork) slowly drizzle in olive oil and then add tarragon or parsley.

Roasting Asparagus
I trim the bottoms of the asparagus, toss in a small bit of olive oil and sea salt, and bake on a cookie sheet 350 degrees for around 15-20 minutes.

All Moved In!

I put up a "before and after" photo of my living room. A big transformation took place! I am thrilled with the paint colors I picked and pinching myself every morning when I wake up and realize I can walk downtown in two minutes.  It has been a soft landing. M and I said goodbye to each room of our house before the movers came by recalling a special memory for us both. Our friends came during the move to be with us, and provided a massive amount of support. I needed it that day.
My new kitchen is very small and cozy. I am adjusting to the lack of counter space, and loving the vintage stove. I have been cooking little bits here and there. I made a chickpea salad with an orange tahini dressing. It did not make the cut however to share with all of you. There were chickpeas in my grain csa and I have been thinking about them constantly. I will try again soon though.
Right now I am making old fashioned tapioca pudding. We have been craving comfort foods to ground ourselves and isn't pudding just a sure thing for that?
Next up is my garden. I need serious help with that. Although I have a degree in biology and botany, I have no gardening skills. I know I want to plant lemon verbena, shiso and lots of heirloom tomatoes.

The top photo is a little buddha figurine a japanese translator I met while visiting Japan some years back gave me. It has always sat on my little altar. I love how joyful it looks. I have had Japan in my thoughts constantly. I have been deeply moved by the earthquake and tsunami. I have been sending love and light to Japan constantly. Japan, I am thinking about you. I am loving you.

San Jose del Cabo

Walking on the beach.....

Happy!

View from our room.....

View from the Hilton looking south...

Aunt Danielle with her biggest fan....

View from our cabana at the pool.....

Swim up bar!

No Kindle..just a book for me

Our second dinner at Las Ventanas

Las Ventanas!

Me and M

Just flew in today. I was so sad to leave beach paradise. I did not bring my computer on this trip, so only checked my email a few short times during my stay. It was nice to be unplugged. We stayed at the Hilton San Juan Cabo San Lucas. For what it was, it was perfect. Beach and pool and atmosphere all blended together evenly. I always had in my mind that Cabo was a touristy, party spot, but our week was restful, full of great food and lots and lots of relaxation. I had a very important dream while I was there and it helped me tremendously with my grief and I felt some pretty profound completeness around my marriage ending. I felt more like myself (or rather my new self) than I have in almost 5 months. I ate, swam, thought, wondered, rested and remembered who I am after throwing off some big sad stories I have been carrying around that I just don't need anymore. On the airplane today M and I were talking about how we are moving in 3 days. She said "Mama, aren't you excited? This is what your dreamed about!" While I did not know what dream she was recalling, I have noticed that she has been very symbolic lately, so I took in deeply what she said. I realized that yes, my life radically shifting has been bone chillingly scary, but once I get past that,  I am getting the life I have always wanted. Truth, honesty, love, authenticity, my sweet daughter, choices, fabulous friends, health, and community. This trip helped me see that. This trip helped me see my beauty. And from those places comes my passion for creating food and healing and the journey we all take to nourish ourselves.
Well back to the nitty gritty. Here are some funny observations I had on this trip though:

Everyone and their brother except me has a Kindle at the Hilton
Getting a pool chair during a busy week at this Hilton requires secret ninja moves
Swimming lessons for a six year before a big beach trip is worth its weight in gold
Packing 4 boxes of crackers and snacks in our suitcases for the trip was a great idea

Las Ventanas is my dream destination resort...hands down
I have officially recovered from my fear of food borne illness in Mexico
I would love to bring all my girlfriends here asap
I love deserts

Cowpeas with Miso and Arugula Salad

Here are some photos of the ordered chaos. I am almost finished!!
Yesterday I picked up my grain share and there was (eureka!) a small jar of hand-crafted miso!! It is wonderfully mellow and salty. It is also soy free; made with purple cowpeas instead. Along with that was a one pound bag of Nigerian Cowpeas. They are considered a field bean or a shelling bean. I would interchange these in this recipe with black-eyed peas, mung beans or aduki beans which are in the genus Vigna along with cowpeas. This genus of beans are creamy, small beans that are easy to cook (60-80 mintes un-soaked). Because everything is almost packed here at my house, I decided to cook these beans that are on hand and thought the wonderful mellow miso would be a interesting flavor component. Baby arugula is at my coop and I knew that the peppery, lemon taste it has would be the perfect contrast. This dish has 5 ingredients! I topped it with the aged cheese also from my grain share, but any aged parmesean would work. I am glad it pulled together because M opened the fridge today and told me "Mama! We have no food in our house!" A favorite pastime of mine is to search the cabinets that have "nothing" in them and find a wonderful dish to make.
My small new house is painted now. The curtain rods are up, and it has been filled with love from all my friends who are showing up in work clothes to help M and I make our new place cozy. I can't wait to show all of you. I am saying goodbye to modern and hello to vintage. I will be honest and tell you Valentines Day was a sad day. I bought my little girl a dozen pink roses though. Showed up at kindergarten pick-up with the bouquet and she was pretty excited. Lemonade out of lemons. I can't do a thing to change people or their choices, but I can change my relationship to them and myself.  I am leaving for Cabo on monday. I am bringing my camera, but have not decided about bringing laptop or not. So in case we don't talk until I get back, I will thinking about you.



Cowpeas with Miso and Arugula Salad
makes 4 servings

1 cup dried cowpeas (or mung, blackeyed or aduki beans)
2 cups water (for cooking beans)
4 tsp. miso paste
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup shaved aged parmesean cheese
4 cups baby arugula


Examine beans for rocks before you cook them. Wash them if they are dusty.
Cook beans and water on low simmer covered for 1 hour. Taste for tenderness.

Toss arugula in a bowl with two tsp. of olive oil. Toss with your clean hands to coat all the pieces.

Shave the parmesean so you have at least 4 good shaved pieces for each serving.

After peas are cooked, scoop around 1/2 cup in each bowl and stir in 1 tsp. of miso for each bowl. After mixing in miso, top with arugula and then with cheese.

Moving Update!

Whew! I am going to take photos to show how chaotic things are in my house with packing, painting and saying lots of goodbyes to our dream home. Three weeks until we set sail to our new abode. I have been diligently looking in town for a rental for M and I (and Charlie our cat) for weeks now. Finally last week a place fell into our lap and it is 4 doors down from my dear friend Kate. What luck! I am in awe at how the universe is working. I manifested the exact vision I had plus more. So, I am cramming in driving back and forth from town, packing, painting, cleaning, organizing and being a mama into each of these pretty winter days we are having. Cooking has taken a backseat. Last night and tonight for dinner was an arugula salad with a piece of toast and an egg. I thought for sure that M. would question egg and toast for dinner two night in a row, but she is on board with the craziness of the moment.  I am planning magical things to cook in my new, super-cute vintagey house though. It has an old fashioned white stove with six burners, two ovens and two broilers. I told my new landlord I like to cook. A lot.
So I promise to keep you all in the loop as things unfold. My friends and twin sister are working overtime to help my transition go smoothly. I could not do this alone. I know the life I thought I had was not really built on solid ground. Now my home base is myself, so there is never a question if it is solid. I have noticed that self compassion is one of the most solid feelings I have ever had. It just took a total disaster to wake up to my own loving self.  I get to fill up my cup until it overflows. I never need to look outside of myself again to be filled up.
My sister invited M and I to go to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico this year with her. Of course the trip is the week before I move. So, I plan to have everything related to my move completely wrapped up before I get on the plane. I am feeling good about this trip. I am thinking there won't be as many tears as the last couple of months. I am thinking that watching my little girl swim in the pool and say "watch me, watch me" is going to be a big treat.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Pancetta and Shitakes

I have been cryptic lately in my posts. So, I am just putting my news out there. Along with my recipes, photos, stories and kitchen tips, you have also been reading about my heartache. My marriage has dissolved. Ten years of togetherness has come to sudden end. An unexpected surprise filled with a kind of sadness I had not thought possible. Wave after wave filled with numbness, anger, sorrow, freedom, completeness and struggle are filled also with the knowing I will wash up on dry shore. I have been very lucky to have an entire community of friends and family tenderly holding me as I watch the carefully crafted fabric of my life be torn and stitched back together in a different way. I have wondered about those in the world who go through these experiences alone. I can understand how people could reach for food or relationships or drugs to escape this kind of pain. Running away from suffering seems so natural. Going outside of yourself keeps the pain at a distance. I am not though. I have chosen to dive into the inhospitable waters of my anguish and learn how to swim a new way. And you are here, reading this. So, thank you. All of you.

I packed a lot of boxes today. I am moving in a matter of weeks. So, meals are being simplified. I have one less person to cook for these past months, so my six year old has become my own professional pint-sized foodie companion. I hope I have not created a foodie monster. I am having visions of her starting protests someday in college because the salad bar does not have organic arugula. I think I will be able to keep it under control though. She loves a bagel just as much as she loves croissants. But her flavor palate is very evolved for a little person. Yesterday I had her try goat cream cheese. She loved it. Day before last she devoured a plate of oven roasted romanesco. I feel incredibly lucky that I will know all these little moments of her life. Last night it was creamy cauliflower soup with crispy pancetta. She thought it tasted like a bowl of mashed potato soup (with a version of bacon bits on top?). Simple does not have to taste simple though and this soup is a perfect example. We each had a bowl for dinner. I just ate another for a late lunch. The pancetta really gives this dish depth. The salty with the mellow cauliflower perks it right up. I used butter instead of my usual olive oil to keep it creamy. Since there is no cream, I wanted it to have some richness. So easy, so quick.


Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Pancetta and Shitake Mushrooms
serves 3 larger bowl or 4 small

1 med/large head of cauliflower
2- 2 1/2 cups stock (I used organic chicken)
pinch salt
1 1/2 tbls butter
3 oz. thinly sliced pancetta (or proscuitto)
2 cups chopped shitake mushrooms

Steam the head of cauliflower until tender. Put in a blender and add 2 cups stock. Blend. If it is too thick, add 1/2 cup more stock. Puree until smooth (about 2 min). Pour into sauce pan and cook on low simmer for 10 min. Taste for salt.
In cast iron (or non-stick) pan cook pieces of pancetta like you would bacon. Remove from pan with a fork when brown and crispy on each side. Add to the pan shitakes and 1 tbls. water to deglaze the pan. Sautee until soft; about 8 min. Chop the pancetta and top the soup with a spoonful of pancetta and shitakes.

Baby Artichokes baked with Bread Crumbs

Packing up a house is a mixed bag. In some ways I am really happy to get rid of about half of my things. On the other, it is sad to move my life under such sad circumstances. I am resigned to letting the emotions come out as they wish. It has been an exercise in loving for myself. No matter the thought, emotion or conversation I am having, I am doing it with a new found confidence for myself and my struggles.  I never thought I could be thankful about my life falling apart, but I am finding that I spend more and more days filled with gratitude and a sense of myself I have never had before. Suffering has been an unbiased teacher that has shown me the way to loving. The biggest gift in my life so far.

And so we have artichokes. I wait for the baby artichokes to show up in the market and then buy pounds of them. It has taken a few years of working with them to feel comfortable cooking them.  But I have mastered the learning curve! My secret is trimming them down to the yellow leaves. I cut off the bottom stem and almost the top half. Then I pick off the exterior leaves until I get down to the light yellow ones. If they are not trimmed enough, they are tough when you eat them. I have also tried to oven roast or pan sautee them, but have come to the conclusion that they should be steamed first and then are ready for a second cooking method if you want to impart more flavor. I mostly save baby artichokes for a special dinner occasion. They can get expensive if you buy a lot, and you need quite a few if you are using baby artichokes (I would say 4-6 per person). Today I made bread crumbs with fresh thyme and a buerre blanc sauce to add to the artichokes. Little M kept coming into the kitchen and digging her fingers into the buttery bread crumbs after they had cooled.  They have a bit more butter than I usually use, but it was the main dish for dinner tonight. Nice and hearty for cool January nights....

Baby Artichokes baked with Bread Crumbs
makes 4 small portions

12 baby artichokes trimmed
2 tbls butter
1 tbls fresh lemon juice (I used meyer lemon)
1 small shallot finely chopped
pinch salt
2/3 bread crumbs
2 tsp.
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp mustard
1/3 cup white wine

Trim artichokes (see above paragraph for directions) and steam for 10 minutes. Make sure they are knife tender before removing from heat and cook longer than 10 minutes if needed. Cooking time will be slightly variable depending on how big the artichokes are.
In a pan add butter, lemon juice, shallot and heat until butter starts to foam. Add wine, mustard and thyme. Reduce to half and add artichokes (about 4 min). Use a spoon to scoop buerre blanc on top of artichokes until sauce has reduced and has thickened (about 5 min). Remove artichokes and set in a heat proof dish. Add breadcrumbs to pan with buerre blanc and heat through. Spoon bread crumbs over artichokes and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees and bread crumbs start to brown.
To serve set artichokes on plate and scoop a spoonful of bread crumbs on top of each artichoke.