Well, I got that off my chest. And, of course, it’s only one small facet of the issue of yoga and body image and enjoying asana while realizing it’s a tiny piece of the yoga puzzle. Well, I guess that’s what’s wonderful about yoga. There’s always more. I’ll have to post a “retort” to my own post!
But for this beautiful Monday, let’s talk about something a little lighter. Food! I love the summer season. The flavors and colors are so vibrant. Everything is so fresh. The BHH grows an amazing garden and I don’t even have to go shopping to get my greens.
We’d been away from our upstate garden for something like 9 days, and oops, the zucchini exploded, so we spent the weekend pawning gigantic torpedo zucchini off on the neighbors, and trying to eat it up ourselves.
Friday: Zucchini noodles marinara, topped with veggie burgers and raw pine nut “parmesan”. Swiss chard on the side (we traded some zucchini with the neighbors up the hill).
Saturday: Veggie burgers with avocado, topped with local “liquid gold” tomatoes, sautéed zucchini on the side.
Sunday: Everyone had their own “protein/density” and we all had sautéed zucchini, sort of succotash style with local corn, “liquid gold” tomatoes, garlic and onion.
AND, I had my favorite massaged kale salad, picked fresh out of the garden and ready in a flash. Want to feel better after heavier meals, dessert days, barbecues and general indulgence? Kale is the answer. And it’s totally easy. Here’s how:
- Pick your kale. Or, ok, buy your kale, but it’s more fun if it’s out of someone’s garden. This is what the just-picked and torn kale looks like:
- Rip the leaves off the stems, and tear them into moderate-sized pieces. They don’t have to be too small, they’re going to shrink up.
- Sprinkle generously with sea salt, drizzle well with olive oil, and douse with lemon juice or a splash of vinegar. Add some finely diced garlic for extra flavor. The vinegar/acid/lemon, in combination with the sea salt, will break down the leaves, essentially “cooking” them. Here’s the pre-massaged bowl:
- Get your hands dirty! Seriously, get on in there and massage those leaves well. Rub the leaves against each other and between your palms till they’ve broken down somewhat. Here are the loved-up leaves:
- Set aside while you finish making your meal. The flavors will meld and the leaves will break down further.
And that’s basically it! You can combine all kinds of flavors, whatever you like. Endless combinations. My favorite thing to do of late is to massage with garlic, sea salt, lemon, Italian seasoning and the olive oil from the bottom a container of sun dried tomatoes I get, freshly dried, at our local Italian market. It’s all flavorful and tomatoey and garlicky. Then I top the salad with the same sun dried tomatoes and some pine nuts or my recently-created raw pine nut parmesan and/or a generous sprinkle of nutritional yeast. So yummy! Even the BHH will eat this. No, I can’t believe it either.
YUUUUM!
And with that, I’m off for a swim in the neighbors pool and a gander at the garden. I think tonight is a collards kind of night.
Happy day!
L.
